Adjust stylus settings

Keep track of your stylus

To prevent misplacing your stylus, turn on these settings:

  1. Go to Settings > Stylus.

  2. Adjust settings:

    • To receive notifications when you’ve taken out the stylus but haven’t used it for a while, turn Stylus out of case on toggle on switch. To change how long before the notification is sent, tap Stylus out of case and select a furation.

    • To record the time and location you last removed the stylus, turn Last known location on toggle on switch.

      Be sure to agree to location access at all times. (Allow all the time)

    • To feel a vibration that confirms you insert the stylus securely, turn Vibrate when the stylus is inserted on toggle on switch.

Set action for when you remove stylus

You can choose what happens after you remove the stylus from your phone when it's locked or unlocked.

When phone is locked

Removing the stylus can open Moto Note, open Keep Notes, or open nothing.

  1. Go to Settings > Stylus.
  2. Tap When device is locked.

  3. Choose what should happen when you remove the stylus:

    • Select the app to open.
    • Select Don't open anything.

When phone is unlocked

Removing the stylus opens the stylus menu. You can change the shortcuts on the stylus menu or remove it from the screen.

Change shortcuts on stylus menu

  1. Touch & hold one of the shortcuts on the stylus menu.

    Or, go to Settings > Stylus > When device is unlocked.

  2. Make changes:

    • To add a shortcut to a blank space, tap an icon.

    • To remove a shortcut, tap .

      If you remove all shortcuts, you won’t see the stylus menu.

    • To change the order, drag icons to new positions.

Turn stylus menu off/on

You can temporarily remove the menu, until you remove your stylus again, or turn it off so it never appears when you remove the stylus.

Turn off temporarily

Touch & hold , and drag it to .

The next time you remove your stylus, the menu will appear again.

Turn off entirely

  1. Go to Settings > Stylus > When device is unlocked.
  2. Remove all shortcuts from the menu.

Turn stylus menu on again

  1. Go to Settings > Stylus > When device is unlocked.
  2. Add one or more shortcuts.

Every time you remove your stylus, the menu will appear.

Always show larger handwriting field

If you're having trouble handwriting in small text fields, you can use a larger writing field.

Set it up

  1. Be sure you've added the handwriting keyboard in Gboard for your language.
  2. Go to Settings > Stylus.

  3. Turn Stylus Writing off toggle off switch.

    You’ll have a larger space for writing but you won’t see the control bar or be able to draw your edits (crossing out to delete).

Use it

  1. Use the stylus to tap inside a text field.
  2. On the Gboard keyboard, touch & hold the spacebar, then select the handwriting keyboard. The keys are replaced by a handwriting area.

  3. Write your text.

    As you write and your letters are converted to type, and your text will scroll, providing more writing space.

Change handwriting language

  1. Go to Settings > Stylus.
  2. Tap Handwriting language.
  3. Next to the language you want to use, tap to download it (first time only).
  4. Select the language to use.

To switch between languages any time, on the control bar, tap the language currently in use, such as , and choose the one you want.