Select and edit text
First, make sure that your iPad has iOS 9 or later. With the updated keyboard, there are a few ways to select and edit text.
Use the cursor to select text
To move the cursor on your iPad screen, place two fingers anywhere on the keyboard until the keyboard turns gray. Then move your fingers to move the cursor around.
Tap to select text
To select a word, sentence, or paragraph, follow these steps:
- To select a word, tap once with two fingers.
- To select a sentence, double-tap with two fingers.
- To select a paragraph, tap three times with two fingers.
Touch and hold to select and change text
You can also select text by touching and holding your screen with two fingers until you see two drag points. The drag points put you in select mode. From here, move your fingers to move the circles—this will let you select certain portions of text, like part of a sentence.
Use keyboard shortcuts
In the Shortcut Bar, you’ll find quick editing tools like undo, redo, copy, paste, bold, underline, insert image, and more. Third-party apps can also customize the Shortcut Bar with different shortcuts depending on the app.
To turn on keyboard shortcuts, go to Settings > General > Keyboard. Then tap the slider for Shortcuts.
In some apps you might see the 
or 
on your keyboard. From here, you can add images or attachments from within the app. For example, in Notes, you can tap to insert a saved photo or video, or take a new one. In Mail, tap or to add a photo, video, or attachment.
Learn more
If you pair your iPad with a hardware keyboard, the software keyboard will hide and the Shortcut Bar will show at the bottom of the screen. When you unpair the hardware keyboard, the software keyboard will be fully visible again.
Learn more about the Multitasking features on your iPad, like Split View.