In general, this disclosure describes techniques for providing a user of a computing device with the ability to perform text-entry operations (e.g., using a touch screen) on a computing device. Specifically, the techniques of this disclosure may, in some examples, allow the user to use gestures on a mobile computing device to perform text entry and editing operations. Using a presence-sensitive user interface device (e.g., a touch screen), the user may use gestures to enter text into text-based applications (e.g., short message service (SMS) messages, e-mail message, uniform resource locators (URLs), and the like). Using visually-defined areas on the touch screen, the user may utilize gestures of certain patterns, relative to the defined areas, to indicate text entry and editing operations such as, for example, deleting characters and words, indicating a space or return characters, and the like.