How to enable the virtual keyboard?

Genymotion Desktop

The virtual keyboard can be enabled from the virtual device settings in Genymotion launchpad.

Right-click on the device and select Edit.

Navigate to the ANDROID OPTIONS tab.

Enable the "Use virtual keyboard for text input" option.

Genymotion SaaS Cloud

There aren't any widgets or options to enable the virtual keyboard from the UI for the moment.

The virtual keyboard has to be activated manually.

Android 5.0 - 5.1

Go to Settings > Language & Input > Current Keyboard.

Activate Show input method.

Android 6.0 - 15.0

Click in an input field.

Click on the virtual keyboard button in the bottom-right corner of the device display.

Choose your input language and activate Show input method.

Android 16.0

The virtual keyboard option has been removed in Android 16.0.

You will need to use the ADB command line to activate it.

ADB (Android Debug Bridge) is a command-line tool that enables communication with Android devices.

Start an instance and connect it to ADB.

To do so, follow the steps from our online tutorial: How to connect an instance to ADB?

Run the following adb command: adb shell settings put secure show_ime_with_hard_keyboard 1

Wait a couple of seconds and the virtual keyboard will be enabled.

To disable the virtual keyboard, use the adb command: adb shell settings put secure show_ime_with_hard_keyboard 0

Genymotion PaaS/Device Image

The virtual keyboard can be enabled in the Genymotion GUI:

Go to the Configuration tab:

Navigate to the Virtual Keyboard section and enable the virtual keyboard option:

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