Strange bug on Google Pixel: keyboard not appearing. Impossible to reply to emails

An unusual malfunction has affected some Google Pixel users, preventing them from replying to emails within the Gmail application. The problem, which has emerged in the last 24 hours, manifests itself with the virtual keyboard not displaying, effectively making typing in the text field impossible.

When users try to interact with the reply or compose field, instead of the keyboard appearing, the auto-complete options or suggestions from the AI feature "Help me write" are displayed. This situation hinders any possibility of text input, turning a simple operation like replying to an email into an insurmountable obstacle. Although the issue is primarily associated with Pixel devices, at least one Galaxy user has also been affected.

Google Pixel, keyboard does not appear in Gmail: temporary solutions pending a fix

The exact cause of the problem is still unclear. Reports indicate that the bug seems to be rooted in the Gmail application itself, as users have not encountered similar malfunctions in other apps on their devices. A test on a Pixel 8 Pro with "stable Android 17" confirmed the blocking of the Gboard keyboard in Gmail. In the absence of official communication from Google, the user community has identified some temporary solutions to mitigate the impact of this bug.

Some have discovered that tapping the button usually used to hide the keyboard, when it appears, seems to reset the anomaly and allow the keyboard to reappear on the next touch in the text field. Another trick involves enabling automatic screen rotation and briefly rotating the phone to landscape mode. This action seems to bring back the keyboard, allowing users to continue typing. Subsequently, they can return to portrait mode without losing functionality. Similarly, some users have found success by attaching an image to the email and then returning to the editor, a process that in certain cases has unlocked the keyboard.

Among the common suggestions to temporarily resolve the blockage are also more standard actions, like restarting the phone, clearing the application cache of Gmail, or force closing the app. All these methods have been reported as effective, albeit temporarily. While waiting for Google to release a definitive update for the issue, the only permanent alternative is to resort to a different email client than Gmail.