Why is the globe key missing on my iPhone keyboard?
iOS only draws the globe when there is somewhere to switch to. The five reasons it disappears, and how to tell in half a minute which one you have.
iOS only draws the globe key when there is somewhere for it to take you, so a missing globe is usually a statement about your keyboard list rather than a fault in any keyboard.
The usual cause: there is only one keyboard
Open Settings → General → Keyboard → Keyboards and count the rows. If there is exactly one — typically “English” on its own — there is nothing to switch between, and iOS leaves the key out rather than drawing a control that would do nothing. Add a second keyboard of any kind, whether that is Emoji, another language or a third-party keyboard, and the globe appears the next time a text field opens.
This is also the moment most people meet the key for the first time. A phone that has only ever had one keyboard has never shown a globe, so its sudden appearance after installing a keyboard app looks like the app put it there. It did not. It gave iOS a second destination.
The keyboard may not be added yet
Installing a keyboard app does not activate its keyboard — iOS keeps every extension switched off until you add it under Add New Keyboard… If the list still shows a single row after an install, that step has not happened, and the globe is missing for the reason above rather than for any reason of its own.
Cases where the key exists but is not where you are looking
- The emoji key has the slot. With one text keyboard plus Emoji, iOS often draws a smiley in the bottom-left corner instead of a globe, and that smiley is the switch. Add a third keyboard and the globe returns alongside it.
- A hardware or Bluetooth keyboard is connected. The on-screen keyboard is hidden entirely while a physical keyboard is attached, globe and all. Switching then happens from the physical keyboard — Control-Space cycles through your keyboards — or by disconnecting it in Settings → Bluetooth.
- A one-handed or compact layout is in use. Narrower layouts redraw the bottom row and shuffle keys to fit. Press and hold the globe or emoji key to bring up the layout options and choose the full-width keyboard, or turn it off in Settings → General → Keyboard → One Handed Keyboard.
- A secure text field has the cursor. Password boxes and payment sheets force Apple’s own keyboard for as long as they are focused. The key may still be drawn, but it will not reach a third-party keyboard, which reads as broken rather than restricted.
- The field asked for a specialised keyboard. A number pad or a PIN entry box has no globe because there is no alternative letter layout to switch to in the first place.
Telling them apart in about thirty seconds
- Tap into a plain text field — a new note, an empty message draft. If the globe is there, the screen you started on was the cause: a secure field, a number pad, or an input the app supplied itself.
- Still missing? Count the rows in Settings → General → Keyboard → Keyboards. One row is the first cause on this page.
- Two rows, with a smiley in the corner? The emoji key is doing the switching. Adding any third keyboard restores the globe.
- No keyboard appearing at all, rather than just no globe? Check Settings → Bluetooth for a connected keyboard, and hold the bottom-left key to check for a compact layout.
Once the key is back, two behaviours are worth knowing. A single tap moves to the next keyboard in the order set in Settings; a press and hold opens a picker listing every keyboard you have. If the one you want sits last in a long list, reorder it — Edit, then drag by the handle on the right — rather than tapping four times to reach it.
Nothing on this page calls for a reset, a reinstall or a restore. The globe key is a piece of conditional interface, and in almost every case the fix is to change the condition rather than the keyboard.
Where Kibo fits
Kibo registers as a single iOS keyboard while carrying many typing languages inside it, so it lengthens the globe-key cycle by one entry rather than by one entry per language. Because a third-party keyboard draws its own key row, the globe is part of Kibo’s own layout rather than something iOS adds or removes around it.
Tapping that key while Kibo is on screen cycles Kibo’s own enabled languages, with a brief on-screen label naming the one you have landed on in its own script. Pressing and holding the same key opens the standard iOS keyboard picker, so the route back to Apple’s keyboard — or to any other keyboard in your list — is never blocked.
Frequently asked questions
Why has my globe key disappeared after deleting a keyboard?
Removing a keyboard can leave you with only one, and iOS hides the globe when there is nowhere to switch to. Add a second keyboard — Emoji counts — and the key comes back.
Where is the globe key on iPhones with Face ID?
Bottom-left, sharing that corner with the emoji key. On models with a Home button it sits in the same place. If a smiley is there instead of a globe, you have exactly one text keyboard plus Emoji.
Why does the globe key not switch to my third-party keyboard?
The most likely reason is a secure text field, which forces Apple’s keyboard for as long as it has the cursor. Tap into an ordinary field and try again; if it works there, that was the cause.
Can I switch keyboards without the globe key?
With a hardware keyboard attached, Control-Space cycles through your enabled keyboards. Otherwise the globe is the switch, and getting it back means giving iOS a second keyboard to switch to.
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.