Android softkeyboard never shows up in emulator

Question

I'm new to Android. I've spent two hours already for searching. Whatever i try softkeyboard is never shown for my EditText. I create it simply:

EditText editText = (EditText)findViewById(R.id.editText);

I tried:

 editText.requestFocus();//i tried without this line too
 InputMethodManager imm = (InputMethodManager)getSystemService(Context.INPUT_METHOD_SERVICE);
 imm.showSoftInput(editText, InputMethodManager.SHOW_IMPLICIT);

and:

editText.setOnFocusChangeListener(new OnFocusChangeListener() {

         @Override
         public void onFocusChange(View v, boolean hasFocus) 
         {    

                     InputMethodManager imm = (InputMethodManager)getSystemService(Context.INPUT_METHOD_SERVICE);
                     imm.showSoftInput(editText, InputMethodManager.SHOW_IMPLICIT);

         }
     });

i also tried:

getWindow().setSoftInputMode(LayoutParams.SOFT_INPUT_STATE_VISIBLE);

i tried putting this line into AndroidManifest.xml file:

 android:windowSoftInputMode="stateVisible|adjustResize"

but all in vain. It just never shows. What am i missing?

Solution 1

You need to make sure that your emulator is not set to use a hardware keyboard. This can be done by choosing Edit on a selected emulator in the AVD. Then uncheck the Hardware keyboard present setting.

You could also try using a different emulator, such as Genymotion. It supports full hardware acceleration (multi-core CPU as well as GPU) and runs much faster than any of the android emulator images. If you use Genymotion you will need to disable the hardware keyboard within Android (see below for details).

To disable hardware keyboard in Genymotion:
Go to Settings -> Language & input and open the Default item under Keyboard & Input Methods. There is a Hardware setting that you can toggle on/off. When it is on you use your physical keyboard and when it is off the standard soft keyboard should pop-up whenever a text field gets focus.

Screenshots for Genymotion settings:

Solution 2

In version 2.1.1 - click on your virtual device settings - then select "use virtual keyboard for typing" checkbox.

Solution 3

The method for enabling the on-screen soft keyboard for Android Studio 2+ Emulators depends on the API level of the emulator. I have tested the various methods starting with API 15 and have recorded the steps below.

[A] APIs 15, 17, 19 and 21.

The following steps will enabled the on-screen soft keyboard but will disable the ability to enter text and interact with the AVD using the hardware computer keyboard.

1. In Android Virtual Device Manager (AVD), click the edit action for the device you wish to work with
2. Click Show Advanced Settings and scroll right down to the bottom of the page to the "Keyboard" section
3. Uncheck the "Enable keyboard input" option

[B] API 22

The soft keyboard is displayed no matter what you do with the hardware keyboard settings. If you wish to enable hardware keyboard support alongside the soft keyboard then,

1. In AVD, click the edit action for the device you wish to work with
2. Click Show Advanced Settings and scroll right down to the bottom of the page to the "Keyboard" section
3. Check the "Enable keyboard input" option

[C] API 23

If you wish to use the hardware and soft keyboard then...

1. Follow [B] steps 1 to 3
2. On the virtual device, Launch Settings, then select Language and input / Current Keyboard
3. Enable Hardware - Show input method

If you don't need the hardware keyboard, in AVD advanced settings, uncheck the "Enable keyboard input" option. You won't need to change any settings on the virtual device.

[D] APIs 24 and 25

1. Follow [B] steps 1 to 3 above, checking or unchecking the "Enable keyboard input" option depending on whether you want to enable the hardqare keyboard.
2. On the virtual device, Launch Settings, then select Language and input / Physical Keyboard
3. Enable "Show virtual keyboard"

If the Enable keyboard input option was selected in the AVD then you will now be able to use both hard and soft keyboard inputs. If you unchecked the option in the AVD the soft keyboard will be displayed regardless.

