How to turn on and configure T9 on Xiaomi smartphones: the full guide

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A T9 keyboard (predictive text input) makes it much faster to set up messages on Xiaomi smartphones, especially if you write in Russian or English frequently. However, after updating your firmware or resetting, this option may disappear from the menu — or simply be hidden in an obscure place. In this article, we will discuss all the ways to enable T9 on Xiaomi devices (including Redmi, POCO and Black Shark), and also explain how to customize it to your needs.

It's important to understand that the T9 on Android works differently than on older button phones: it's not a separate mode, but part of intelligent input. On MIUI, the feature is integrated into the standard Gboard (from Google) or Mi Keyboard (branded from Xiaomi). If you use third-party keyboards like SwiftKey or Fleksy, the T9 settings may differ - we'll mention that too.

What is T9 and why it is not in the settings of Xiaomi

term T9 (Text on 9 keys originally meant predictive input technology for push-button phones, where one key was responsible for several letters "T9" more often:

• 🔤 Auto Replacement – Real-time typo correction.
• 📝 Word hints – options for continuation over the keyboard.
• ⚡ Gesture input – holding the finger letters without detachment (swipe).
• 🔍 Personalized vocabulary – retaining frequently used words and slang.

On MIUI, these functions are spread across different menus, and you won't find a direct switch, "Enable T9," but instead you need to activate individual options in the keyboard settings. What's more, the latest versions of MIUI 14/15 have changed the path to these settings, so they can now hide behind additional tabs.

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If you lose your word prompts after the MIUI update, first check if your keyboard settings have reset to factory settings. Often, a simple smartphone reboot helps.

How to turn on T9 on Xiaomi’s standard keyboard (Mi Keyboard)

The Mi Keyboard is the default keyboard on most Xiaomi devices. To activate the T9 functions, follow the following steps:

1. Open any application to enter text (such as Messages or Notes).
2. Tap the input field to make the keyboard appear.
3. Click on the icon. ⚙️ "Settings" in the upper right corner of the keyboard (near the tongue switch button).
4. Select the text entry item → Settings Mi Keyboard.

Next, you need to include three key options:

Insert "Word Tricks" (under "Smart Entering")| Activate "Auto-Replacement" (under "Correction")|Add "Gruel Input" (under "Input Methods")|Update the dictionary (under "Languages and input")

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On devices with MIUI 15, the path to keyboard settings may be different: instead of “Setting up Mi Keyboard,” look for the “Gboard” section (if it’s installed by default), which is because Xiaomi is gradually replacing the branded keyboard with Google’s solution.

Mi Keyboard (branded)|Gboard (from Google)|SwiftKey|Fleksy|Another.-->

Activate T9 on Gboard (Google keyboard)

If your Xiaomi has a Gboard keyboard installed (you can download it from the Play Market if it’s not the default keyboard), the process of turning on the T9 will be different.

1. Open any application with a text field (such as WhatsApp).
2. Tap the input field to make the Gboard keyboard appear.
3. Click on the icon. ⚙️ "Settings" (cogs) in the upper panel of the keyboard.
4. Select Text Input → Gboard Settings.
5. Go to the Correction of the text section and turn on: 🔄 Auto Replacement – to correct typos. 💡 Input tips – to display word variants. ✍️ Gesture input - in the Slide-Input section.

Gboard also has a useful Dynamic Proposal feature (in the Dictionary section) that analyzes your messaging messages and suggests contextually relevant words. However, to work, you will need to provide the keyboard with access to Notifications – this can be done in Android settings (Applications). → Gboard → Permits).

Customization of a personal dictionary for T9

To make your keyboard learn your style and offer relevant words (including slang, names or professional terms), you need to customize your personal vocabulary.

For Mi Keyboard:

1. Open the keyboard settings (as described above).
2. Go to the dictionary. → Personal dictionary.
3. Choose a language (such as Russian).
4. Click Add and type the word or phrase you want to save (such as a nickname or rare name).

