Touch keyboard not showing automatically on Windows 10

Daniel1234 · Post by **Daniel1234** » Sun Jun 16, 2019 3:00 pm

Hi,

In Windows 10 when in tablet mode and I touch on a text field, the touch keyboard does not pop up on the display. Rather I have to touch on the task bar to open it. It works in all other applications I am using, so I was wondering whether I missed some setting or so.

Kind regards,
Daniel

Mon Jun 17, 2019 6:16 pm

Hello Daniel1234,

The Editor uses the same ques to prompt the on-screen keyboard as most Microsoft application, and in testing these seem to be working fine over here. Can you first ensure that you are running the latest build (331.0) of the Editor. After verifying that, please try restarting the PC, and then check that the on-screen keyboard automatically pops up within both the Editor, and Notepad.

Let me know the results.

Daniel1234 · Post by **Daniel1234** » Wed Jun 19, 2019 6:53 pm

Thanks! Yes, I am on the latest version. Restart seems to have done the trick. I'll report if it stops working again.

Wed Jun 19, 2019 9:47 pm

Keep us posted!

JimmyD · Post by **JimmyD** » Thu Oct 28, 2021 3:11 pm

I have the same issue on the latest build "version 9.2.358.0 release - 25-10-2021", on Windows 11.

Post by **Paul - PDF-XChange** » Fri Oct 29, 2021 4:35 pm

Hi Jimmy,

I assume you have done a test PC restart and still see this?

JimmyD · Post by **JimmyD** » Sun Oct 31, 2021 9:58 am

Paul - Tracker Supp wrote: ↑Fri Oct 29, 2021 4:35 pm Hi Jimmy,

I assume you have done a test PC restart and still see this?

Yes, I did all that, and the issue is still there.

Sun Oct 31, 2021 10:15 am

Understood - thanks for the updated info. As previously mentioned we are now actively working with Touchscreen devices within the development team to improve Touchscreen support.

Your patience is appreciated.

JimmyD · Post by **JimmyD** » Sun Oct 31, 2021 11:39 am

John - Tracker Supp wrote: ↑Sun Oct 31, 2021 10:15 am Understood - thanks for the updated info. As previously mentioned we are now actively working with Touchscreen devices within the development team to improve Touchscreen support.

Your patience is appreciated.

Many thanks again. I just purchased a Pro License + 3 pear maintenance, because of this news.

Post by **John - Tracker Supp** » Sun Oct 31, 2021 4:10 pm

Excellent news - thanks Jimmy.

I will do my utmost to ensure your confidence is not misplaced.

JimmyD · Post by **JimmyD** » Wed Nov 03, 2021 7:28 am

Thank you.

Post by **John - Tracker Supp** » Wed Nov 03, 2021 7:56 am

Pleasure !

JimmyD · Post by **JimmyD** » Fri Nov 05, 2021 3:10 pm

For some strange reason, my touch keyboard automatically shows up again.

Post by **John - Tracker Supp** » Fri Nov 05, 2021 3:12 pm

The power of positive thinking Jimmy !

JimmyD · Post by **JimmyD** » Sun Nov 07, 2021 1:27 pm

Now I'm facing this issue again.

I suspect it might be triggered by device orientation (portrait/landscape) change.

Post by **John - Tracker Supp** » Mon Nov 08, 2021 7:06 am

Hi Jimmie,

Can you please email us (support@pdf-xchange.com) with a sample file and explanation and a link back to this forum post for reference.

Thank you.

JimmyD · Post by **JimmyD** » Tue Nov 09, 2021 9:24 pm

The issue is not file dependent. It happens on input fields of the app itself, such as Quick Launch, Search, Find, etc.

Tue Nov 09, 2021 10:36 pm

Hello, JimmyD

Thank you for confirming that. Locally we have still been unable to reproduce the issue, but Our devs are working on a few items that may help in some fringe cases. On that note, if you could try to record a video of the issue as it happens (preferably with a handheld device, so we can see your hand motions as well), that would be immensely helpful in troubleshooting further. If that is not possible, please confirm if, when you tap on a text entry field, do any items on the screen reposition themselves, and do you perhaps see the thin "dropshadow" that appears at the edges of the keyboard normally?

I have also created a ticket to keep better track of this issue now, going forward, as it is an important area. As soon as you can provide me with the extra details needed, we can focus on this more heavily.

RT#5799: Bug: Touch Keyboard does not appear.

