Skip to main content

Touch typing in Windows 10 — Windows Phone keyboard is coming to PCs

windows 10
Micha Klootwijk/123rf
Microsoft’s lauded Windows Phone WordFlow keyboard is reportedly coming to all Windows 10 PCs, including tablets. While that latter group will no doubt appreciate it more, as Microsoft continues to unify its software platforms, it is now bringing its on-screen keyboard to Windows 10.

No official announcement has been made for this move but Microsoft accidentally released build 16212 for Windows 10 and phones and it includes a number of the features that are necessary for on-screen inputs. As MS Poweruser explains, one of those features was Composable Shell and one of its components is TextInput, which is the basis for the Windows keyboard.

The purpose of Composable Shell, or CShell, is that it can scale Windows 10 to the device and display type you are using. Using technology developed by Microsoft acquisition, Swiftkey, the on-screen keyboard should be able to work with any device of any configuration, as long as it is running Windows 10. It will also support swipe inputs, much like the Windows Phone keyboard.

While none of this will be of huge interest to desktop users, those using tablets or 2-in-1 systems will likely see some benefit from it. The Windows Phone WordFlow keyboard is well liked by Windows Phone users, so could find a much larger receptive audience on Windows 10 tablets.

Unfortunately, though, nobody knows when we can expect to see this feature added to a new Windows 10 build for consumers to enjoy. As of now, it is believed the internal build was rolled out sooner than planned to Windows Insiders on the Fast ring, so it may be some time before it is leaked out further to the Slow ring.

However, Microsoft has not even acknowledged that the text input feature exists yet, so we will likely need to wait for that to happen before making any major speculation about when we can expect to enjoy it. Until that happens, know that it will need to proliferate through the Insider rings before seeing the light of day.

Editors' Recommendations

Jon Martindale
Jon Martindale is the Evergreen Coordinator for Computing, overseeing a team of writers addressing all the latest how to…
Windows 11 has been causing problems with Intel graphics for months, and no one said a word
A Windows 11 device sits on a table.

If you're using Intel integrated graphics and you've been having some issues with DirectX apps, we may know the reason why -- outdated drivers paired with a recent Windows update.

According to Microsoft, a Windows 11 update may have caused some errors in Intel graphics. The update is not recent at all, so even if you haven't updated in the last few weeks, you may be affected.

Read more
Update Windows now — Microsoft just fixed several dangerous exploits
Person sitting and using an HP computer with Windows 11.

Microsoft has just released a new patch, and this time around, the update comes with fixes for several dangerous and actively abused vulnerabilities and exploits in Windows.

A total of 68 vulnerabilities were addressed in the patch, many of them critical. Here's what was fixed and how to make sure your Windows device is up to date.

Read more
Top 10 Windows shortcuts everyone should know
An individual using a laptop's keyboard.

Windows shortcuts are a constantly-used feature by practically all PC users. Apart from saving you time from carrying out the specific command without having to perform a few extra clicks on your mouse, it’s simply more convenient to refer back to shortcuts via your keyboard.

Although you may be satisfied with the Windows shortcuts you already know about and utilize on a daily basis, you can enhance your general Windows experience in a big way with these 10 shortcuts everyone should know.
Ctrl + Z
Tired of always having to use your mouse to find and click the Undo button on a program like Microsoft Word or, say, entering details on a website or editing images? Ctrl + Z will basically undo whatever your last action was, providing you a convenient way to reverse edits and changes within a second. From personal experience, this shortcut proved to be especially useful for productivity applications.
Ctrl + Shift + T
We’ve all been there. Nowadays, our browsers are inundated with multiple tabs, and as such, it’s hard to keep track of at times. Eventually, you’re going to close a tab on accident when trying to select it. Instead of trying to remember what it was or spending a few seconds accessing it and reopening it via the Recently Closed feature (on Chrome), simply hit Ctrl + Shift + T to restore the last closed tab. Similarly, Ctrl + N will open a new tab.
Alt + Tab

Read more