Why does Full Access turn off after reinstalling a keyboard on iPhone?
Deleting a keyboard app and putting it back does not carry the Full Access grant with it — iOS treats the reinstall as a brand new keyboard. Why a delete is different from an ordinary update, what actually gets reset, and how to get back to where you were.
You turned on Full Access for a keyboard weeks ago, the clipboard buttons worked, and you had not thought about it since. Then you deleted the app — to free up space, to troubleshoot something unrelated, or just to start clean — and reinstalled it from the App Store. The keyboard is back, but Full Access is off again, as if you had never touched it. Nothing was lost or reset by mistake. This is the ordinary, expected outcome of deleting an app rather than updating one, and the two look similar from the Home Screen but are not the same event to iOS at all.
Update and delete are not the same event
An App Store update replaces the app’s code in place. The app keeps the same identity as far as iOS is concerned, so everything tied to that identity survives: its container on disk, its entries in Settings, and — specifically — the Full Access switch for any keyboard it provides. This is why most people never notice this behaviour exists. A keyboard app can go through a dozen ordinary updates without Full Access ever reverting, so there is nothing to prompt the question.
Deleting the app is a different operation entirely. It tells iOS to forget the app existed, not just to remove its icon. When you reinstall afterward, iOS is not resuming the old installation — it is setting up a new one that happens to share a name and an icon with the one you deleted.
What deleting actually resets
- The keyboard’s row disappears from Settings → General → Keyboard → Keyboards entirely, not just its Full Access switch — reinstalling means adding it again from Add New Keyboard, the same step as the very first time.
- Full Access reverts to the system default, which is off, for the same reason every keyboard starts off that way on first install.
- Anything the app stored only inside its own local container — rather than somewhere backed up separately — starts over as well, because deleting an app removes that container along with the app.
None of this is Full Access “expiring” or Apple silently revoking a permission over time. It does not do either of those things. What actually happened is narrower: the specific installation that held the grant no longer exists, and the one that replaced it has never been asked.
Getting back to where you were
- Settings → General → Keyboard → Keyboards → Add New Keyboard…, and tap the keyboard again. It will not still be in the list from before.
- Tap the keyboard’s own row in that same list and turn Full Access back on, if the features you rely on need it.
- Try the feature that depends on it. A keyboard built well shows a short message when a Full-Access-only button is tapped with the switch off, rather than failing silently, so it is easy to confirm the toggle actually took.
A good moment to reconsider, not just reflexively re-grant
Because reinstalling puts a keyboard back at the same off-by-default starting point as day one, it is a reasonable moment to ask again whether Full Access is something you actually need, rather than turning it on out of habit. Typing, autocorrect, themes, sounds and every language a keyboard offers work identically with the switch off — the honest use for Full Access is almost always narrower than people assume, usually a clipboard button or a sync feature, and nothing else.
Where Kibo fits
Kibo’s Full Access is off by default, and deleting and reinstalling it does not silently bring back an old grant either — iOS treats it the same as any other keyboard here, with no exception. With it off, typing, autocorrect, word suggestions, every theme, every key sound, every backlight effect, the emoji and kaomoji panels, the fancy text styles and all 30 typing languages keep working exactly as before. Turning it on again after a reinstall enables exactly one thing: the Copy word, Copy line and Paste buttons on the keyboard’s own toolbar, which is the only place the app reads the clipboard. It is free to download.
Frequently asked questions
Does updating a keyboard app also turn off Full Access?
No. An ordinary App Store update replaces the app’s code but keeps its existing Settings entries, including the Full Access grant and its place in your keyboard list. Only a full delete followed by a reinstall resets it.
Is Full Access something that expires or gets revoked automatically over time?
No. It stays exactly as you set it, indefinitely, until you change it yourself in Settings or delete the app that holds it. There is no background expiry.
Does deleting a keyboard app remove it from my keyboard list too, not just Full Access?
Yes. Deleting the app removes the whole entry from Settings → General → Keyboard → Keyboards, not only its Full Access switch. Reinstalling means adding it again through Add New Keyboard as if for the first time.
Try it on your own keyboard
Kibo is a free custom keyboard for iPhone with real mechanical key sounds, a wardrobe of themes and RGB backlight effects. No account, no ads, and it works with Full Access left off.