How to Type Square Brackets ( [ ] ) on an iPhone

Working with arrays, mathematical formulae, or markdown, perhaps? Looking to enter ‘[’ and ‘]’ on iOS? Find out here how to type square brackets ( [] ) on an iPhone.

First, I see Trees of Gray, Gray Roses, Too

When a camera automatically exposes a picture, it famously (and quite unlike Bob Thiele)

1. sees everything as gray and
2. exposes the scene so the result is average of “middle gray”.

The result, of course, is usually a mostly correct exposure and sometimes (as with a subject against a purely white background, for instance) a photo whose exposure is wildly off.

So, it can make sense to resort to bracketing: three pictures instead of one—one exposed as the camera suggests, one darker and one brighter.

On an iPhone, you can easily change the exposure, of course, or use brackets with HDR. You can also insert brackets in text, by the by:

How to Type Square Brackets ( [ ] ) on an iPhone

Speaking of “squared”… How to Insert “Squared” Symbol ( ² ) on an iPhone

How to Type Square Brackets on an iPhone: FAQ

Can I use text replacement with square brackets?

Yes.

Square brackets are readily available on the iPhone keyboard. If you wish to save switching to one or two of the extra keys card screens, you can set up a text replacement for the opening and closing square bracket for swifter access:

1. Open the Settings app.
2. Go to the General category.
3. Select Keyboard.
4. Now pick Text Replacement.
5. Tap +.
6. Under Phrase, enter the opening or closing square bracket (or both, of course, to insert a pair quickly).
7. Under Shortcut, type the character combination you want replaced with square brackets.
   Example: Use (. for [ and ssbb for [], for instance.
8. Tap Save.
   

Does access to brackets depend on the keyboard layout?

To some degree.

For most keyboard layouts, the square bracket characters are accessible through 123 and #+=. Some layouts (namely Japanese kana) put square brackets behind ABC and ☆123.

Homographically related, can I type squared ( ² ) on the iPhone keyboard?

Unlike squared brackets, the symbol for squared is not part of the keyboard; you can set up a text expansion for squared (and other exponents) on the iPhone.

(How to type square brackets on an iPhone tested with iOS 15–18; first published July 2022, last updated November 2024)