How to Use the iPad 2 Onscreen Keyboard
There's a slight learning curve with iPad because its keyboard is displayed onscreen; you use it by pressing the screen, rather than pressing actual keys. This is different from other computers you may have used (though if you own an iPhone or iPod touch, you’ve got a head start).
The built-in iPad keyboard appears whenever you’re in a text-entry location, such as a search field or an e-mail message.
To try out the keyboard, tap the Notes icon on the Home screen to open this easy-to-use notepad.
Tap the note; the onscreen keyboard appears.
Type a few words using the keyboard.
To make the keyboard display as wide as possible, rotate your iPad to landscape (horizontal) orientation.
If you make a mistake while using the keyboard — and you will, when you first use it — press the Delete key to delete text to the left of the insertion point.
The Delete key is located in the top right corner, with the little x on it.
To move to a new paragraph, press the Return button, just as you would do on a regular computer keyboard.
To type numbers and symbols, press the number key (labeled .?123) on either side of the spacebar.
The characters on the keyboard change. If you type a number and then tap the spacebar, the keyboard automatically returns to the letter keyboard. To return to it at any time, simply tap one of the letter keys (labeled ABC) on either side of the spacebar.
To type a period and space, just double-tap the spacebar.
Use the Shift buttons just as you would on a regular keyboard to type uppercase letters or alternate characters.
Double-tap the Shift key to turn on the Caps Lock feature; tap the Shift key once to turn off Caps Lock.
You can control whether this feature is available in iPad Settings.
To type a variation on a symbol (for example, to see alternate currency symbols when you press the dollar sign on the number keyboard), hold down the key; a set of alternate symbols appears.
Note that this trick works only with certain symbols.
To hide the keyboard, press the Keyboard key in the bottom right corner.
