How to enable a custom keyboard on iPhone (step by step)

iOS supports custom keyboard extensions — third-party keyboards that replace Apple's default keyboard in any app. This is a setup tutorial. It is not the engineering explainer and not the founding thesis. Read those after you can see the globe: how keyboard extensions work, why we built a keyboard.

Key takeaways

• Install the container app, then Settings → General → Keyboard → Keyboards → Add New Keyboard.
• Full Access is required for clipboard and network in keyboards that generate online. Apple documents the privacy gate in Custom Keyboards.
• If clipboard is empty in KOPY, Full Access is off. This is the #1 ticket I see.

Step 1: Download the app

Custom keyboards on iOS come packaged inside regular apps. Install from the App Store first. The keyboard extension installs alongside it automatically. If the app is still downloading, Settings will lie to you.

Step 2: Enable the keyboard in Settings

1. Open Settings
2. Tap General
3. Tap Keyboard
4. Tap Keyboards
5. Tap Add New Keyboard…
6. Find the keyboard and tap it

This path has not meaningfully changed in years, but iOS loves renaming Settings. If you cannot find Keyboard, search Settings for "Keyboards."

Step 3: Enable Full Access

If the keyboard needs to read your clipboard — KOPY does, to see the message you copied — enable Full Access: Settings → General → Keyboard → Keyboards → tap the keyboard name → Allow Full Access on.

This does not give the keyboard your passwords, Face ID, or other keyboards. It allows network requests and clipboard access. Apple's docs are the source of truth, not a Twitter thread.

Step 4: Switch while typing

Tap and hold the globe in the bottom-left, slide to select, or tap the globe to cycle. If you have six keyboards, you will hate your past self. Keep two: system + KOPY, or Gboard + KOPY. Roundup of typing keyboards: best AI keyboard apps for iPhone.

KPI table for a successful install

Check	Pass	Fail
Keyboard listed in Settings	Yes	App still installing
Full Access	On for KOPY	Empty clipboard
Globe shows KOPY	Yes	Need add keyboard again
Generate returns text	Yes	Auth / network / killed process
Inserts in Notes	Test here first	Host app fighting first responder

Common issues

Does not appear in Settings: finish install, force-quit Settings. No Full Access toggle: that keyboard may not request it. Shows then disappears: extension crash; reboot; open the container app first. Empty clipboard: Full Access. Generate fails: sign in in the main app so App Group tokens exist.

I cannot see your phone from the blog. Work the table top to bottom. Engineering reasons for crashes live in the explainer post.

Field notes from support

People enable the keyboard but not Full Access, then screenshot a rizz app in frustration. Please do not. Flip the toggle.

People add the keyboard on iPad and expect iPhone to have it. Per device.

People look for KOPY next to emoji. It is a whole keyboard, not a sticker pack.

Microsoft's WTI interruptions number is why you should test in Notes, not in a chaotic Slack, until it works once.

Worked walkthrough for KOPY specifically

Open Notes. Type hi. Copy a sentence from Safari. Globe to KOPY. Pick Social, Funny. Generate. You should see a draft. Switch back to the system keyboard and edit. If that loop works in Notes, it will work in WhatsApp. If it fails in Notes, the host app is not your problem yet.

Dating apps sometimes fight custom keyboards. Stay on KOPY until the text is in the field, then switch if you need their stickers.

Frequently asked questions

Is Full Access safe? It is a permission, not a blessing. Read the app's policy. Disable for banking if you want.

Why can't you enable it for me? Apple does not allow an app to silently become your keyboard. That is good.

Simulator? Keyboard extensions need a device for real clipboard/network behavior. I learned this the expensive way.

Setup failure gallery from real tickets

Settings search is your friend

Type Keyboards in Settings search if Apple buried General again. The path in the tutorial is the canonical one. Search is the escape hatch. Do not download a third tutorial with ads.

iPad vs iPhone

Enabling on one does not enable the other. I get this ticket monthly. Per device. Per user. Per 'I set it up for my partner and not for me.'

Multiple Apple IDs

The App Store install and the Settings toggle still have to happen on the phone in your hand. Family Sharing does not flip Full Access.

