iPad external keyboard spacebar not working properly

Hi,


Recently I installed iPadOS public beta and bought an external third party keyboard. The spacebar of the keyboard does not work properly on some applications including the native email app. When I clicked on the spacebar, it inputs newline instead of space. Also, I noticed I can input space by clicking on shift+spacebar or alt+spacebar.


I tried with another keyboard and same issues persists. Is this an issue from iPadOS public beta?


Anyone experiencing the same issues?

  • I use the fixing method as suggested and it worked but only for spacebar. My Tab key still have the same issue in Numbers app. I need to Alt Tab to move to next cell in Numbers. Any way to solve this. Also does this work normally if i use Apple keyboard instead? Other than that the keyboard is working fine.

  • The solution offered, to clear the space command, works for me. I also had to clear the commands for “Move Up”, “Move Right”, “Move Down” and “Move Left” to get my arrow keys to work (Zagg Folio keyboard, iPad Mini 4, iPadOS 15 Beta 8). I suggest that you also try clearing your Tab key’s command and any other commands that are not working for you.

  • Yes clearing activate from spacebar setting fixes the problem for me.

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I have exactly the same issue! Even when I am writing this message here I still need to press SHIFT+SPACEBAR to stop one word and go to the next one... So frustrating... Please find a fix, because the writing is almost impossible in so many apps, specially in “google search” in Safari - spacebar makes Enter instead... In addition to this sometimes when you press the spacebar it appears a rectangle around the typing field..

  • I have the same issue. Can’t use the space when typing in Outlook or inside a Search window in Safari. It is very annoying.

  • I finally fixed it by disabling “Full Keyboard Access” (option in Settings/Keyboard).

    Thanks to whoever first suggested that! (Brilliant!)

  • disabling “Full keyboard access” in accessibility settings worked for me! Thank you!

Same here

  • i didabled full access keyboard, which fixed the space bar problem; but, now the caps lock and shift cap doesn’t work - which also disabled all shift functions for special characters. i’m using the logitech mx keys keyboard. what’s strange is that it works find on my iphone - just having a problem with my ipad - previously worked fine.

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Same here, I thought my smart keyboard was bad at first, tried a new keyboard and still the same problem.

Same problem. Also I noticed that when I press CTRL+tab a box appears swithcing around parts of webpage, or in general buttons of the app I am using.

Same issue here. I'm wondering if it's specific to 3rd party keyboards (vs Apple's Smart Keyboard Folio)? I've also tried with multiple (non-Apple) bluetooth keyboards.
Hope this will be resolved in the final release.

  • mine is still having all the issues from above 15.3.1. Turning off "Full Keyboard Access" did fix the issue.

  • it is not. I have the magic keyboard from apple, and I having the same problem.

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UPDATE: The issue is fixed after updating to public beta 3. Spacebar now works just like expected.

  • where do you find public beta 3 - and did you also disable full access keyboard - disabling full access cured the space bar problem but disabled my shift commands and caps lock.

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This is still not working on some websites in safari, space bar is treated as return.


one example is the search bar on google.com


hardware: smart folio for iPad pro 11

Guys

I just solved it disabling "full keyboard access". Hope this works also for you.


cheers


p.s. I have a bluetooth microsoft keyboard.

  • Perfect Fix!! This IS the issue!

  • This fixed the problem with my iPad Pro and Logitech bluetooth keyboards. Thank you!

  • Fixed my issues thanks 🙌🏽

Thanks! This works to me.

And a bit more, you can just clear the shortcut for Spacebar under the "full keyboard access>>Commands" (it was set as act of Activate by default), don't need to disable the full function in case you need other shortcut to control the ipad.

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  • Same issue with same solution. Thank you very much.

  • That did work for me, thank you very much! Numbers is a particular problem The arrow keys still show some bizarre behavior, related to all of this.

  • That did work for me, thank you very much! Numbers is a particular problem The arrow keys still show some bizarre behavior, related to all of this.

