Tip: This is how you use the iPhone keyboard as a mouse in iOS 12

You don’t really need a mouse on an iPhone or iPad, you can just touch the screen with your finger. Nevertheless, a cursor can come in handy if, for example, you want to quickly correct a typing error while typing.

This is how the iPhone touch cursor works

There are two ways to use your iPhone keyboard as a mouse: with and without 3D Touch. This special control has been in all iPhones from the 6S since 2015. Exceptions are the iPhone SE and the new iPhone XR, which means that you have to work slightly differently. We explain how both ways work.

With 3D Touch

Do you have an iPhone 6S (Plus), iPhone 7 (Plus), iPhone 8 (Plus), iPhone X, iPhone XS or iPhone XS Max? Then you can use 3D Touch. This allows you to quickly and accurately place the cursor at a specific place in a sentence and, for example, correct a mistake. That is how it works:

1. In a typing app (such as WhatsApp), hold down the keyboard a bit harder than usual
2. Wait until the letters disappear and the keys turn gray. Your keyboard now works like a mouse;
3. Move your finger across the keyboard and move your cursor in the text box on the screen.

You can now select texts and remove letters from words. Moreover, this way is much faster than waiting for the magnifying glass when you select a word. The cursor works in all apps where you use a keyboard, such as WhatsApp and the Notes app.

Without 3D Touch

Do you have an iPhone SE or iPhone XR? Then your device does not have 3D Touch. Fortunately, Apple has found something for this so that you can still use your keyboard as a mouse.

1. Hold your finger in, for example, WhatsApp a little longer than usual on the space bar. Pay attention: it does not matter how much force you use;
2. The keys turn gray and the letters disappear. Your keyboard now works like a mouse;
3. Hold the screen and move your finger to move the cursor;
4. Release when the mouse is in the right place.

You can now also select pieces of text by simultaneously holding the space bar while tapping the trackpad with another finger. Now swipe the screen to select text. The iPhone SE and iPhone XR do not have a 3D Touch to reduce costs. Please note that the function only works from iOS 12.

More about 3D Touch

• iOS 14 beta 4 released: 4 new features and tweaks (8/5/2020)
• Explanation: the difference between 3D Touch and Haptic Touch (14-10-2019)
• Poll: Will you miss 3D Touch if the 2019 iPhones no longer have it? (11-7-2019)
• ‘Apple will scrap 3D Touch on all 2019 iPhones’ (5/28/2019)
• 3D Touch explained: this is how it works, and everything you need to know (1/30/2019)