How to Customize a Keyboard Layout

Keyboard layouts can be enabled for any language.

Keyboard layouts determine what characters will appear when a key is pressed. The standard keyboard layout is QWERTY, which most English keyboards use as a default layout. Adding languages and keyboard layouts can be easily accomplished through the Windows Control Panel. You can add any number of languages to the Language Bar, then select the keyboard layout for those specific languages. At any time, you can also easily revert to the standard QWERTY layout.

Instructions

1. From the Start Menu, click on "Control Panel" to open the Control Panel. In the search box, type "keyboard layout" and then click on "Change keyboards or other input methods" in the Region and Language category.

2. Click on "Change keyboards..." in the Keyboard and Languages tab of the Region and Language dialog box.

3. Click on "Add..." under the General tab of the Text Services and Input Languages dialog box. Find the language you want to add and expand its tree, then expand the "Keyboard" subtree and click on the check box next to the language layout you want to add. You can repeat this process to add multiple keyboard layouts.

4. Click on "OK" in the Add Input Language dialog box, click on "OK" in the Text Services and Input Languages dialog box, then finally click on "OK" in the Region and Language dialog box.

5. Click on the keyboard layout button in the Language Bar at the bottom right side of the taskbar. If you are using a standard English layout, the keyboard layout button will be marked "EN." From here, you will see a list of added language layouts, from which you can select the one you want to use. To revert to the standard English layout at any time, choose "EN" from the list.

References

• Windows: Change Your Keyboard Layout