SwiftKey for Android makes it easier to select and delete text

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Swifkey carbon theme (Image credit: Windows Central)

What you need to know

  • Microsoft SwiftKey now supports swiping from the delete key to select and remove text.
  • The same update also adds the option to disable automatic spaces after punctuation.
  • The new features arrive with version 8.10.13.2 of Microsoft SwiftKey.

Microsoft SwiftKey recently received an update that makes it easier to delete text. The last version of the app includes an option to swipe left from the delete key to select text. You can scrub left or right while holding your finger down to select specific words and then remove your finger to delete the selected content. The same update also adds the option to disable automatic spaces following punctuation.

The update brings the app to version 8.10.13.2. Oddly, navigating to the SwiftKey page on the Google Play Store does not list the changes for the update, though we were able to install it on a device. We can confirm that the option to select and delete text with a gesture as well as the ability to disable automatic spaces both work in the latest version of the app.

Neowin spotted the changes and shared the following changelog (which does not appear for us when navigating to the SwiftKey Google Play listing:

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  • We've added a typing setting to disable auto spaces with punctuation.
  • You can now swipe on the delete key to select and delete text.

Holding down the delete key removes words quickly. The new option within the keyboard app provides more granular controls over which words you'd like to delete.

Sean Endicott
News Writer

Sean Endicott is a News Writer at Windows Central, where he covers Windows 11, Surface hardware, Microsoft 365, AI, apps, and the broader PC ecosystem. Since joining the site in 2017, he has written well over a thousand articles across the Microsoft landscape, covering breaking news, analysis, and feature reporting.

He writes Windows Wrap, a weekly column covering the biggest stories in Windows and the PC industry, and what they mean for the platform going forward.

Before joining Windows Central full-time, Sean worked in journalism and media production after earning a First Class degree in Broadcast Journalism from Nottingham Trent University. Outside of tech, he is an award-winning American football coach based in Nottingham, England, and was named BAFCA Youth Coach of the Year in 2024.