Mishaal Rahman / Android Authority
TL;DR Android 16 adds the ability to customize keyboard shortcuts.
This feature first went live in Android 16 Beta 2.
While you can’t assign custom key combinations to every available shortcut, you can customize many of them.
Update, June 10, 2025 (2:24 PM ET): Google announced today that it is launching custom keyboard shortcuts in Android so you can “create your own combination of hotkeys.” This feature is already available in Android 16 for the Pixel Tablet and will be launching “later this year” on other devices once they receive the update.
As part of its efforts to make Android work better for tablets and PCs, Google is improving Android’s support for physical keyboards. To make navigating the OS with a physical keyboard easier, Android offers a number of shortcuts that control system actions, can launch applications, and more. These shortcuts are triggered by entering specific key combinations, such as “Meta + H” to go to the home screen. Starting in Android 16, the key combinations used to trigger these shortcuts can finally be customized.
Earlier this month, we spotted code in the first beta of Android 16 that hinted at a new keyboard shortcut customization feature. Following the release of Android 16 Beta 2 last week, we noticed that this option is now live, giving us the opportunity to demonstrate it.
To access the new keyboard shortcut customization feature in Android 16, you first need to pull up Android’s keyboard shortcut menu. You can do so in one of three ways. First, you can go to Settings > System > Keyboard > Physical keyboard > View keyboard shortcuts. Second, you can tap the floating toolbar that appears when you focus on a text field and then select “show keyboard shortcuts.” This floating toolbar is part of Gboard, so it won’t appear if you’re using another Android keyboard. Lastly, you can enter ‘Meta + /’ on your keyboard to bring up the shortcut menu.
Once you bring up Android’s keyboard shortcut menu, you should see a “customize” button in the top right corner. If you don’t, it’s because you’re either not running at least Android 16 Beta 2 or your screen density is too low. This button currently only appears on devices with screens larger than 600dp, such as Android tablets.
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