You tap the space bar twice to leave a little extra room, and the iPhone drops in a period instead. That is the “.” Shortcut, a keyboard setting that turns a double space into a period followed by a space. To stop it, go to Settings > General > Keyboard and turn off “.” Shortcut. The steps below apply to current versions of iOS, and the same switch turns the shortcut back on later.
Another keyboard change people make by accident is the squeezed layout, and here is how to get rid of the one-handed keyboard.
What the “.” Shortcut does
With the shortcut on, two quick taps on the space bar insert a period and a space, and the next letter is usually capitalized as the start of a new sentence. It saves a trip to the numbers and symbols keys.
It gets in the way when you type things that need two spaces or no punctuation: a list of names, a code, a poem with deliberate gaps, or a message where you pause and tap the space bar twice out of habit. Turning the shortcut off leaves the rest of the keyboard alone. Auto-Capitalization, Auto-Correction and predictive text each have their own switches.
Turn off the double-space period on iPhone
- Open the Settings app.
- Tap General.
- Scroll down and tap Keyboard. On some older versions of iOS the row is called Keyboards.
- Find “.” Shortcut in the list of switches and turn it off. The switch is green when the shortcut is on and gray when it is off.
There is nothing to save. Open any app with a text field, such as Notes, and tap the space bar twice. You should now get two spaces and no period.
If you do not see the switch
The keyboard settings list is long, so scroll the whole screen. The “.” Shortcut sits with the other typing switches such as Auto-Capitalization and Auto-Correction. If you are looking at the list of installed keyboards instead, you tapped Keyboards at the top of the screen; go back one level.
Turn the shortcut back on, or fix it when it stopped working
Some people want the reverse: the double-space period used to work and now it does not. Check these in order.
- Go to Settings > General > Keyboard and make sure “.” Shortcut is on (green).
- Check which keyboard you are typing with. Touch and hold the globe or emoji key below the keyboard to switch back to the Apple keyboard if another one is active.
- Tap the space bar twice quickly, right after a word. A slow second tap may simply add a second space.
- Restart the iPhone if the switch is on and the shortcut still does nothing.
If the keyboard keeps misbehaving in other ways too, resetting the iPhone keyboard dictionary can clear out odd learned behavior. It does not change the “.” Shortcut switch.
iPad, external keyboards, other keyboard apps and Mac
iPad
iPadOS uses the same setting: Settings > General > Keyboard > “.” Shortcut. Change it on each device where the extra period bothers you.
A Magic Keyboard or other hardware keyboard
When a physical keyboard is connected, Apple lists a separate “.” Shortcut option under Settings > General > Keyboard > Hardware Keyboard. Apple describes it this way: when it is on, double-tapping the space bar inserts a period followed by a space. See Apple’s page on typing assistance options for a hardware keyboard. Turn it off there if the extra period appears while you type on the external keyboard.
Gboard, SwiftKey and other keyboard apps
Keyboards from other developers handle punctuation themselves, so the iPhone switch may not affect them. Open that keyboard’s own app or settings and look for a double-space period option.
Mac
On a Mac, the option is called Add period with double-space. Choose Apple menu > System Settings, click Keyboard in the sidebar, then under Text Input click Edit and turn the option off or on. Apple covers it on its page about replacing text and punctuation on Mac. If emoji suggestions are also changing your words there, see turning off emoji autocorrect on a Mac.
Related keyboard settings on the same screen
The Keyboard screen holds several switches that change what you type. If the double-space period was only one of your annoyances, these are worth a look:
- Auto-Correction replaces words it thinks are misspelled. See how to turn off autocorrect on iPhone.
- Predictive Text shows word suggestions above the keyboard. Learn to enable or disable predictive text.
- Text Replacement lets you set your own shortcuts, for example typing a short code that expands into a full phrase. See adding a word with Text Replacement.
Period shortcut questions
Does turning it off stop capital letters after a double space?
It stops the period, and without a period the next word is not treated as a new sentence. Auto-Capitalization still capitalizes after a period you type yourself. Turn off Auto-Capitalization separately if you want lowercase everywhere.
Why does my iPhone add a period when I did not tap the space bar twice?
A light double tap, or a tap that registers twice, counts as a double space. If it happens often and you rarely use the shortcut, turning it off is the simplest fix.
Can I type a period another way once it is off?
Yes. Tap the 123 key to show numbers and punctuation, then tap the period key.
Once the switch is off, type a quick test message to confirm. The same switch brings the shortcut back whenever you miss it.
Kermit Matthews runs Live2Tech from just outside Philadelphia. He is an IT specialist with over 20 years of experience, from a university help desk to small-business IT, IT management and his own consulting practice, and has written tech guides full time since 2020. Steps are checked against the current software on a real device or the maker’s official documentation. More about Kermit.