Change Android Keypad Settings to Display Number Row

The keyboard that comes default with an Android device isn’t the most convenient one to use. It becomes especially more difficult if you have to input passwords that involve numbers, alphabets, and symbols. Long pressing the different keys and switching between the various rows can quickly become a major irritant. Having a dedicated number row on your keyboard (just like you have one on your PC) will certainly make your typing tasks a hell of lot easier.

And there’s a very simple straightforward way to activate that option. In this tutorial, we show you how to change Android keypad settings to display the number row at the top. For the purpose of this tutorial, we are using an Android 5.0 Moto G device. If you are using an older device, the steps may vary slightly.

How to Change Android Keypad Settings to Display Number Row at Top

1. On your device, navigate to Settings.

2. In the Personal Section, tap Language & input.

3. In the Language & input screen, in the Keyboard & input methods section, tap Google Keyboard.

4. In the Google Keyboard Settings, tap Appearance and layouts.

5. In the Appearance and layouts screen, tap Custom input styles.

6. In the Custom input styles screen tap the + icon at the top right corner of the screen.

7. In the Add style pop up, tap the Layout drop down menu.

8. In the Layout pop up screen, select PC. In the same Add style pop up, tap the Language drop down and select English (US).

9. Then tap Add.

10. In the Custom input styles, tap Enable.

11. In the next screen make sure that your new keyboard in toggled On. If Use system language is On toggle if to the OFF position.

That’s it! You are now ready to use your new keypad layout. Your new layout will now display a number row on your Android device, You will still need to toggle the number row to access symbols on your phone, but if you do this on an Android tablet, you can see the symbols displayed atop the digits and long pressing the digit will display the symbol associated with it.

If you don’t like your new keyboard layout, you can always go back to the Custom input styles screen, select the new PC layout and tap Remove.

Do you think that tweaking the Android keypad to display the number row on top is convenient for small phones or it works well with bigger phones and tablets?