* This post is part of iPhone Life's Tip of the Day newsletter. Sign Up. *
Using the iPad floating keyboard, you can drag your finger from one letter to the next without lifting it, spelling out entire words in one quick motion. This can be easier than pecking away on the larger iPad keyboard. To get Slide to Type working on your iPad, you’ll need to use the floating keyboard. Here's how to use QuickPath and the floating keyboard on your iPad.
Why You'll Love This Tip:
- Use a smaller keyboard and Slide to Type for faster typing on your iPad.
- Move your keyboard to a more convenient location on your display.
How To Swipe Text on the iPad with the Floating Keyboard
System Requirements
This tip works on any iPad operating iPadOS 13 or later but was performed on an iPad operating iPadOS 17. Find out how to update to iPadOS 17.
The iPad Swipe Keyboard, often called Swipe Text, Swype Keyboard, Slide to Type, or sometimes QuickPath, is available on iPadOS 13 or later. However, to use the swipe typing feature, you’ll need to switch from the regular on-screen keyboard to the smaller floating keyboard. For more iPad tips, don't forget to check out our free Tip of the Day.
- Open any app that requires typing. For this example, I'll open the Notes app.
![ipad swipe keyboard]()
- Tap anywhere in the note to begin typing. The keyboard will fill the bottom of your screen.
![swipe keyboard ipad]()
- Tap and hold the keyboard icon in the bottom right corner of the keyboard.
![swipe texting]()
- A menu will pop up. Unlike many menus in iPadOS, this menu requires that you keep holding your finger on the screen and drag your finger to the menu option you want. Select Floating.
![swiping keyboard ipad]()
- The keyboard will disappear to be replaced with the floating keyboard. You can move the floating keyboard around the screen by touching and dragging the grab bar at the bottom.
![swipe keyboard]()
- You can compose text with QuickPath, AKA Slide to Type, by touching the first letter of a word and then dragging your finger to the rest of the letters in turn.
![ipad keyboard swipe]()
Now, you can go crazy with the swipe texting feature on your iPad! Beware that if your keyboard doesn't recognize the word you want to type, you'll have to go back and correct it manually. To switch back to the regular keyboard, grab the bar at the bottom of the floating keyboard and drag it to the bottom of your screen. If you haven't yet, learn how to use text swipe for iPhone. Next, read about the newest iPad announced by Apple.
