An Android keyboard that disappears from text messages usually needs to be turned back on or restarted. Enable your usual keyboard in Settings first; if typing works in other apps, concentrate on Messages instead of the texting service.
A keyboard that won't open anywhere isn't the same problem as floating keys or a microphone panel. Match the steps to your screen before clearing anything. You don't need to erase conversations to fix the keyboard.
In this guide
1. Bring back the keyboard and check another text field
Open a conversation and tap directly inside the message-writing box. Tapping a conversation, attachment button or empty space doesn't always put the cursor where typing starts. Look for the blinking cursor.
Leave Messages and tap a typing field in another app, such as a new note. If the keyboard opens there, its app can still run. Return to Messages, leave the conversation and reopen it before trying that writing box again.
If a voice-input panel is open, use its keyboard button to return to letters. A small keyboard floating over the conversation is still working; its layout needs changing rather than its app being reinstalled.
Disconnect a Bluetooth or USB keyboard if one is attached, then tap the message box again. That checks whether your phone is expecting you to type on the external keyboard. Leave accessories disconnected during the next checks.
2. Enable the keyboard in Android Settings
Google says Gboard can disappear from its keyboard list after an update. Its repair steps use Settings > System > Keyboard > On-screen keyboard. Turn on Gboard there.
Older Android versions can put these controls under System > Languages & input > Virtual keyboard. Search Settings for keyboard if your menus differ. Look for installed keyboards, rather than language settings alone.
On a Samsung Galaxy, open Settings > General management > Keyboard list and default. Enable your preferred app if needed, then choose it under Default keyboard. Samsung Keyboard and Gboard are separate apps.
If another keyboard already opens, the Android keyboard switching guide explains the input-method picker. That's enough when the wrong keyboard was selected; continue only if your selected keyboard still fails to appear.
Try the text-message box again. If the letter keys appear, your phone is using the selected keyboard again. Send a short message only when you're ready; typing into a draft is enough to check whether the keys respond.
3. Restart the phone and update the affected apps
Restart from the phone's power menu. On recent Pixels, press Power and Volume Up to show it. On many Galaxy phones, hold Side and Volume Down briefly, then tap Restart. Some older phones use the Power button alone.
After unlocking the phone, open the same conversation and test typing. Restarting reloads both the keyboard and the messaging app, so it's a sensible early fix when either has stopped responding.
Open Play Store, tap your profile picture, then Manage apps & device. Install available updates for Gboard and your messaging app. Samsung Keyboard can also receive updates through Galaxy Store or the phone's software updates.
Note whether the keyboard stopped working right after an update. That matters if the current version keeps crashing. A carrier outage doesn't explain missing keys: the keyboard should appear before a message is sent.
4. Repair the app that is failing
For Gboard missing in every app, open Settings > Apps > Gboard > Force stop and confirm. Return to a typing field to start it again. This stops the keyboard app without resetting your preferences.
If it still won't open, return to Gboard's app information and select Storage & cache > Clear cache. Some phones call this page Storage. Try typing before moving to Clear storage or Clear data.
Clearing keyboard data resets its settings and learned preferences. Use it only after clearing the cache fails, and expect to set up your keyboard again. This clears Gboard's data, not your text-message history.
For Samsung Keyboard, open Settings > Apps, enable Show system apps in the list's filter if necessary, and select Samsung Keyboard > Storage > Clear cache. The Galaxy keyboard repair instructions cover this route.
If only Messages fails, force-stop that app and clear its cache through its app-information page. Leave Clear storage alone during this check. A missing input panel doesn't call for resetting the message app's data.
5. Use a second keyboard before reinstalling Gboard
I'd make sure another keyboard works before removing Gboard. Otherwise, you can lose the typing method needed to search for its replacement or enter a password. A preinstalled Samsung Keyboard can serve this purpose on a Galaxy.
Choose the alternative as your default and test it in Messages. Keep it selected while repairing Gboard if it works. If both keyboards work in Notes but fail in Messages, report that to the messaging app's developer.
With a working alternative available, uninstall and reinstall Gboard through its app page and Play Store. On phones where Gboard is a system app, More > Uninstall updates may appear instead of a full uninstall option.
Removing updates makes sense when the keyboard stopped working right after one. Reopen a typing field afterward, then check for a newer corrected release. Don't replace the keyboard with an APK from an unfamiliar download site.
If the fault continues, give the phone maker or keyboard developer your model, Android version, keyboard version and affected apps. Ask them to check keyboard crashes and selection rather than message delivery.
When typing returns but your conversation history is missing, use the separate Android text recovery steps. Recovering messages and restoring the keyboard are different jobs.
The Short Version
Check another typing field and enable your usual keyboard. Restart, update the apps, then repair the keyboard's cache if it fails everywhere or Messages' cache if only texting fails. Keep an alternative before reinstalling Gboard.
Checked November 13, 2026.