For Gboard:

1. Go to Gboard Settings → Dictionary → Personal Dictionary.
2. Click Add and specify the word + its short form (for example, "SPS" → "thank you").
3. Enable the dictionary sync option so that your words are saved to your Google account.

If the keyboard is persistently not remembering your words, try:

• 🔄 Restart the keyboard app (in Android settings: Apps) → Gboard/Mi Keyboard → Forced stopping).
• 📱 Update firmware MIUI (Sometimes bugs are fixed in new versions).
• 🗑️ Clear the keyboard cache (Settings) → Annexes → Gboard → Memory. → Clear the cache).

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The personal vocabulary syncs with a Google account only in Gboard. In Mi Keyboard, words are stored locally and can be reset after flashing.

Xiaomi’s T9 Issues: Why It Doesn’t Work and How to Fix It

Even after setting up properly, the T9 may not work properly. Consider typical problems and solutions:

⚠️ Note: If after the update MIUI If you've lost all your keyboard settings, it could be due to an automatic reset to factory settings, and if you do that, you'll only need to reset or reinstall the keyboard.

If none of these methods helped, try resetting the keyboard settings:

1. Go to Settings → System → Language and input → Virtual keyboard.
2. Select your keyboard (Gboard or Mi Keyboard).
3. Click Reset (or Clear Data, but it will remove the personal dictionary!).

Some Xiaomi models (such as the Redmi Note 12 Pro+ or Xiaomi 13T) may require re-activation of microphone permissions (for voice input) and notifications (for contextual prompts) after resetting the keyboard settings.

Alternative keyboards with T9 support

If standard Xiaomi keyboards don’t suit you, you can install third-party apps with advanced T9 features.

• 📱 SwiftKey (from Microsoft) - supports gesture input, cloud dictionary and design themes. Plus: perfectly predicts words in Russian. Minus: requires registration for synchronization.
• ⚡ Fleksy is a minimalist keyboard with gesture support and advanced auto-replacement settings. Plus: it works without the Internet.
• 🤖 Chroom is an AI-based keyboard that supports multiple languages at the same time, plus context-based smart sentences. Cons: high battery consumption.
• 🎨 Go Keyboard — over 1,000 themes and gifs in the hints. Plus: lots of customization. Minus: shows ads.

To install an alternative keyboard:

1. Download the app from the Play Market.
2. Go to Settings → System → Language and input → Virtual keyboard.
3. Turn on the downloaded keyboard and set it by default.
4. Launch the keyboard app and perform the initial setup (choosing language, style, etc.).

⚠️ Note: Some keyboards (e.g. SwiftKey) require access to Notices to analyze the context of messages.This may raise privacy concerns – weigh the pros and cons before granting permissions.

Tips for Effective Use of T9 on Xiaomi

To speed up typing with T9, use these life hacks:

• 🔥 Use gesture input for short words (e.g., "hello," "ok," "sps"). This is 2-3 times faster than letter-printing.
• 📚 Add frequently used phrases to your personal vocabulary (such as email address or phone number).
• 🌐 Switch languages quickly: swipe the left/right space (in Gboard) or click on the globe icon (in Mi Keyboard).
• 🔍 Fix typos with double tap: If a word is underlined in red, touch it twice to see the options for fixing it.
• 🎵 Turn on the sound of the keys (in the keyboard settings) to better control input.

If you often write in two languages (such as Russian and English), set up automatic language recognition:

1. In Gboard: Settings → Text input → Language recognition → Enable.
2. In Mi Keyboard: Settings → Languages and input → Multilingual input → Enable.

This will allow the keyboard to automatically adjust to the language of the input text without manual switching.

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If you often type in the same data (such as an email or address), create text templates in the Notes app or Google Keep and copy them from there.

FAQ: Frequent questions about T9 on Xiaomi