What is Gboard?

What is Gboard?

Gboard is Google's on-screen keyboard for Android. It handles typing, glide typing, voice typing, emoji and GIF search, the clipboard, text suggestions and dozens of languages, and it is the default keyboard on Pixels and many other Android phones. Samsung phones ship with Samsung Keyboard as the default, but Gboard is often installed too.

Because the keyboard is used everywhere, from messaging apps to the lock screen password field, Gboard is one of the most important apps on a phone that uses it. It is updated through the Play Store, and its settings open from the keyboard itself: Google's help points to the menu at the top of the keyboard, then More and Settings.

Its package name, com.google.android.inputmethod.latin, looks unrelated to the name "Gboard" because it comes from Android's older Latin keyboard, which Google's keyboard grew out of.

Can I disable it?

You can, but only after another keyboard is installed, enabled and set as the default, which makes this an advanced change. If Gboard is the only keyboard on the phone and you disable it, you may be left with no way to type. Community reports also warn that on some phones this can stop you from entering a text password at the lock screen after a restart.

The safe order:

1. Install the keyboard you want from the Play Store or Galaxy Store.
2. Enable it and make it the default under Settings > System > Keyboard (or Languages & input) > On-screen keyboard.
3. Type in a few apps, and on a phone with a text password, restart once and make sure you can unlock with the new keyboard.
4. Then disable Gboard in Settings > Apps > Gboard, or with ADB:

adb shell pm disable-user --user 0 com.google.android.inputmethod.latin

What you lose: Gboard's typing features, its learned words and its voice typing. Other keyboards, including Samsung Keyboard, keep working.

Does it drain battery or data?

No, not in normal use: Gboard only runs while the keyboard is on screen, and typing is light work. It can show up in battery lists because it is used so often, by every app you type in, which adds up over a day.

Data use comes from features that reach the network, such as voice typing on phones without offline speech models, GIF and sticker search, translation and its own updates. If you want to cut it, turn off features you do not use in Gboard's settings.

If Gboard's battery share is unusually large, a crash loop is more likely than heavy typing. The fixes below address that.

Why did it just update?

It updated because Google delivers Gboard through the Google Play Store, separately from system updates, and releases new versions often. Updates add features such as new emoji, languages, clipboard and editing tools, and they fix bugs; Google's help notes that updates frequently include bug fixes, performance improvements and compatibility changes.

If an update causes problems, Google's own advice is to uninstall the updates to go back to a more stable version until a fix arrives.

Which packages are behind it?

One package:

• com.google.android.inputmethod.latin is Gboard.

Voice typing in Gboard can use Google's speech services, and phone makers often add their own keyboard, such as Samsung Keyboard, as a separate package. Those are not part of Gboard.

If something goes wrong

If Gboard is crashing, freezing or not appearing, restart the phone and update Gboard first; Google's help starts with both steps. If that does not help, work through Google's list:

1. Clear Gboard's cache: Settings > Apps > Gboard > Storage and cache > Clear cache. If the problem continues, Clear storage resets Gboard to its defaults.
2. Force stop Gboard from the same screen, then open the keyboard again.
3. If problems began right after an update, choose Uninstall updates from Gboard's App info menu.
4. Before uninstalling or reinstalling Gboard, install a second keyboard, as Google advises, so you are never left without one.

For typing lag or wrong key presses, Google suggests turning off Personalization under the keyboard's Settings > Advanced, keeping to one or two active languages, and adjusting Text correction.

If you disabled Gboard and your new keyboard is not working, reconnect with ADB and turn Gboard back on:

adb shell pm enable com.google.android.inputmethod.latin
adb shell cmd package install-existing com.google.android.inputmethod.latin