Gboard Features I Wish I Had Known About Years Ago

Most of us have typed the same email address into a form so many times that our thumbs do it on autopilot. That is the kind of small chore I decided to fix when I finally went through the settings of Gboard, the free Google Keyboard app for Android.

I use a Samsung Galaxy S24 running Android 16. I properly tested four Gboard features: clipboard history, voice typing, glide typing, and text shortcuts. All four worked well on my phone.

I did not try the other features, so I will keep those short and honest. One thing to know first: Samsung phones come with their own keyboard, so you may need to install Gboard from the Google Play Store and set it as your active keyboard. Menu names and availability can also differ by phone and Android version, so your screen may not match mine exactly.

Clipboard history

Normally, when you copy something new, the last thing you copied disappears. Gboard has a clipboard that keeps a list of recent copies, and you can open it from the clipboard icon in the keyboard toolbar. You can also pin items so they stay put.

This matters whenever you bounce between apps. Say you need an address, a reference number, and a short message in the same chat. You can copy all three first and paste them one at a time instead of switching back and forth.

My tip is to pin only what you really need again. As far as I know, unpinned clips get cleared after a while, which is a good thing. Also avoid pinning anything sensitive like passwords, because a clipboard list is a convenience and not a safe place for secrets.

Voice typing

Voice typing lets you tap the microphone icon and speak, and Gboard turns your words into text. It worked well for me, and it is useful when your hands are busy or a message is simply too long to thumb out.

The part people miss is spoken punctuation. In English, you can say words like “comma,” “period,” and “question mark,” and many people also use “new line.” If you skip this, you end up with one long block of text that you have to fix by hand.

Switching languages is possible too. You add the languages you want in Gboard’s language settings, and then you can change between them. Some languages may need an offline pack or an internet connection, and accuracy and spoken commands are not the same everywhere.

A simple habit helps. Speak in short sentences and read the result before sending, because background noise and unusual names can still trip it up.

Glide typing

Glide typing, also called swipe typing, lets you slide your finger across the letters of a word without lifting it. Gboard guesses the word from the path your finger takes. It worked well on my phone, and it feels natural on a large screen.

The common mistake is hovering or pausing in the middle of a word. A smooth, continuous motion gives better guesses, and lifting your finger between words keeps things tidy. If Gboard keeps getting a name or a slang word wrong, adding that word to your personal dictionary can help.

It is not perfect. Glide typing support depends on the language, and unusual words will still need a careful look before you hit send.

Text shortcuts

This is the one that made me feel a bit silly for waiting so long. In Gboard, you can save a short code that expands into a longer phrase, like an email address or a sign off. You find it in the personal dictionary section of the settings, where you add the full phrase and the shortcut for it.

Once it is saved, typing the short code makes the full phrase appear as a suggestion above the keyboard. You tap it, and the long text goes in. For anything you type again and again, this removes a lot of repetition.

My tip is to choose a shortcut that is not a real word. If you pick something you type normally, it will keep offering to expand when you do not want it to. Also, think twice before saving anything private, and remember that shortcuts are saved per language, so check the language you picked.

Features I did not test

Gboard has other features I have not tried myself, so I cannot say how they behave on my phone. You can look for them in your own settings and decide if they suit you.

• Built in translation, for translating text while chatting
• Emoji Kitchen and stickers, for mixing emojis and sending stickers
• Search and GIFs, for finding and sharing things without leaving the app
• One handed mode and keyboard resizing, which may help on bigger phones
• Cursor control and quick text editing, for moving the cursor and selecting text
• Themes and customization, such as the look, key borders, and keyboard height

A small piece of common sense applies to the fun ones. Stickers and mixed emojis are great in casual chats, but they may not belong in a work email or a message to someone you do not know well. Some of these tools also work differently across apps and languages, so do not be surprised if something shows up in one app and not another.

How to check these in Gboard settings

Open any app where you can type, and the keyboard will appear. Look at the toolbar at the top of the keyboard, which you may need to open with a small arrow or a menu icon. From there, you can find the clipboard, the microphone, and a settings gear.

Inside Gboard settings, look for sections along the lines of Dictionary, Glide typing, Voice typing, Languages, and Preferences. Names and positions change between versions, so spend a few minutes tapping around. If you cannot find a feature, it may not be available on your phone or in your language yet.

If Gboard is not showing up at all, go to your phone’s keyboard settings and make sure it is selected as the default keyboard.

A quick word on privacy

A keyboard sees a lot of what you type, so it is worth a quick look at the privacy side. Gboard may collect some usage data, and what is collected depends on the settings you choose. Open the privacy options inside Gboard and review things like usage statistics and personalized suggestions.

You can also read the Data Safety section on the Gboard page in the Google Play Store. It explains what the app says it collects and shares. I would do this before turning on features that involve voice or personalization, and then keep only what you are comfortable with.

I wish I had gone through these settings years ago. If you have never opened them either, start with one feature and see if it fits how you type. For me, a few minutes with clipboard history and text shortcuts were enough to make me wonder what else I have been ignoring.

Download