Kind regards,

JimmyD · Post by **JimmyD** » Thu Jan 13, 2022 10:17 am

TrackerSupp-Daniel wrote: ↑Tue Nov 09, 2021 10:36 pm please confirm if, when you tap on a text entry field, do any items on the screen reposition themselves, and do you perhaps see the thin "dropshadow" that appears at the edges of the keyboard normally?
RT#5799: Bug: Touch Keyboard does not appear.

When this happens, the border of text entry field gets highlighted, but nothing happens to the keyboard area.

Thu Jan 13, 2022 12:43 pm

Hello JimmyD,

Thanks for the additional info.
You mentioned above that this might be affected/triggered by device orientation. Have you noticed whether that definitely has or has no effect?

Kind regards,
Stefan

JimmyD · Post by **JimmyD** » Fri Jan 14, 2022 8:29 am

Tracker Supp-Stefan wrote: ↑Thu Jan 13, 2022 12:43 pm Thanks for the additional info.
You mentioned above that this might be affected/triggered by device orientation. Have you noticed whether that definitely has or has no effect?

The last time it happened I didn't rotate the device, but I noticed that I got the touch keyboard popping up again, when I opened a new document from explorer, but I'm not 100% sure if it was because I switched app or opened a document.

Fri Jan 14, 2022 2:16 pm

Hello JimmyD,

Thanks for the extra info! I will include it in the ticket so that our devs have all the info in one place when they look at this!

Kind regards,
Stefan

JimmyD · Post by **JimmyD** » Thu Aug 18, 2022 11:56 am

I still face this issue of the touch keyboard not popping up, more often than not, in most input boxes.

Thu Aug 18, 2022 5:38 pm

Hello, JimmyD

I have contacted the Dev team on this and the priority on the ticket has been raised again. Unfortunately we still have not found a fix for this on out end.

Kind regards,

JimmyD · Post by **JimmyD** » Sat Aug 20, 2022 11:25 am

Thanks.

Mon Aug 22, 2022 3:40 pm

Post by **Paul - PDF-XChange** » Thu Sep 01, 2022 4:00 pm

Hi JimmyD,

we want you to grab debugview logs for this issue. It is the same process as we ask you here: viewtopic.php?t=37556#p162962

For each case, start dbgview, reproduce the issue, then send us the dbgview logs.

please and thanks

JimmyD · Post by **JimmyD** » Tue Sep 06, 2022 9:23 am

I will do the debug thing later this week.

Tue Sep 06, 2022 11:06 am

JimmyD · Post by **JimmyD** » Sat Dec 17, 2022 12:33 pm

The latest build with the big touch improvements still has this issue.

Could you send me a recent test build to debug? Since due to my fault, I didn't do the debug thing last time.

Post by **Paul - PDF-XChange** » Mon Dec 19, 2022 4:32 pm

Hi Jimmy,

we don't have test builds, we would need you to test whatever is "current". Today it's 9.5.366.0. Grab the latest anytime from the Downloads page: https://www.pdf-xchange.com/product/downloads

JimmyD · Post by **JimmyD** » Tue Dec 20, 2022 10:01 am

Paul - Tracker Supp wrote: ↑Mon Dec 19, 2022 4:32 pm we don't have test builds,

I wrongly assumed so, because of this comment.

Paul - Tracker Supp wrote: ↑Thu Sep 01, 2022 3:57 pm Can you please download this test build, try to reproduce the problem with zooming, and make a log with DbgView (it should be started before editor).

https://forum.pdf-xchange.com/viewtopic.php?p=162962#p162962

Paul - Tracker Supp wrote: ↑Mon Dec 19, 2022 4:32 pm we would need you to test whatever is "current". Today it's 9.5.366.0.

That's the version I'm reporting about. I will do the debug soon.

Thu Dec 22, 2022 7:42 pm

Hello, JimmyD

We are looking forward to the results of that debug on this end, since we still cannot reproduce the issue with any of our test devices, but I recognize with the holidays coming up, that may see a delay. We hope you have an excellent holiday season, and are looking forward to hearing from you in January!

Kind regards,

Loki@99 · Post by **Loki@99** » Mon Dec 18, 2023 7:15 am

Hi,

I also have the same issue. Touch keyboard isn't displayed when touching text fields.

PDF-XChange Editor 10.1.3 Build 383
Windows 11 23H2 22631.2861

Device: Huawei Matebook E 2022 used without keyboard

Thanks for investigating,

Mon Dec 18, 2023 5:11 pm

Hello, Loki@99

Thank you for the additional report. We are still unable to reproduce the issue here locally, unless there is some form of keyboard connected preventing windows from opening the onscreen keyboard. Just to be sure, when next this happens in our software, can you immediately open notepad to see if the same happens there and confirm that the issue truly is exclusive to our software?
I am afraid that I do not have access to any Huawei devices locally to test with, so my tests are incomplete, but I will pass this information on the the dev team.

