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rdub76 Author

Level 1

9 points

I cannot delete iPhone keyboard shortcuts. They keep restoring.

I have deleted old keyboard shortcuts that were no longer used and added new ones using the same shortcut. For instance typing "eml" would auto-fill with my old email address. I deleted this shortcut and made a new one - "eml" = new email address. iCloud keeps restoring the old shortcuts, so now I have two "eml" shortcuts with two different email addresses. Also, old shortcuts are constantly being restored! I cannot delete any shortcut! They will delete for a couple of days and then they are "restored" to my iPhone. How the heck do you permanently delete keyboard shortcuts in iOS? I tried turning off backup, deleting, turning on, waiting, updating to no avail. Is there a way to completely wipe the backup/settings file stored in iCloud for an iOS device?

Posted on Nov 7, 2014 11:46 AM

Top-ranking reply

LookInToMyEyes

Level 1

5 points

Posted on Jul 13, 2015 2:46 PM

Keyboard Shortcut returning solution

Wow it is insane the amount of people who are having this issue. The reason this error exist because of a corrupt backup/ local keyboard files. Your iPhone has created multiple folders for the keyboard shortcut and iCloud can't delete those and because of this your backups only delete on iPhone and not on iCloud because they are not in the proper folder. IMPORTANT: All your shortcuts are being uploaded to iCloud even the ones you can not delete. Once you attempt to delete them iCloud does delete them (Temporary because your iPhone has a corrupt backup that won't delete it and it just gets restore back)

The solution is very simple.

You could start from a scratch iPhone and lose all your information or you can modify your backup and delete the corrupted files. As I said earlier, your iCloud backup has all your keyboard shortcuts backed up so you won't lose any of them, make sure you do an iCloud backup.

Step one

Backup your iPhone to iTunes.

Step two

You will need a program that can read iTune's backup

Step Three

open the program and select your latest backup from the left hand side of the program

Navigate to

System files > KeyboardDomain

Once inside the Keyboard domain select > Library > Keyboard

Delete "CoreDataUbiquitySupport"

Before you delete it let me explain whats inside. Go ahead and open the coredata folder, there should only be two folders (By Default) in here, but as you can see you have more than two. This is all local and because of that your backups keep coming back because your iPhone keeps reading all the folders when it should only be reading the default one that iCloud gives you.

Step four

Restore your iPhone using iTunes and using this backup. Once your iPhone connects to iCloud it will download your keyboard shortcuts and in the corrupted folder there will only be two folders (Or how many your iCloud reads) making it corrected.

Should anyone have questions or answers please feel free to contact me. This modification is 100% safe as long as you delete what I told you to. Any typos or errors I apologize. I rather fix the issue than waste 1 hour explaining or fixing my typos. I came across this issue on a few iPhones at my company and I had to come up with a solution.

Chris

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647 replies

Apr 19, 2015 12:00 PM in response to LookInToMyEyes

Chris,

sso, by erasing this folder within the backup data, you're essentially wiping the shortcuts clean, right?

wpuldnt it re-populate the zombiecuts after it syncs with icloud?

and another question, should sync with iCloud immediatley after restoring the altered backup file?

thanks chris!

Apr 19, 2015 12:15 PM in response to Panzershrek

I apologize for my bad english too. Chris' method works for me, even performing a reset. I repeat all the steps in both devices; then i finally could delete, add and edit shortcuts without making duplicates and zombie shortcuts. Again thanks Chris.

Apr 19, 2015 12:25 PM in response to Panzershrek

Every Time your iPhone starts up it syns with iCloud, and that is just the basic sync with things like "notes, reminder, keyboard shortcuts etc

Erasing this folder you are essentially wiping the local shortcuts clean. As I stated in the apparently not so informative, typo guide lol, your iCloud stores them in a different way than your iTunes does, iCloud is keeping all of your shortcuts even the "zombiecuts". But on the "Corrupted" device when you delete them, iCloud doesn't see that. Once you delete the "corrupted files" on your local backup your iPhone won't be reading these anymore and once iCloud syncs with your iDevice you can delete the "Zombiecuts" and iCloud will see it and it will update.

"another question, should sync with iCloud immediatley after restoring the altered backup file?"

We don't support iCloud backups at my company so I haven't tested thus far. My best answer would be as soon as your phone starts up and you check your shortcuts and they are all there, you should perform a iCloud backup and a iTunes.

Very important step that many should do is when you backup to iTunes make sure your apps are backed up and everything is in sync with iTunes. I don't want users complaining that they are missing apps because they never backed them up with iTunes.

Chris

Apr 19, 2015 12:32 PM in response to LookInToMyEyes

So, if we have other devices, what of them?

I have an iPad with the Zombiecuts on as well.... What are we to do with other devices when it comes to this hack?

Thanks..

