How to fold the keyboard on Xiaomi: hidden functions and settings

Modern Xiaomi smartphones are equipped with a large diagonal screen, which creates certain difficulties when typing with one hand. The standard keyboard takes up almost half of the display, blocking the view and forcing the user to reach for the far corners of the screen. Many owners of devices based on MIUI and the new HyperOS wonder whether it is possible to make the input area more compact and convenient.

Fortunately, the developers have come up with a number of ways to address this problem, although they are not always obvious at first glance: you can fold the keyboard using both the standard Android system and the advanced features of the proprietary shell, this is especially true for people with small palms or when using a gadget in transport, when holding it with both hands is inconvenient.

In this article, we will take a look at all the available methods for reducing the size of a virtual keyboard, including hidden settings and third-party solutions. You will learn how to activate one-hand mode, rescale fonts and move the input panel to the right part of the screen for maximum comfort.

Staffing capabilities of the Gboard keyboard on Xiaomi

Most Xiaomi smartphones use Google’s virtual Gboard keyboard by default, a tool that has a wide range of functionality that is often underrated. To access the size settings, you need to go to the keyboard’s settings menu. To do this, open any application that requires text input and click on the gear icon in the top toolbar.

In the menu that opens, you'll find Settings and select Settings with one hand, and that's where you'll find a feature that allows you to move the keyboard left or right, and you'll be able to reduce the area you're using, and it's not just a visual effect, it's a complete change in the interface logic for user experience.

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If you don’t see the gear icon on the keyboard panel, try pressing and holding a comma or emoji icon – often the settings menu is hidden in a long press.

Activating one-hand mode automatically adjusts the location of the keys under the thumb of the working hand, which reduces the likelihood of errors when typing quickly and makes using your smartphone on the subway or bus much more comfortable. It is important to note that this feature works regardless of the orientation of the screen, keeping its settings in both portrait and landscape mode.

One-handed mode in the shell of MIUI and HyperOS

The MIUI shell, and now HyperOS, offers a system layer of interface size management. Unlike the keyboard settings, it changes the scale of the entire screen or its active zone. To find this feature, go to Settings on your smartphone, then select Additional and find Mode with one hand.

Inside this menu, you can activate the screen shrinkage function. Once turned on, when you swipe your finger from the bottom corner of the screen to the center (or swipe down from the bottom bar of the navigation), the active area of the display is compressed. The keyboard in this case also decreases proportionally, becoming available for thumb input without intercepting the device.

⚠️ Note: In newer versions of HyperOS, menu layout may vary. If you do not find an item in the "Advanced" section, search for settings by typing in a "one-handed" or "one-handed" query».

The system approach has its advantages, as it affects all applications at once. However, it is worth considering that with a strong screen shrinkage, some interface elements can become too small for comfortable reading.

Size and scale settings via the Gboard menu

If you don't think one-hand mode is flexible enough, Gboard lets you manually adjust the height of the keyboard, so you can leave the keyboard in the center or bottom, but make it rows narrower. To access these settings, open the keyboard settings menu again through the gear icon.

Select Settings, then go to Preferences, and we're interested in Keyboard Height, and if you move the slider, you can choose from five, very low to very high, and this change is instantaneous, and you can fine-tune the interface to your experience.

• 📏 Very low – ideal for large screens and one-handed input, but the keys become very small.
• 📐 Low - compromise option that preserves the readability of symbols with a reduced area occupied.
• ⚖️ Average – the default value set by the developers for most users.
• 📈 High – suitable for Xiaomi Pad tablets or users with large fingers.
• 🏔️ Very high – the maximum size, covering almost half of the screen, is convenient when typing with both hands.

Changing the height of the keyboard also affects the location of the hintbar and the row with numbers. When choosing the minimum height, the suggestions panel can be hidden or reduced, which frees up additional space for displaying content in applications. This is especially useful when viewing long correspondence in messengers.

Using the floating keyboard mode

Another effective way to roll the keyboard away from the intrusiveness is to float, and in this state, the keyboard breaks off from the bottom of the screen and becomes a small window that can be moved anywhere on the display, which doesn't reduce the size of the buttons themselves, but it changes the ergonomics of use.

To activate the floating mode on the Gboard keyboard, you need to press and hold the emoji or globe icon at the bottom of the panel until the menu appears. Select the option Floating Mode. Now the keyboard has become a compact window that can be pushed aside to see the text underneath it, or moved closer to your thumb.

Activation path: Gboard → Menu (three dots or arrow) → Floating mode settings

Floating is particularly useful when working with documents or tables, when you need to simultaneously type and see the top of the page. The keyboard window can be scaled by pulling a corner, which allows you to further adjust its size, but it can be more difficult to hit the keys on the go due to the lack of binding to the edge of the screen.

Comparison of keyboard reduction methods

To make it easier for you to choose the right option, we have prepared a comparative table of the main methods, each of which has its own characteristics, which can be critical depending on the use case of your Redmi, POCO or Mi smartphone.

As you can see from the table, there's no one-size-fits-all solution, so if your main problem is reaching the keys, then one-hand mode is the best choice, and if the keyboard just overlaps too much content, you should experiment with height or floating mode.

⚠️ Note: When using the system mode of reducing the screen in MIUI Display artifacts may be observed in some applications that are not optimized for reduced resolution.

Alternative keyboards and their capabilities

If Xiaomi and Gboard don’t suit you, Google Play offers many alternatives. Third-party developers often introduce more flexible interface settings. For example, Microsoft’s SwiftKey keyboard allows you to not only resize, but also completely customize the layout, dividing it into two parts.

A separate keyboard is a unique format where buttons are divided into two blocks at the edges of the screen, and there is empty space in the center, which is ideal for very large smartphones and tablets, allowing you to type with your thumbs, holding the device with both hands, but not bringing them to the center.

When you install a third-party keyboard, Android will ask for full access permission, a necessary step for any virtual keyboard to work, as it must read the data you enter to autocorrect and predict words.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

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Optimal keyboard setting on Xiaomi is a combination of one-hand system mode for navigation and reduced Gboard height for comfortable typing.