Systems and methods are described for intelligent default selection of characters to be entered via an on-screen keyboard. Based on one to several criteria, a character most likely to be selected for entry via the on-screen keyboard during a search request is determined and a selector is positioned at that particular character. If that character is indeed the character the user wishes to enter, the user does not have to execute any navigation steps to enter the character, but can--with a single actuation--enter that character. In many instances, the user will only have to enter the selection without first having to navigate to the selection. As a result, the number of times buttons need to be actuated by the user to enter a character string can be significantly reduced.