How to change the size of the keyboard to Android Xiaomi: the complete guide

Owners of Xiaomi, Redmi and Poco smartphones often face situations where the standard keyboard seems too bulky or too small to comfortably type, especially for models with large screens or users who prefer one-handed input. Standard settings for the MIUI shell or the new HyperOS do not always allow flexible management of input parameters, which creates the illusion of no possibility of change.

In fact, you can change the dimensions of the virtual keyboard in a number of ways, from the built-in functions of the Gboard or Sogou keyboard itself, to the system settings for scaling the interface. In this article, we will discuss in detail all the methods available to help you customize the input screen to your anatomical features and preferences.

We'll look not only at standard height sliders, but also at more subtle settings, such as changing the font size that directly affects the space the keyboard occupies, and also at third-party apps if standard tools are not enough to solve your problem.

Built-in height settings in Gboard and Sogou

The most obvious and safe way to resize is to use native tools on the keyboard itself. Most Xiaomi smartphones have Google’s or Sogou’s Gboard keyboard installed by default (in Chinese and some global versions), which have built-in functionality to adjust the height of a number of characters.

To access the settings in Gboard, you need to open any application that requires text input, such as Messages or Notes. When the keyboard appears, find the gear icon in the top panel or press the comma button. In the menu that opens, select Settings, then go to Preferences, and that's where the Keyboard Height slider is located, which instantly changes the size of the active area.

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If you don’t see the height slider, make sure you have the latest version of Gboard installed through the Google Play Market, as older versions may have called it something else or not.

Sogou users can also change the settings, but the interface will be different. This keyboard often features a "getting stuck Keyboard" or one-hand mode that visually reduces the workspace by sliding it aside, which is especially convenient for owners of phablets in the Redmi Note or Mi Mix series.

• 📏 Adjusting height allows you to adapt the keyboard to the length of your fingers.
• 🖐️ One-hand mode shifts the keyboard to the edge of the screen for easy thumb input.
• 🎨 Changing the theme often involves changing the visual size of the buttons.
• ⚙️ Deep settings allow you to disable the top row with numbers, freeing up space.

⚠️ Attention: When the keyboard height is greatly reduced, the accuracy of hitting the buttons may decrease, leading to an increase in the number of typos.

It is worth noting that changing the height in Gboard does not change the size of the font, but only trims or expands the area of the buttons rendering. If you need to change the size of the characters, you should refer to other system parameters, which will be discussed below.

Change of font size as a method of scaling

Many users don't know that the font size of Android systems directly affects the size of keyboard elements. It's a system dependency that you can use to your advantage. By zooming in, you automatically make buttons higher and wider, because the keyboard adjusts to a given standard for displaying text.

To use this method, go to the main settings menu of your smartphone, you'll need a screen (or display) section inside which you'll find text size. As you move the slider to the right, you'll see how the letter size changes throughout the interface, including the keyboard, and this is the most efficient way to change the dimensions globally without installing third-party software.

It is important to understand the difference between text size and image size (or zoom in). If you resize the image (DPI), this can cause the interface elements to become too large and not fit on the screen, and some applications may not display correctly, so it is better to use the font setting for the keyboard.

Some Xiaomi models with HyperOS shells have advanced font customization. In the Settings menu -> Screen -> Text size and font, you can choose a preset style that also affects the geometry of the display of characters. Some decorative fonts can be wider than standard ones, which visually increases the keyboard.

Set up special features and scale

If standard sliders aren't enough, Android offers more powerful tools through a special feature menu, where you can change the pixel density (DPI) or turn on a magnifying glass, but what we're interested in is scaling the interface elements, which will affect the keyboard.

To access hidden settings, you sometimes need to activate the developer mode. Do seven quick clicks on the field of the MIUI version or OS version in the About Phone section. Then the optional or Advanced settings menu will appear in the Developer section. Find the section associated with the Smallest width.

⚠️ Warning: Be careful when changing the setting Minimum width in the developer settings. Too much reduction in value can make the interface unreadable, and it will be difficult to get everything back without resetting the settings or connecting to the PC.

Also in the Special Features section, you can find the zoom function, which, although it is designed for the visually impaired and works like a magnifying glass (triple tap on the screen), in emergency cases, it allows you to temporarily enlarge the keyboard for an accurate password or important message.

Using third-party keyboards for flexible settings

When the built-in tools of Xiaomi and the standard Gboard are exhausted, specialized apps from Google Play come to the rescue. Third-party keyboards often offer much deeper customization options, including resizing each button separately or creating fully custom layouts.

One of the most flexible keyboards is AnySoftKeyboard or Thumb Keyboard, which, for example, allows you to manually set the number of pixels for the height of the keyboard, change the location of the functional rows, and even create a profile for one-handed input with enlarged buttons, installing such an application completely replaces standard input.

When you install a third-party keyboard, Android will issue a security alert, which is standard, because the keyboard can theoretically read the input, and only trust trusted developers with a good reputation, such as Google, Microsoft or well-known open-source projects.

After installation, you need to activate the new keyboard. Go to Settings -> Additional -> Language and input -> Keyboard Management. Turn on the switch opposite the new application, and then select it as the main one from the Current Keyboard menu. Now you can enjoy the enhanced size setting functionality.

Adaptation of the interface for one-hand input

Keyboard size is often a problem because of the inconvenience of two-handed input on large screens, and in these cases, it's useful to use ergonomics modes, not just shrinkage, and MIUI and HyperOS shells have built-in mechanisms for this.

In the settings of the Gboard keyboard or the standard Xiaomi keyboard, one-handed input is often found. When activated, the keyboard compresses and presses to the left or right edge of the screen, which does not change the physical size of the buttons in pixels relative to their original state, but makes the access area more compact and convenient.

You can also use the Floating Keyboard (if supported by an OS version or an app) to untie the keyboard from the bottom edge of the screen, shrink it down and move it around the screen, ideal for Xiaomi Pad tablets or very large smartphones.

• 📱 Activate the mode with one hand through a long press on the comma button.
• ↔️ Use swipes on the space for quick switching between left and right hand.
• 🔍 Turn on voice input to reduce the load on your fingers for long texts.

Frequent problems and their solution

When changing the size of the keyboard, users may encounter various artifacts. For example, after updating the Xiaomi system, the keyboard settings may reset, and the height slider will return to the default value. In this case, the settings should be checked again in the Google profile (for Gboard), since they are often synchronized with the account.

Another common problem is the incompatibility of the theme design. If you use a third-party theme from the MIUI Themes store, it can force you to size your system elements, ignoring your keyboard settings. Try switching to the standard Classic theme or No Limits to see if it affects the size.

And there's also a bug that happens when the keyboard gets too big and covers half the screen, which is often when you switch the orientation of the screen or plug in an external keyboard, and the solution is simple: close the application that you typed in and open it again. If the problem persists, delete the keyboard updates through the app menu.

⚠️ Note: It is not recommended to install modified versions of system keyboards (MOD) They may contain malicious code that will intercept your passwords and credit card details.

FAQ: Frequently Asked Questions

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The optimal size of a keyboard is the balance between the ease of getting your fingers and the number of lines of text you can see on the screen, so don't make it too big to keep the context of your conversations in check.