Kind regards,

Loki@99 · Post by **Loki@99** » Tue Dec 19, 2023 6:48 am

TrackerSupp-Daniel wrote: ↑Mon Dec 18, 2023 5:11 pm Hello, Loki@99

Thank you for the additional report. We are still unable to reproduce the issue here locally, unless there is some form of keyboard connected preventing windows from opening the onscreen keyboard. Just to be sure, when next this happens in our software, can you immediately open notepad to see if the same happens there and confirm that the issue truly is exclusive to our software?
I am afraid that I do not have access to any Huawei devices locally to test with, so my tests are incomplete, but I will pass this information on the the dev team.

Kind regards,

Hi Daniel,

There is no issue with Notepad.

Let me know if there is something I can do to help you investigate,
Thanks,

Tue Dec 19, 2023 12:04 pm

Hello Loki@99,

Thanks for doing the test and letting us know of the result!
We will pass this info to our colleagues in the dev team and post back here as soon as we have some further advice!
Kind regards,
Stefan

Loki@99 · Post by **Loki@99** » Fri May 10, 2024 7:13 am

Hi,

Is there any steps that I can do to help investigate this major issue ?

I'm using PDF-XChange Editor 10.3.0 build 386 and Windows 11 23H2 buid 22631.3447

Here's attached a video with Notepad.

Touch keyboard not showing.rar: (24.25 MiB) Downloaded 110 times

Fri May 10, 2024 9:48 am

Hello Loki@99,

I believe that last time this topic was brought up we were unable to reproduce this on our end.
I will check with our devs what we can do to investigate this now, and will advise again here once I have further news from them.

Kind regards,
Stefan

Loki@99 · Post by **Loki@99** » Wed May 15, 2024 8:41 am

Hi,

I tested with Sumatra PDF 3.5.2 Portable x64 and there is no issue.

Hope that devs can look into its open-source code to see how the software handles text input with touch events so that the issue can be fixed.

[url]https://github.com/sumatrapdfreader/sumatrapdf[/url]

PDF-XChange Editor 10.3.0 build 386
Windows 11 23H2 build 22631.3593

Thank you,

Post by **Vasyl - PDF-XChange** » Thu May 16, 2024 2:28 am

Hi Loki@99,

Please clarify what you have there:

Also, do you use the Tablet mode or not? Or issue isn't related to it?

Or maybe wireless keyboard is connected to the device?

Thanks.

Loki@99 · Post by **Loki@99** » Thu May 16, 2024 4:47 am

Hi Vasyl,

It's not related to typing settings. I already tried with Show the touch keyboard > Always and still have the issue (already restarted my PC)

Not related to tablet mode as well.

No wireless keyboard is connected. The device's keyboard isn't wireless, it can be attached by pins.

Maybe there's a way to force invoking C:\Program Files\Common Files\microsoft shared\ink\TabTip.exe (I just figured out that it's the process which displays the touch keyboard) whatever setting the pc have.

How about Sumatra PDF code ? I would test other open-source software to help fix this major issue.

Thanks for investigating,

Thu May 16, 2024 10:02 pm

Hello, Loki@99

We are looking at alternative solututions now, Unfortunately, the debugging information we have tried to gather in the past does not include the requisite information for us to identify the root cause of this issue (It is something core to windows, which is not even presented in typical debug logs). Since we do not have that information, we cannot reproduce it here, and very few users seem to have encountered your particular vein of this issue, it is even harder to troubleshoot.

As for your suggestion of Sumatra, the dev team did look into it as you suggested. Unfortunately their method cannot be translated to our app, as it utilizes with different controls and triggers which we cannot make use of while retaining some of our other features.

Once possible alternative to this we are considering is a user controlled option, "auto (as it is now), Always, Never" for handling whether or note the on screen KB should be called. This would allow you to override the behaviour even if windows is informing us that a keyboard is connected.

Kind regards,

Loki@99 · Post by **Loki@99** » Fri May 17, 2024 5:20 am

Hi Daniel,

I would appreciate some details about the programming language PDFXCE use to call the TabTip feature so that I can potentially find something similar on github.

Thank you,

rakunavi · Post by **rakunavi** » Fri May 17, 2024 8:09 am

Hello Daniel and Loki@99,

Sorry for interrupting to comment.

TrackerSupp-Daniel wrote: ↑Thu May 16, 2024 10:02 pm Since we do not have that information, we cannot reproduce it here, and very few users seem to have encountered your particular vein of this issue, it is even harder to troubleshoot.

