How to Hide & Show the QuickType Suggestion Bar on iOS Keyboard

Oct 5, 2014 - 25 Comments

QuickType keyboard on iPhone

The QuickType bar added to the virtual keyboard in iOS seems to either be loved or hated, and while it can be quite good at predicting what words to type next, it can also be a nuisance as it takes up valuable screen real estate on the iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch. Fortunately, like so many other things in iOS, you can quickly choose to disable or hide the QuickType bar from the keyboard completely, so if you either don’t like it or just don’t want to see it temporarily, you can use a speedy trick to quickly dismiss the suggested word bar.


We’ll focus on the most reliable method that instantly hides (or reveals) the QuickType suggestions. In order to try it out yourself, you’ll want to be somewhere that the iOS keyboard is visible and QuickType suggestions are offered, which should be just about any text entry box.

Instantly Hide the QuickType Bar from the Keyboard on iPhone or iPad

  • Tap and hold directly on the QuickType bar, you can tap and hold on the bar itself or a word, it doesn’t matter, then while still holding, drag down your finger to hide the QuickType bar

Hide the QuickType bar on the iOS Keyboard

This instantly hides the QuickType bar which is indicated by the little grey line and the tiny handlebar indicator. That handlebar also indicates that you can reveal the QuickType bar again by repeating the same action but in the opposite direction, which we’ll cover in a moment.

Note this does not disable the QuickType bar, it simply hides it temporarily. This can be great to reveal more screen space on a temporary basis, or for users who only sometimes want to use the QuickType feature, or sometimes not use it.

Show the QuickType Suggestion Bar Above the iOS Keyboard

Want to see the QuickType word suggestion bar again? No sweat, that’s very easy too:

  • Tap and hold on the handlebar, then drag up to reveal the QuickType bar above the iOS keyboard again

The QuickType suggestion word bar above iOS Keyboard

Because it takes up the equivalent of another key row, it almost feels like QuickType was built more for the iPad, iPhone, and iPhone Plus with the larger screens, as it’s quite cramped on models earlier than iPhone 6 like an iPhone 4S or even on the iPhone 5 and iPod touch series. The smaller screen devices in particularly are probably more likely to want to hide QuickType if not disable it outright, which can be done through Keyboard Settings in iOS. For users of smaller screens (or anyone really) who want to type a bit faster in iOS, adding a good third party keyboard to iOS can often be a better solution to QuickType, since it won’t take up any additional screen space and some of the gesture-based keyboards work very well for fast typing.

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Posted by: Paul Horowitz in iPad, iPhone, Tips & Tricks

25 Comments

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  1. Eric says:

    @Helen
    On iOS 12.2, you can enable/disable the “QuickType Suggestions Bar” using the toggle located in
    Settings / General / Keyboard / Predictive

    Hope this helps.

  2. Rosemary says:

    Wow Isaac that was in few words & thank YOU !! They need to hire YOU!!

  3. Helen says:

    My grey quick type bar has appeared, normally tapping/dragging it down works, and won’t now! I can’t stand it! Any ideas?

  4. Corey says:

    Issac,

    Is it different for Sprint users? my phone 6S does not seem to have this option of hiding bar. also, emoji’s do not pop-up on the quick type bar either as I type.

    any help please.

  5. Betteann says:

    Kathy- Isaac had the answer hold done the emoji and the bar returns

  6. Kathy says:

    My quick type bar went away. Even the small gray bar is gone. I’ve tried holding and swiping down on the message bar. Nothing happens. I want it back, any more suggestions?

  7. Jake says:

    Thanks Isaac!!!!!!!!

  8. Veronica says:

    OMG Thank you Isaac.
    You’ve saved me a lot of time and frustrating efforts.

  9. Treva says:

    How do I get my quick type bar to display on my iPhone

  10. Mostafa says:

    Hi,
    I enable dictation with screentab. It’s work!
    Thanks

  11. Tommy says:

    Awesome, great quick tip. Very helpful

  12. Carry says:

    None of the solutions work for my 4s

  13. Nqd says:

    Concise answer. Many thanks.

  14. Sally says:

    I figured it out. You touch the line where you enter a text message and hold it for a few seconds, then the Quick Type line is displayed.

  15. Sally says:

    I tried switching on Quick Type but it seems grayed out and won’t switch on. I really like QT a lot but don’t understand how it seems to switch itself on and off. Help!

  16. Rodger says:

    Thanks I thought I lost it for good:)

  17. Taylor Snyder says:

    Thanks sooo much:)

  18. Ginny says:

    Nice concise answer to my question. Thanks.

  19. J Clayton says:

    Paul & Isaac, thanks to both of you!

  20. gene says:

    I am about fed up with OS 08, ever since I updated my iPad, my iPad has run like garbage. Slow, programs close on their own, iPad crashes…and more. I have used some of the sugesstions on this site but my iPad has become un-relaibale junk. This may be my last apple purchase…..uggg. I have had this pad a couple of years and when it breaks Ill be looking hard at the surface

  21. Isaac says:

    You can also quickly turn it completely on and off by holding the emoji keyboard button and tapping the switch.

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