How to Find the Hidden Cancel Button on Android
On my iPhone, the most frequently used keyboard function is Undo. Sometimes this is the fastest way to start the sentence over and try again. iPhone has a system-wide undo option (just shake your device and you’ll see it), but I miss it when I use Android. Luckily, it turns out that Gboard for Android, which comes standard with Pixel phones and devices running stock Android, has a hidden undo key .
How to Use Gboard’s Hidden Cancel Key for Android
To use your device’s hidden cancel key, you’ll need to add a Japanese keyboard to Gboard for Android . For some reason, this is the only language that comes with a built-in undo key. Here’s how to install it:
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Go to any app where you see a keyboard on your Android phone. If you have Gboard installed, this should show it.
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On your keyboard, hold down the globe until a pop-up window appears.
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Select Language Settings . This button may have a slightly different name on your device.
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On the Language Settings page, select Add a Keyboard and search for Japanese.
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You will see different keyboard layout options. Select a 12-key layout and click Done .
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Now try entering any application on your phone. When you’re done typing, hold down the Globe key and switch to the Japanese keyboard. You will see a cancel key in the top left corner. To return to the default keyboard, hold the Globe key again.
While this workaround is a little inconvenient, switching between keyboard layouts is fast enough to make it worth it, at least for me.
Your phone may not have Gboard installed. If so, you can install it here . However, some manufacturers build a system-wide cancel key into their Gboard replacements, making this trick unnecessary. On a standard Samsung keyboard , undoing an action is as simple as swiping left with two fingers.