I have exactly the same issue as reported in this topic on the two PCs I have on hand.

Lenovo IdeaPad C340-15IWL
HP All-in-One 22-c0xx

This does not mean that it happens only with these two PCs, and I cannot verify this because I do not have any more PCs with touch panels at hand. Both are Windows 11 PCs with touch screen, although the form factor is different between convertible (2-in-1) and all-in-one PCs. It may be worthwhile just to report that I am experiencing the same issue, so I will let you know just in case.

In the verification video I show that the touch keyboard appears automatically in a common Windows application, and during the verification I launch PDF-XChange Editor and show that the touch keyboard does not appear automatically. All touch operations are performed from the beginning to the end.

If you open Notepad and tap the appropriate position, the touch keyboard will appear automatically.
Open a PDF file on the desktop with Microsoft Edge, select the Text tool, and tap the appropriate location, and the touch keyboard will appear automatically.
If you open the PDF-XChange Editor, create a new file, tap a field in the Search or Bookmarks pane, move the focus so that a blinking cursor appears, the touch keyboard will not appear.
If you open Acrobat Reader and tap on the search field, the touch keyboard will appear automatically.
Open Explorer and tap the search field in the upper right corner to automatically display the touch keyboard.

This is a GIF animation. Click to play.

Best regards,
rakunavi

- PDF-XChange Editor Plus Version: 10.3.0 build 386
- OS Version: Windows 11 Home 23H2 Build 22631.3593
- PC Model: Lenovo IdeaPad C340-15IWL, HP All-in-One 22-c0xx

Fri May 17, 2024 5:07 pm

Hello, rakunavi

Thank you very much for the extended report, I am sure Vasyl will appreciate having a visual confirmation of the issue.
The main trouble here is still the same however, we cannot reproduce the issue locally, and no form of logging includes the information we need to come to any conclusions. Because this critical information is not present in the logs, anything we can collect is inconclusive. As they do not have the specific items we need to find the root of the problem, we cannot even identify where to begin for a more in depth investigation/troubleshooting session.

As before, we are looking at alternatives to allow you to circumvent the issue when necessary. I am glad to hear that it is at least somewhat reproducible, as that does indicate it is more likely to be something which can see resolution from our end (and all this time we have spent testing this was not a waste). Hopefully we can find a way to reproduce this, but until then, the best I can do is offer my apologies for the difficulty seen thus far.

Kind regards,

rakunavi · Post by **rakunavi** » Sat May 18, 2024 5:48 am

Hello Daniel, thank you for taking the time in your busy schedule to reply.

Not much information, but in PDF-XChange Viewer 2.5 build 322.10, the touch keyboard opened automatically, just like in other applications. In the verification video I manipulated the document properties and search pane. As before, all operations were performed by touch.

This is a GIF animation. Click to play.

I also checked PDF-XChange Editor back to older builds, and the touch keyboard was already not automatically displayed as of ver 3.0 build 307.2.

I hope that you could one day find a clue to solve this issue.
Please give my best regards to the developers.

Best regards,
rakunavi

Post by **Vasyl - PDF-XChange** » Tue May 21, 2024 5:56 am

Hi All.

We made some experimental fixes for the problem with auto-showing OnScreen keyboard on touchscreens. So in case, when you experiencing such trouble - please test the fixed portable Editor here:

https://files.tracker-software.support/ ... Eyo8KRZE8m

- and let us know if the problem persists or not. Thanks for your help.

Cheers.

Loki@99 · Post by **Loki@99** » Tue May 21, 2024 6:07 am

Hi all,

@rakunavi Thanks for your input and investigation about this major touch issue.

@Vasyl
I tried the experimental build and there's no touch keyboard issue anymore.

It worked as intended.

Thanks a lot for your hard work,
Looking forward for an implementation of that fix in the final build,

rakunavi · Post by **rakunavi** » Tue May 21, 2024 7:31 am

Hello Vasyl, thank you for working on the improvements.

I use two different local accounts on Windows, the first is my main account and the second is a verification account that I only use to report on this forum. Both are administrator accounts. Verification videos are always created on the latter account.

On Lenovo Ideapad C340-15IWL, I tried a test build with the main account and the touch keyboard worked perfectly. However, on the verification account, it did not work at all, as before.
On HP All-in-One 22-c0xx, the touch keyboard worked perfectly on the main account, but not at all on the verification account as before.

The touch keyboard works perfectly on the main account, so there may be no need to worry about it. However, with the verification account, it is a little strange that both of the two computers did not work together, so I will let you know for your information. I just wanted to leave this as a note in case anyone else encounters a similar situation in the future.

Best regards,
rakunavi