[E] API 26

Exactly the same as [D] APIs 24 and 25 except you need to navigate through an additional "System" menu level in the device settings before you get to Language and input / Physical Keyboard

Solution 4

There are two places to deselect hardware keyboard in AS 1.1.0. This one isn't sufficient:

Must do this (click Tools | Android | AVD Manager; then create new or edit old AVD and then click Show Advanced Settings; scroll down and clear Enable keyboard input):

Solution 5

To show:

EditText editText = (EditText) findViewById(R.id.myEdit);
InputMethodManager mgr = (InputMethodManager) getSystemService(Context.INPUT_METHOD_SERVICE);
// only will trigger it if no physical keyboard is open
mgr.showSoftInput(editText, InputMethodManager.SHOW_IMPLICIT);

And to hide:

InputMethodManager mgr = (InputMethodManager) getSystemService(Context.INPUT_METHOD_SERVICE);
mgr.hideSoftInputFromWindow(editText.getWindowToken(), 0);

Just try this one....

View more solutions

Comments

[Niranj Patel]

is keyboard opening in any other application?

[Aravin]

try this replace imm.showSoftInput(editText, InputMethodManager.SHOW_IMPLICIT); this to imm.toggleSoftInput(InputMethodManager.SHOW_FORCED, 0);

[Andrey Chernukha]

@CapDroid no, unfortunately. i tried in another application but still no luck

[Andrey Chernukha]

@Aravinth still doesn't work

[Aravin]

Are you using emulator or device.

[Niranj Patel]

@AndreyChernukha using AVD manager add a hardware property Keyboard support and set it to true.

[Andrey Chernukha]

it didn't help, unfortunately

[FarhaSameer786]

InputMethodManager imm = (InputMethodManager)getSystemService(Context.INPUT_METHOD_SE‌​RVICE); imm.toggleSoftInput(InputMethodManager.SHOW_FORCED, InputMethodManager.HIDE_IMPLICIT_ONLY);...try this

[FarhaSameer786]

@Andrey Chernukha-i think your emulator does not support softkeyboard or hardware of emulator not working properly.....

[Andrey Chernukha]

Finally! Thank you very much. I wish i could upvote your answer twice. As for Genymotion - i spent a day once trying to setup it but it didn't work. I couldn't even write to their support

[free3dom]

Glad to help :) As for Genymotion, they are constantly improving, but it is still preview/beta. However, since I started using it I haven't had a single problem. Could be that I just started with it once they had sorted out most of the problems - or I'm just lucky :). That said, the android emulator(s) do give more variation though, so I still use them for testing compatibility.

[Michele]

That's great, now I got virtual keyboard! But I have a EditText with android:inputType="numberDecimal"> and virtualkeyboard doesn't write numbers (it write them only if I write a letter before them). Spell checker is already off...

[free3dom]

Have a look here for possible solutions.

[IgorGanapolsky]

@free3dom ~"open the Default item under Keyboard & Input Methods" What is that? I don't see that item.

[free3dom]

@Igor - that is only when using the Genymotion emulator, and it is still there in the latest version (v2.2.2). If that is what you are using just follow the instructions to get to it. I will add a screenshot to the answer, for clarity. Also see the answer by Sharif for an alternate method.

[IgorGanapolsky]

I guess it depends on Android target API. It doesn't show up in 4.1.1.

[Tim Boland]

When I switch Hardware Physical Keyboard to Off...it dosent persist when you close it...it only stays Off for the current session...I have to reset it everytime I open the emulator...is there anyway to persistently switch this setting Off or On?

[GregM]

I spent time finding this solution because the scrolling indicator is normally gone and only shows up once you start scrolling. I would recommend that if a view is scrollable to have some indication of that possibility visually.

[Evgenii]

Does not work for me in Android Studio. I uncheck the "Enable keyboard input" but the emulator still does NOT show the software keyboard.

[DSlomer64]

You only mentioned one "uncheck". The other is "Has hardware keyboard", as shown--and you probably already cleared it, too. Maybe try a different virtual device? I've found the AS emulator to be pretty hard to tolerate. Slow to load, quirks like this.... Good luck.