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iPad Keyboard- Emoji/'?123' buttons changed around

Hey everyone. I have a main iPad and a iPad mini. Recently I replaced the iPad mini as the old one was getting on. Apart from being annoyed that the new one doesn't have a home button AND uses a different charger (I was unaware they had changed) I can get by with these issues, but one that is driving me mad is the swapping around of these buttons.


Big iPad is a 7th Generation, running iPad OS 16.4.1

iPad mini is a 6th Generation, running iPad OS 16.4.1


But on the iPad mini these buttons have been switched around. I want to get them back to normal, like my main (bigger) iPad, i.e. the '?123' button should be at the bottom left of the keyboard, to the LEFT of the emoji button.


How and why have these been switched on the iPad mini and how do I get it back to normal please?


When I use my iPad mini to write emails etc I am constantly getting the emojis up by mistake, because the button is in the wrong place!


Thank you



Above shows the normal iPad with the proper button alignment.




Above shows the iPad Mini with the INCORRECT button alignment.

iPad mini (6th generation)

Posted on Apr 7, 2023 11:22 PM

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Question marked as Best reply

Posted on Apr 8, 2023 5:33 AM

For reasons known only to Apple, the two soft-keys of which you complain switch places. All recent models of iPad place the Emoji key before the “123” key on the bottom row of keys - while older models of iPad reverse these two keys.


This key-layout is not user configurable.


You are not the first - and are unlikely to be the last - to make both this observation and complaint. Unfortunately, there is absolutely nothing that you can do to change this behaviour. For what it’s worth, “muscle memory” will quite quickly adapt to this change; that said, differences in relative key position can be problematic if you are regularly using both current and older devices.


Apple do invite submission of comments and feedback via it Product Feedback portal. For iPad and iPadOS:

Feedback - iPad - Apple

2 replies
Question marked as Best reply

Apr 8, 2023 5:33 AM in response to atgio

For reasons known only to Apple, the two soft-keys of which you complain switch places. All recent models of iPad place the Emoji key before the “123” key on the bottom row of keys - while older models of iPad reverse these two keys.


This key-layout is not user configurable.


You are not the first - and are unlikely to be the last - to make both this observation and complaint. Unfortunately, there is absolutely nothing that you can do to change this behaviour. For what it’s worth, “muscle memory” will quite quickly adapt to this change; that said, differences in relative key position can be problematic if you are regularly using both current and older devices.


Apple do invite submission of comments and feedback via it Product Feedback portal. For iPad and iPadOS:

Feedback - iPad - Apple

iPad Keyboard- Emoji/'?123' buttons changed around

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