[Tip] Add Numbers Row on Top of Google Keyboard in Android Mobile Phones

Recently an AskVG reader “Sarah” contacted us regarding an issue related to the Google Keyboard present in almost all Android mobile phones. She wanted to add a dedicated numbers row in the keyboard so that she can type numbers quickly and easily without switching to number pad or using any gestures.

Actually many other keyboards such as Samsung’s default keyboard, SwiftKey keyboard, etc provide a separate numeric keypad row on their mobile keyboards which makes the life of mobile users easier. If you are tying an email or message, you frequently type several numbers and having a dedicated numbers row which is always visible on screen, would become very useful.

Adding dedicated numbers row to Google keyboard is not impossible. We can add numbers row to Google keyboard after following a few simple and easy steps as shown in following screenshot:

You can consider it as a hidden secret feature of Google Keyboard which allows users to convert Google keyboard into a fully functional PC look-like keyboard.

If you also want to have a separate numbers row on top of Google keyboard in your Android mobile phone, check out following steps:

1. Open Settings in your mobile phone and go to “Language & Input” section.

2. Now tap on “Google Keyboard” present under “Input Method” section.

3. It’ll open Google keyboard settings page. Tap on Preferences option.

PS: In some mobile phones, you may need to tap on “Appearance & Layouts” option instead of Preferences.

4. Now tap on “Custom input styles” option.

5. It may already contain some options. Leave them intact and tap on “+” icon present in the toolbar.

6. Now select desired language such as “English (US)” in Language section and select “PC” in “Layout” type.

Tap on Add button to add the custom input style to the list.

7. Google will ask you to enable your new input style for using, tap on “Enable” button.

8. It’ll open another page where tap on “Use system language” option to disable it and then tap on your new custom input style “English (US) (PC)” to enable it.

If any other input style is enabled, you can disable it.

That’s it. Now open any app such as Messaging, WhatsApp, etc to check the result and you’ll get a new Google keyboard having a dedicated numbers row at top.

PS: In future, if you want to reset to the default Google keyboard, go to “Settings -> Language & Input -> Google Keyboard -> Languages” and enable “Use system language” option. It’ll restore normal Google keyboard again.

Also Check:

• [Tip] How to Add and Keep Speed Dials in Android’s Stock Phone Dialer App
• [Fix] Can’t Use Google Now Launcher as Default on Your Android Mobile Phone