Low Power Mode myths

Low Power does not remove keyboards. Crashes might. Reboot. Open the container app. Then Notes test.

VPN plus generate fail

Some VPNs break our API. Try off VPN in Notes. If it works, you found the villain. Not Full Access.

Old iOS

We target modern iOS. If Add Keyboard is missing, you may be on a relic. Update if you can. I cannot backport the universe.

Keyboard order

Put KOPY next to stock so globe cycling is two taps, not six. This is a tutorial KPI: time-to-switch after setup.

Full Access off after iOS update

Updates sometimes reset. Recheck the toggle before you write a one-star review. I reset too. It is annoying and real.

Clipboard from screenshot

Copying a screenshot is not copying text. Full Access cannot OCR your Photos for you. Copy the message text.

Notes test skipped

People test first in a dating app that fights first responder. Notes is the scientific control. Then WhatsApp. Then Hinge.

Container app not signed in

Keyboard cannot mint a session from nothing. Open the app, finish auth, then generate. App Group empty is not a globe-key problem.

Still stuck

Reboot, re-add keyboard, Full Access, Notes. If dead after that, it is a crash, not a tutorial miss. Engineering post explains jetsam.

After it works once in Notes, then what

Try WhatsApp next, then Mail, then a dating app. Hosts get weirder as you go. If Notes works and Hinge fails, it is first responder, not your Settings.

Learn globe hold versus globe tap. Hold is a menu. Tap is a cycle. If you have three keyboards, tap can skip KOPY and you will think we vanished.

When iOS updates, recheck Full Access before you reinstall. Reinstall is how people lose accounts and then blame generate.

If generate needs auth, open the container app on Wi-Fi once. Extensions are bad places to do OAuth theater.

This page stays a tutorial. If you want to know why Full Access exists, read Apple and the engineering explainer. If you want to know why we accepted that pain, read the thesis.

More questions people ask after reading this

Does this work on iOS 26 the same way?

The Settings labels may move. Search Keyboards. Apple's custom keyboard doc remains the policy source. I will not screenshot a Settings tree that will rot.

Can I enable it for a child account?

You should not install a reply AI keyboard as a toy on a child profile. This tutorial assumes an adult messaging tool.

Why does the keyboard vanish after a call?

Process death. Open the container app, then the host, then globe. If it keeps vanishing, that is a crash, not a missing toggle.

Do I need Full Access for Gboard too?

Gboard has its own toggles and features. This tutorial is the iOS pattern. Each vendor requests what they need. Read their screen.

Can I skip Full Access and paste into KOPY?

If we cannot read the clipboard, generate has nothing. You would be back in companion-app land inside a keyboard UI. Flip the toggle or use a chatbot.

Why a physical device?

Extensions, clipboard, and Full Access are not honest in Simulator. I put this in engineering notes too. Tutorial readers still try Simulator. It wastes hours.

A setup checklist I wish was in Settings

App installed and opened once. Keyboard added under General. Full Access on if you need clipboard and network. Globe shows the name. Notes test with a copied sentence succeeds. WhatsApp test next. Dating app last. If Notes fails, stop blaming Hinge. If Full Access was on and clipboard is still empty, you copied an image. Copy text. If generate 401s, open the container app and sign in so App Group tokens exist. If the keyboard vanishes, reboot, then open the container app before the host. This is still a tutorial, not an explainer of jetsam. Jetsam has a URL.

Apple documents why Full Access exists. I document where the toggle lives and what breaks when you skip it. That division of labor is how these posts avoid cannibalizing each other. Do not ask this page to rank for SwiftKey versus Gboard. Do not ask it to rank for why we built a keyboard. Ask it to get the globe working. Then go text.

After it works, remove extra keyboards so cycling is two taps. Five keyboards is how people tap past KOPY and file a ticket that generate is broken. It is not broken. You cycled to Emoji and did not notice. I have done this on stage. It is funny once.

Sources

Source — Apple Developer Documentation, Custom Keyboards, retrieved 2026-09-07.

Source — Microsoft Work Trend Index 2025, The Year the Frontier Firm Is Born, retrieved 2026-09-07.