I Had the same problem. Drove me crazy. Went to Settings: Accessibility: Keyboards: Full Keyboard Access: Commands: Activate: and then pressed "Clear" worked.

  • Brilliant fixed thanks --jellycomb keyboard/iPad 6 iOS 15.02

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I had the same issue especially when using OneNote where pressing space was causing the command to do an 'Undo'.

I manage to fix my issue by going into 'Settings > Accessbility > Keyboards > Full Keyboard Access > Commands', and from there in the 'BASIC' section, I removed the 'Space' in the 'Activate' option.

I'm using a Smart Keyboard with a wireless mouse.

Hope this helps most of you!
  • IOS v13.5.1 on an iPad Pro 4th Gen -

  • Thank you so much! On my 3rd 3rd party keyboard. Your fix did the trick!!! So happy now!!!

  • I have IPad Air 5th gen and this fixed the problem thank you so much !

  • This worked with my new FINTE keyboard and an older iPad. Thank you!

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You can leave “Full Access Keyboard” on & just go to the “Commands” page under Accessibility -> Keyboards -> Full Access Keyboard & turn off “Activate” via space. Quit & relaunch your app. It worked for me with iVim / Vim.

Hope this helps!

  • Thank You. Removing the Activate “space bar” feature was exactly what I was looking for. It’s strange that would be a default.

  • iOS 15 this fix works. Level 1 & 2 Apple phone support are clueless about this, another wasted hour. Question is, “What turned Activate on and input space bar?” Aliens?

  • i agaree. my mx keys keyboard previously worked fine with my ipad - this problem came out of thin air. i deleted the space in commands under full keyboard access, which fixed the space bar problem, but disabled my caps lock and shift key options.

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Had the same issue with a 4th generation Ipad air with the magic apple keyboard.

Settings - Accessibility - Keyboards - Full Keyboard access - commands - Activate - Clear

worked for me.
  • Exactly the same with me. IPad Air 4, Apple magic keyboard (plus two other Bluetooth keyboards) exhibiting edit inhibiting results when keys pressed. The Settings-Accessibility-Keyboards-Full Keyboard Access-Commands-Activate-Clear eliminated the problem. Hopefully, this will be fixed in a future beta release so that keyboard full access can be used without issues.

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'Settings > Accessbility > Keyboards > Full Keyboard Access > Commands', and from there in the 'BASIC' section, removed the 'Space' in the 'Activate' option.



You guys always have the answer! Clearing the activate in the full keyboard access works perfectly fine. Thank you guys for doing the work!
  • I have exactly the same issue! Even when I am writing this message here I still need to press SHIFT+SPACEBAR to stop one word and go to the next one... So frustrating... Please find a fix, because the writing is almost impossible in so many apps, specially in “google search” in Safari - spacebar makes Enter instead... In addition to this sometimes when you press the spacebar it appears a rectangle around the typing field..

  • I have exactly the same issue! Even when I am writing this message here I still need to press SHIFT+SPACEBAR to stop one word and go to the next one... So frustrating... Please find a fix, because the writing is almost impossible in so many apps, specially in “google search” in Safari - spacebar makes Enter instead... In addition to this sometimes when you press the spacebarcounter.org it appears a rectangle around the typing field..

  • I just installed OS 15 and yes this problem still exists with the spacebar and the arrow keys. Whoever was wondering if it affects the Magic Keyboard, yes, it does affect the Magic Keyboard. When I begin to enter something in a text box first it outlines the box in blue. When I first connect the keyboard to the iPad it will draw a blue outline around whatever it can find. Sometimes it will try to just enter whatever I just typed into a search box, like Google or Duckduckgo! THANK YOU for telling me the workaround with alt or shift SPACEBAR! Alt TAB works in Numbers, however Alt backtab does not. This has been driving me NUTS and is a TERRIBLE problem, in every app, making any productive work nearly impossible. Please Apple fix this!! I don’t know if it would do me any good to take this to the Genius Bar or not. I would probably just get another bum Magic Keyboard! OS 15 made it even worse.

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