New "Automatic" Touch Keyboard: How to Use the Old Style

Question

The touch keyboard (the one that automatically displays when not in tablet mode and there's no keyboard attached) was changed with the Fall Creators Edition update.  The "new" one now displays in a much larger area -- it takes up nearly half of the screen when the "full" keyboard is selected, both when the keyboard is locked to the bottom of the screen or when it can be moved to another position.  The various new layout options are terrible, big and clunky!

(I'm not referring to the "On-Screen Keyboard" that can me turned on in the Settings>>Ease of Use>>Keyboard settings. That keyboard can be resized but it cannot be set to appear automatically when needing to touch type.  It can only be turned on or off.)

The "old" touch keyboard apparently is still available as it is the actual keyboard that appears when signing into Windows.  Does anyone know how get the "old" touch keyboard to be used as the default (or the one selectable in the Ease of Use settings)?

Oh and the "new" touch keyboard is flakey.  Keys remain highlighted after touching, etc.

Answer 1

Hi,

We suggest that you submit these inputs regarding the update on the On Screen Keyboard to our Feedback Hub. You can get the Feedback Hub application through the Microsoft Sore app. Follow these steps to submit a feedback:

1. Select  Add new feedback next to the search bar.
2. Tell us whether you’re sending a problem or suggestion.
3. In the Summarize your issue box, provide a concise but clear title for your problem or suggestion.
4. In the Give us more detail (optional) box, you can give us more specific information, like how you encountered the problem.
5. Select a category that corresponds to your feedback. For example, if your printer stopped working, you’d select Hardware, Devices, and Drivers.
6. Select a subcategory—like Print for problems with printing.
7. (Optional) Step through the problem while capturing the steps so we can see what happened.

    1. Select Recreate the problem (recommended).

    2. Select the type of problem you’re having, and select Start capture.

    3. Do the steps that led to the problem.

    4. When you’ve completed the steps, select Stop capture.

Notes:

******You can close Feedback Hub if you need to and the capture will continue.

******Even though capturing is optional, it’s a good way to help Microsoft determine the cause of the problem and address it for you and others having that problem.

8. (Optional) Send a screenshot to help show the problem.

    1. Go to where the problem happened, press the Windows logo key + Print screen to take a picture of your screen.

    2. Select Attach a screenshot, go to the Pictures/Screenshots folder, select the screenshot you want to send, and then press Enter.

9. When you’re satisfied with your feedback, select Submit.

We hope this helps.

Answer 2

I asked a specific question about enabling the prior keyboard.  Please pay me the courtesy of directly ansmwering it.  Thank you.

Answer 3

Still patiently awaiting a reply.  Thank you.

Answer 4

What country are you in? I've found that the touch keyboard stuff isn't the same

everywhere. There was a comment on

https://blogs.windows.com/windowsexperience/2017/07/26/announcing-windows-10-insider-preview-build-16251-pc-build-15235-mobile/#Ah5Mk3zKmJF2lsvS.97

that said:

"We’ve updated the new XAML touch keyboard to now support a full keyboard layout

option for English (United States), English (Australia), French (France),

Italian (Italy), German (Germany) and Spanish (Spain) languages. Appreciate

everyone who shared feedback on the subject! To access this keyboard layout, tap

the button in the top left of the touch keyboard."

I learned this after trying to troubleshoot someone's issue with no ESC key and

no full keyboard in the US. So apparently, your location settings make a

difference. (And not everyone goes back and reads each and every Insiders Blog

post on these things).

Answer 5

Barb, thank you for your response.

I am in the United States using the English (United States) Regions using the "full keyboard" mentioned in your quote (which has four format options: large full, smaller non-full, very small non-full, and pen input; plus voice input)

What I'm looking for is the full keyboard that pops up when you sign in (which has options to change the layout in the bottom right corner, a medium gray background, and takes up around 36 percent of the vertical size of a Surface Pro 4 screen) versus the new keyboard that now (after the Fall Creator Update) pops up when you are signed in and entering text in a text field (which has options to change the layout in the top right corner, a dark gray background, and takes up around 48 percent of the vertical size of a Surface Pro 4 screen.

I checked and when installing some languages other than those listed in quote there is no longer an option for a "full" keyboard when selecting the alternate language.   This is what I guess is referred to in you quote.

So I'm still looking for a method to have the system use the "sign in" keyboard (which is what we had before) versus the "new" Fall Creators Update keyboard, or as an alternative the "On-Screen keyboard" that can be activated in the Ease of Access Keyboard settings (which is persistent rather than on-demand like the "new" keyboard) when the keyboard automatically pops up when text input it expected.  Clearly the "old" keyboard is still present in the system since it display on the sign in screen.  I'm looking for a way to have it as the default when signed in.