The Kindle Fire is much more interactive than previous Kindle models, and text input is often required, for example when searching your content libraries or the web, annotating text, or filling out web forms. However, entering text on a relatively small device can be daunting. This article explains techniques and tricks that will make it much easier to enter and edit text, enhancing your enjoyment of your Kindle Fire.
Using the Kindle Fire Keyboard
When you tap a text entry field on the Kindle Fire, the on-screen keyboard automatically appears. Typing on the Kindle Fire keyboard (or any on-screen keyboard on a relatively small device) is an art that takes practice. Some prefer the hunt and peck method with a single index finger, while others achieve greater speed by holding the device in two hands and typing with both thumbs. In any case, the keyboard will be much larger and easier to use if you turn your Kindle on its side (its long dimension is horizontal).
Note: If the screen doesn’t reorient when you turn your Kindle on its side, your screen is probably locked. To unlock it, tap the gear-shaped Settings icon on the right side of the status bar at the top of the screen. Then tap the Locked icon on the Quick Settings bar that appears.
The Kindle Fire customizes the keyboard based on the context in which it is displayed. For example, if you need to enter general text, you will see an alphabetic keyboard, while if a number is required, you will see a numeric keyboard.
If a character has alternate forms (such as an o, which has alternate forms with a tilde, an umlaut, etc.), and if you touch the key for about a second, the Kindle displays the alternate characters in a palette above the key. To enter one of these characters, slide your finger to the character you want to insert, and then lift your finger.
To type a number (or one of the punctuation characters that is not included in the top row), switch to the number and punctuation keyboard by tapping the 123!? wrench. (Touch the ABC key to return to the alphabetic keyboard.) Alternatively, you can type a number using the alphabetic keyboard by touching one of the keys in the top row of letters for about a second and then lifting your finger.
Another way to enter a punctuation character (: / &, etc.) is to touch the period key (.) for about a second, slide your finger to one of the characters on the pop-up palette, and then lift your finger.
Please note that you can customize the way the keyboard works through the Kindle Fire’s general settings screen. (Tap the gear-shaped Settings icon on the right side of the status bar at the top of the screen. Then tap More.)
Edit your typed text
To delete all the text you’ve typed in a text field using the keyboard, simply touch and hold the Backspace key.
But what if you’ve typed a long string of characters and discover that you made a mistake near the beginning? Instead of repeatedly tapping the Backspace key to return to the error and then retyping all the text, you can use the Kindle keyboard’s editing features, explained here.
Move cursor and insert/delete: To edit at a particular position in the text you’ve typed, tap that position. A blinking cursor will appear at the position you touched, with a marker below it. You can drag the marker to move the cursor forward or backward. Type Characters or Backspace inserts or deletes text at the cursor position.
Select: To select text, touch a word for about a second, and on the pop-up menu that appears, touch Select word or Select all. The text will be highlighted and a marker will appear at each end. You can change the range of the selection by dragging a marker.
Cut or copy: To cut or copy selected text, tap it, and from the pop-up menu, choose Cut (to copy and delete the text) or Copy (to copy the text without deleting it). The copied text goes to the Kindle Fire’s clipboard.
Paste: If no text is selected, you can insert the contents of the clipboard at the cursor position by touching the text field for about a second and then choosing Paste from the pop-up menu. If text is selected, you can replace it with the contents of the Clipboard by tapping the selection and choosing Paste.
Note that the Clipboard works on all built-in Kindle Fire software as well as installed apps. So, for example, if you copied text to the Clipboard while viewing a web page in the browser, you could paste it into a search field in a content library.
If the keyboard disappears at any time while editing text, simply tap inside the text field to restore it.