How to type fancy text on iPhone and Android

Quick steps

1. Open the fancy text generator in your phone browser, type your text and tap Copy on the style you like.
2. Switch to the app, long-press the text field and choose Paste.
3. To reuse a style often, save the copied text as a text replacement on iPhone, or as a personal dictionary shortcut or pinned clipboard item on Android.

Why there is no fancy font setting on your phone

Neither iPhone nor Android has a menu for fancy fonts in the standard keyboard. Fancy text is not a font that the keyboard can switch on. It is a set of special Unicode characters that look like a different font, so something has to produce those characters for you.

That is why people use a generator. You type normal text, the generator swaps each letter for its styled twin, and you paste the result. The pasted text is ordinary text with unusual characters, so it can go into any app that accepts them.

Method 1: copy from the generator and paste (works on every phone)

Open the generator in Safari, Chrome or any mobile browser. Type your words and choose a style. Tap the Copy button on the row you like, then go to the app you want, long-press the text field and choose Paste.

This takes about ten seconds, needs no installation, and sends nothing to a keyboard company. It is the best option when you only style text now and then, for example a bio or a display name.

Add the generator to your home screen if you use it often. In Safari, use Share and then Add to Home Screen. In Chrome on Android, open the menu and choose Add to Home screen, or Install app when it appears.

Method 2 on iPhone: save a styled name as a text replacement

If you paste the same styled name or sign-off again and again, you can store it once. Open Settings, then General, then Keyboard, then Text Replacement. Tap the plus button, paste your styled text into Phrase, and type a short shortcut, such as myname.

From then on, typing the shortcut in any app offers the styled text as a suggestion. The exact menu names can change between iOS versions, so check Apple's page if you cannot find the setting.

Method 2 on Android: use a Gboard shortcut or a pinned clip

On Gboard, open the keyboard settings, then Dictionary, then Personal dictionary. Pick your language, tap the plus button, paste the styled text and add a shortcut. Gboard then suggests the styled text when you type the shortcut.

For something simpler, copy the styled text, open the clipboard from the toolbar above the keyboard, long-press the copied item and choose Pin. Pinned items stay in the clipboard, so you can paste them again later. Other keyboards, such as Samsung Keyboard, have a similar feature that is usually called text shortcuts.

Method 3: a fancy font keyboard app (read this before you install one)

Some apps add a fancy text keyboard to your phone. They are convenient because you type styled letters directly, but they come with trade-offs. A keyboard can see what you type, and on iPhone a third-party keyboard asks for Full Access before it can do some tasks. You should be careful about giving that permission to an app you do not know.

If you still want one, read the privacy information in the store listing, avoid apps that ask for more than they need, and never type passwords or banking details while that keyboard is active. For most people the copy-and-paste method is safer and nearly as quick.

Where fancy text works, and where it does not

Styled text pastes into most chat apps, social bios, captions and display names. It does not work in places that only allow plain characters, such as usernames, email addresses, web addresses and many login fields.

If a pasted line turns into empty boxes, the other person's device may not have a font for that style. Try a more common style, such as bold or italic, and read the page about fancy text showing boxes for the full fix list.

Keep it readable

Fancy letters can be hard to read for some people and may be read out oddly by a screen reader. Use them for a short name, a heading or a bio line, and keep the important information, such as dates, prices and links, in normal text.