6 Gboard settings I change the moment I get a new Android phone

I’ve used many keyboard apps, but Gboard remains my top choice. It’s customizable, has an excellent glide-typing algorithm, and packs a bunch of handy features. In fact, some of these features are so good that I’ve ditched a few popular apps for Gboard.

Having said that, I don’t like how the keyboard works out of the box. Some of its best options are disabled, while a few I find annoying and less useful are enabled by default. As a result, I always make a few changes to Gboard before I start using it on any of my Android phones.

Enable the number row

Gboard, like many Android keyboard apps, has a dedicated number row, but it’s disabled by default and only appears when you need to enter a password. So if you want to enter multiple numbers in another scenario, you must tap the ?123 key to switch to the number/symbol keyboard, then tap the appropriate keys. Sure, there’s another way: long-tap characters on the top row of the keyboard to type the corresponding numbers, but it’s not ideal when you want to type a series of numbers back-to-back.

For this reason, I enable the dedicated number row, which places number keys (0-9) at the top of the keyboard. This way, I can type numbers without switching keyboards. To add a number row in Gboard, bring up the keyboard and tap the gear icon in the suggestion strip at the top. Select Preferences and toggle on the switch next to Number row. If you don’t see the suggestion strip, it’s likely disabled. In this case, navigate to Gboard settings in the Settings app and select Preferences, and there you’ll find the Number row toggle. While here, scroll down to the Layout section and toggle on Suggestion strip option.

Add symbols to letter keys

Just like entering numbers, typing symbols on Gboard requires switching keyboards. You must first tap the ?123 key to switch to the number/symbol keyboard, then tap any symbol to enter it or hit the =\~ key to reveal more symbols. I find this process a bit tedious, and it slows down my typing speed.

Fortunately, Gboard has a setting that lets you hold keys to type symbols. To use it, you first need to enable it. Go to Gboard’s settings and select Preferences. Scroll down to the Shortcuts section and toggle on the Touch and hold keys for symbols switch. This adds symbols to letter keys in the second and third rows of the keyboard — first row letters have numbers written on them. Now, whenever you want to enter a symbol, long-tap the key with that symbol, and it will be inserted into the text field.

Disable auto-capitalization

Gboard automatically capitalizes the first letter of a word in every sentence you type. Although most people find it convenient, especially when typing paragraphs, I find it a huge annoyance. For one, it isn’t ideal for casual texting. Most of the time when I’m chatting with someone on my phone, the tone is casual; not every message is a complete sentence or has proper punctuation. As such, having every word start with a capital letter doesn’t make sense and hurts readability.

Another problem with having the feature turned on is that I sometimes need to switch to lowercase when I want to type a username, password, email, or web address. I know the feature is smart enough to temporarily disable capitalization when I’m filling out fields designated for such text, but it doesn’t help when I want to type them in a message or note. Auto-capitalization is also a nightmare for bilingual typing, as it capitalizes random words in a sentence, which makes the styling look messy.

For these reasons, I prefer having auto-capitalization turned off. I get that I’m in the minority here, but if you’re in the same boat as me and want to turn off this feature, go to the Gboard settings page, Select Corrections and suggestions, and then flip the Auto-capitalization toggle off.

Set up a personal dictionary

I need to share certain text snippets (addresses, contact details, and other details) on my Android phone quite frequently, and I hate typing them over and over. Thankfully, Gboard offers a nifty feature — personal dictionary — that saves me this hassle. Personal dictionary lets you set up shortcuts for your most-used text phrases. Then, whenever you want to type that phrase, just type the shortcut and hit Space. Gboard will automatically expand the shortcut to the complete text snippet.

Setting up a personal dictionary in Gboard is easy. Go to Gboard settings, scroll down, and select Dictionary. Choose your language. Tap the + button in the top-right corner. Here, type the full version of the text snippet in the Type a word field and the shortcut you want to use for it in the Optional shortcut field. Hit the tick icon on the keyboard to save the shortcut.

Customize the toolbar

Gboard has a suggestion strip right above the top row that surfaces relevant suggestions based on the context. It shows word suggestions as soon as you begin typing and a bunch of tools when you aren’t. There are some really handy tools here, and I always configure the suggestion strip to show my favorites (Google Translate, editing mode, clipboard, and GIF) for easy access.

You can add up to five tools to the suggestion strip. To configure it, bring up the keyboard and tap the four-square icon in the top row. Hit the pencil icon in the bottom-right corner to edit the shortcuts. Now, if the suggestion strip is already full, drag the tools you don’t need to the bottom. Then, move the ones you find useful to the top. Finally, tap the checkmark to save the layout.

Limit data sharing

By default, Gboard collects a bunch of information about you and uses it to improve its features for you and other Gboard users. The collected data includes everything from your device ID to what you type, copy to your clipboard, or search for in other apps. Google also collects snippets from your voice data to improve speech recognition.

This is a privacy nightmare, which is why I always turn off all of Gboard’s privacy settings before I start using the keyboard on any device. You should consider turning off these privacy settings to limit what you share with Google. Go to Gboard settings, scroll down, and select Privacy. Toggle off all these options: Share usage statistics, Personalize for you, Improve for everyone, and Audio donations. If you’ve had these features turned on all this time, you can delete them. Tap Delete learned words and data, type the code on the screen, and hit OK. Do note that this will also delete the words Gboard has learned over the years, which can affect its suggestions.

In addition to the above, I also make a few other changes to Gboard. This includes disabling Smart Compose and Next-word suggestions since I don’t find them very useful, adjusting vibration strength on phones with weak haptics for better feedback, and reducing the touch-and-hold duration so I can quickly enter alternative characters, i.e., symbols. I also change the theme, and since I use a dedicated number row, I resize the keyboard, especially on smaller phones, so it takes up slightly less screen space.