PS: 'Your Company' wouldnt happen to be iCopyBackupBot, that you recommend, would it?? lol

Apr 19, 2015 12:49 PM in response to Panzershrek

Haha no I only recommend that tool because it kills two stones in one. Basically if you have mac you can use that, or if you have windows. I didn't want to explain how to use two different programs so that helps.

Its hard to say, because if the "zombieshortcut" exist in all devices you should perform it in each. But it could only be one of them causing the issues. Turn one off while you do it on one. Reboot the one you just did it on after all your shortcuts come back and if they work and you can delete and reboot again then you should perform it on your other device just to be safe.

Chris

Apr 19, 2015 12:51 PM in response to LookInToMyEyes

okay, trying this all now.

Its taking a while BC I am backing up all my apps to my PC, bc when I restore it I dont want to have to wait for them all to DL from iCloud...

Will report back if this is a fix or not...

Apr 19, 2015 1:10 PM in response to Panzershrek

Thank you, I hope you select "This helped me" when it indeed does help you. Also a nice review wouldn't hurt 😀.

I want more people to be aware of it. I may even write an official guide with better direction but I don't think that will be necessary.

Thank you Panzershrek and have a good day.

Chris

Apr 19, 2015 2:11 PM in response to LookInToMyEyes

whooooaaaa cowboy, cool those jets down buckaroo, let's wait a day of two and have a few more confirms before we start rejoicing.

HOwever, if this DOES indeed work, may your name be echoed through the annals of history and the halls of Apple!

"all hail lookintomyeyes!! Savior of the zombiecuts!" the masses shall chant....

...if this is a hoax, however, my friend, may God show no mercy on you...

Apr 19, 2015 6:46 PM in response to LookInToMyEyes

hi Chris,

I am performing the restore right now. Had to quit previously as I had to go out...

2 minutes left for the restore...

So, when it's finished and I go back into the phones settings, I should theoretically see an EMPTY keyboard shortcuts, is that right??

Apr 19, 2015 7:04 PM in response to Panzershrek

Only if you are in airplane mode. Your iPhone will Sync with iCloud and all your shortcuts will come back, even the "zombiecuts", after which you can delete them and they will stay permanently deleted.

Apr 19, 2015 7:10 PM in response to LookInToMyEyes

Okay, I've finished the process and yes they were still there.

I erased them all, and they immediately performed an iCloud sync.

Once it's finished I shall restart the phone, and report back,... (holds breath)

Edit: Okay, I am back,. Restarted the phone, went back into shortcuts, and yes, they are indeed still gone.

That's never happened to me before, after a cold boot theyre always back..

Wow my friend, how did you figure out that trick?

So far, as of this posts time stamp, this hack DOES indeed work. Pretty easy to carry out, too. The app he recommends is 100% safe and spam-free, I confirm. Can easily be uninstalled afterwards.

Rock on , Chris!

Apr 19, 2015 7:14 PM in response to LookInToMyEyes

I really believe this is a permanent fix to the problem, as I've never had the shortcuts not return after a restart. I've also re-synced with iCloud post-restore.

Looking forward to the coming days with optimism. And I thank you kind sir, may you're contribution to humanity never be forgotten. **3 cheers for CJ**

zoso4

Level 1

28 points

Apr 19, 2015 7:19 PM in response to Panzershrek

I'm hoping anything and everything works for y'all! The restore as new I did last month has worked great. It was a bit of hassle, but worth it. It completely cleared my shortcuts and I started over fresh. I deleted one of my new shortcuts to test it, and it stayed gone, even after a hard reboot. No computer was involved. But I hope the method using the computer works. Good luck to all!

Apr 19, 2015 7:19 PM in response to Panzershrek

The app was chosen because it is super easy to use and it is a trusted company. I figured this method out because I am a technician for a fortune 500 company and its my job to solve issues there and I so happened to run into this issue and I had to solve it. Also one of my friend had the issue. If I could dedicate my time to solving issues on these forum I would. I just don;t have enough time. I am also on the D-Link forums solving issues once in a while. Also this shouldn't be considered a hack at all xD. It it just your regular backup without the glitched folder. Something that I am working on is a way to find more corrupted files within a backup. Sometimes people restore from backup and there iPhones have issues, you go to the Apple store and all they tell you is to restore your phone. I believe everything can be solved within your backup while at the same time you can keep everything.

Anyways I am glad it worked for you Panzershrek (Thank you so much for being kind and giving me a (3) lol.) Enjoy and have a great day.

Chris

Apr 19, 2015 7:22 PM in response to zoso4

That method works because you delete everything and thus the corrupted files don't come back. Many users can;t afford to lose their data and working in a company such as mines that is a lot of downtime. Having a user start from scratch is not acceptable. Also I personally wouldn't enjoy losing my data. On behalf of Apple I apologize that this issue made you start from scratch :/

Chris

I cannot delete iPhone keyboard shortcuts. They keep restoring.