How to Type in Cursive on Any Device or App

This page gives the quickest route first, then the exact menu steps for Word, Google Docs, Canva, iPhone, Android, Discord and Instagram, plus a privacy warning about keyboard apps.

How to type in cursive: pick your method in ten seconds

What is the difference between a cursive font and Unicode cursive?

A cursive font is formatting. Your text is still made of ordinary letters; the document just tells the computer to draw them using a script typeface such as Dancing Script. Copy that text into a WhatsApp message and it arrives as plain letters, because the formatting doesn’t come with it. It also depends on the reader having the same font.

Unicode cursive is different characters. 𝓗𝓮𝓵𝓵𝓸 is five characters from Unicode’s Mathematical Alphanumeric Symbols block, each of which is a cursive letter. Paste it anywhere that accepts text and it stays cursive, because the style is part of the characters. The trade-offs: you get only the two script alphabets Unicode contains, there are no cursive digits, screen readers handle it poorly, and fields like usernames reject it. Our explainer on how fancy text works goes deeper.

How do I copy and paste Unicode cursive?

This works on every device, in every app that accepts text.

1. Open the cursive text generator.
2. Type your text. Every cursive style updates as you type.
3. Tap the style you like to copy it. Bold cursive (𝓢𝓪𝓻𝓪𝓱) is easier to read on small screens; regular script (𝒮𝒶𝓇𝒶𝒽) looks finer and more formal.
4. Paste it where you want it.

If some letters show as boxes for the people reading it, their device lacks a font for those characters. Cursive is one of the safest styles in this respect, but our guide to why fancy text shows boxes covers what to do.

How do I type in cursive in Microsoft Word?

Use a script font that is already installed

1. Select the text.
2. Open the font box on the Home tab and type the font name.
3. On Windows, Segoe Script comes with the system. Depending on your Office version you may also have Lucida Handwriting, Brush Script MT, Edwardian Script ITC or Vivaldi. On a Mac, macOS includes Snell Roundhand, Apple Chancery, Savoye LET and Zapfino.

Use the script font for headings, names and short lines. Even legible scripts slow readers down over a full paragraph, and connected scripts look wrong in ALL CAPS, because the capitals were designed to start words, not to sit next to each other.

Install a new cursive font

Google Fonts offers free script fonts under open licences.

1. Go to fonts.google.com, search for a font such as Dancing Script or Great Vibes, and download it.
2. Unzip the download.
3. Windows: right-click the .ttf file and choose Install (or Install for all users). Mac: double-click the file and click Install in Font Book.
4. Restart Word. The font now appears in the font list.

Keep the font when you share the file

Someone opening your document without that font will see a substitute. Two fixes:

• Embed the font: in Word for Windows, go to File → Options → Save and tick Embed fonts in the file. Word for Mac has the same setting in Preferences → Save. This makes the file larger.
• Export a PDF, which keeps the exact appearance and is the safer choice for invitations and printing.

How do I type in cursive in Google Docs, Slides and Sheets?

Google’s editors don’t use the fonts on your computer. They offer the Google Fonts library instead, and a font you add follows the document, so everyone you share it with sees it.

1. Click the font name in the toolbar (it usually says Arial).
2. Choose More fonts at the top of the list.
3. Search for a script font, for example Dancing Script, Great Vibes, Pacifico, Sacramento or Pinyon Script. Filtering the list to Handwriting shows only script styles.
4. Click the font so it is ticked, then OK. It now appears in your font menu in every Docs, Slides and Sheets file.
5. Select your text and choose the font.

One catch: if you download the document as a Word file, the recipient needs the font installed on their computer, or Word will substitute another. Downloading as PDF avoids that.

How do I type in cursive in Canva?

1. Select a text box.
2. Click the font name in the top toolbar.
3. Search for “script”, “cursive” or a specific font name. Canva’s library includes many free script fonts; some are marked as Pro.
4. To use a font Canva doesn’t have, Canva Pro lets you upload your own in the Brand Kit, provided its licence allows it.
5. Download your design as PNG or PDF. The cursive is now part of the image, so it looks the same everywhere.

If you only need a styled word or name as an image, the Lettering Image Maker does the same job in one step and exports a PNG.

How do I type in cursive on iPhone and iPad?

iOS has no cursive keyboard and no setting that changes the font of text you type into other apps. Your options:

Copy and paste from the generator

Use the generator as above. This is the quickest route.

Text Replacement for a cursive shortcut

Text Replacement turns a short code into a cursive phrase anywhere you type:

1. Copy your cursive text from the generator.
2. Open Settings → General → Keyboard → Text Replacement and tap +.
3. Paste the cursive text into Phrase.
4. Type a plain shortcut that you won’t type by accident, such as zzname, into Shortcut, and save.
5. Now typing zzname in any app offers your cursive phrase above the keyboard.

This is ideal for a cursive signature line or a name you use in bios.

Fonts in Pages and Keynote

Apple’s own apps include script fonts such as Snell Roundhand, and iOS lets you install extra fonts from font apps in the App Store, which then appear under Settings → General → Fonts. These are real fonts, so they only work inside apps that offer a font menu, not in Messages or Instagram.

How do I type in cursive on Android?

Gboard has no cursive mode, and neither do most phone makers’ built-in keyboards. Copying from the generator is the simplest route, and a long-press in most text fields gives you Paste.

Some phones, including Samsung models, let you change the system font style in display settings. That only changes how text looks on your screen. The people you message still see their own font, so it isn’t a way to send cursive.

Are cursive keyboard apps safe to use?

App stores are full of “fonts keyboard” apps that let you type straight into styled letters. They work by doing the same Unicode substitution as a generator. The convenience comes with a cost worth thinking about:

• On Android, enabling any third-party keyboard triggers a system warning that the input method may be able to collect all the text you type, including passwords and credit card numbers. That warning is accurate: a keyboard sees every keystroke.
• On iPhone, many such keyboards ask you to turn on Allow Full Access, which lets them send data off the device.

If you install one, choose a well-known developer, read its privacy policy, don’t grant full access unless a feature truly needs it, and switch back to your normal keyboard for passwords, banking and private messages. For occasional use, copying and pasting from a website that styles text inside your browser avoids the issue entirely.

How do I type in cursive on Discord, Instagram and WhatsApp?

Discord: there is no cursive markdown. *text* or _text_ gives you italics, which slant the letters without joining them. For true script, paste Unicode cursive into your display name, server nickname, About Me or messages. Your username only accepts lowercase letters, numbers, underscores and periods. The Discord fonts page has the full markdown cheat sheet.

Instagram: paste Unicode cursive into your name, bio, captions or comments. The @username rejects it. Instagram Stories and Reels have their own text styles, but those are drawn into the image or video and can’t be copied as text. See the Instagram fonts page for field-by-field rules.

WhatsApp: _text_ gives italics in messages, and Unicode cursive works in messages, your status and your About text.

Wherever you use it, keep cursive for short, decorative text such as a name or a heading. Long cursive sentences are harder for everyone to read and are especially difficult for people using screen readers; the accessibility guide explains why.

What if I meant cursive handwriting?

“Typing in cursive” sometimes means wanting your writing to look like real joined-up handwriting. Unicode cursive letters don’t connect to each other the way handwritten cursive does. If you want to learn to write it by hand rather than learn how to type in cursive on a screen, our cursive letters A to Z pages show the strokes for every capital and lowercase letter, with printable practice sheets.