How to add language to keyboard

How to change your keyboard language on a Windows 10 computer and type in another language

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Windows gives you a lot of control over the language it uses — so much control, in fact, that it can be confusing to set it up the way you want.

For example, you can change the language that Windows uses for every menu, or just the language used for the keyboard.

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How to change the keyboard language on Windows 10

You can change your keyboard’s language without changing the language that Windows is using on the screen — this is handy for gaining access to accent marks and other specialized characters, or for typing on a keyboard with a different language layout.

1. Click Start and then click the Settings icon (which is shaped like a gear).

2. Click «Time & Language.»

3. In the navigation pane on the left, click «Language.»

4. In the «Preferred languages section,» click your language (i.e., «English») and then click «Options.»

5. Scroll down to «Keyboards» and then click «Add a keyboard.» In the pop-up menu, click the keyboard language you want to add.

6. Close Settings. Once you add a second keyboard language to Windows, a language control button will appear in the taskbar, in the lower-right corner of the screen. Click it, and in the pop-up menu that appears, choose the language you want to use with your keyboard.

You can always return to the taskbar to switch back to your original keyboard language.

How to Add Languages to Your Windows 10 Keyboard

Are you beginning to type in a foreign language? Do you often find yourself copy-and-pasting special characters like é and wish there was an easy shortcut? Thankfully, Windows 10 allows users to easily add and switch between different languages without having to buy a separate physical keyboard.

Personally, I often use the French and Japanese keyboards on my laptop. The French keyboard allows me to quickly enter letters with diacritics (à, ê, ï, etc.). The Japanese keyboard automatically translates Latin characters into hiragana (おはよう), katakana (サム), or kanji (日本).

The following instructions will help you add new languages to Windows 10.

Once you have followed these steps, a new icon will appear next to the date and time on the bottom-right of your screen. Most likely, it will say “ENG” for English, the current keyboard language. Click on this icon to open a window listing the currently added languages. From here, you can select a language to change your keyboard’s settings. You may also hold down the Windows ⊞ key and press Space to quickly change languages.

By default, some languages use a different keyboard layout than the QWERTY layout used for US English keyboards. Once you have switched to the new language, test it out by typing in Word, Notepad, or any other program that allows you to enter text. If the keys you type do not match the letters on the screen, the following instructions can help you fix this issue.

Congratulations! You have now added another language’s keyboard to your computer. Feel free to add as many additional languages as you would like.

Here are a few diacritics you can type using the United States-International keyboard:

) by pressing Shift + `, followed by a letter.

Добавление языка в раскладку клавиатуры в Windows 10

Процедура добавления нового языка в раскладку клавиатуры на компьютере с ОС Windows 10 является предельно простой и выполняется по следующему алгоритму.

Примечание: Если нажать левой кнопкой мышки (ЛКМ) по индикатору языковой раскладки на панели задач и выбрать пункт «Настройки языка», вы сразу попадете в указанный выше раздел, минуя три предыдущих шага.

Обратите внимание на описание функций в нижней части окна («Язык интерфейса», «Преобразование текста в речь», «Распознавание речи», «Рукописный ввод») – наличие соответствующего значка напротив наименований в перечне говорит об их поддержке.

после чего добавленный язык появится в списке раскладок

Подробнее: Настройка переключения языка в разных версиях Windows 10

How to Change Keyboard Language

Easily type in different languages

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If you’re multilingual, a single language keyboard probably won’t cut it for you. Fortunately, Android, iOS, Windows, macOS, and Chrome OS all support multiple languages and multiple language keyboards. Here’s how to set up and use them.

The instructions in this article apply to all modern Android and iOS devices, as well as both Windows and Mac computers.

How to Add a Language to a Keyboard on Android

If you use a phone that doesn’t have a standard version of Android running on it, the options here may appear in slightly different places, but the general process is similar. You can also change the system language on Android.

These instructions were developed with a device running Android 9 with the Gboard keyboard installed.

To add a language to an Android keyboard:

Tap Settings on your Android device.

System > Languages & input > Languages.

Tap + Add a language.

Either scroll to the name of the language you want to add or search for it.

Tap the language you want to add.

In some cases, you are prompted to select the version of the language you want to add. For example, if you choose French, you must choose the language as it is spoken in either Canada or France.

After you enable other languages on your Android keyboard, it’s easy to switch between them depending on your needs. Long-press the spacebar in Gboard and then tap the language keyboard you want to use.

How to Add and Switch Language Keyboards in iOS

Follow these instructions on Apple iOS devices—iPhones, iPads, and iPod touch devices—running iOS 9 through iOS 13 to add keyboard support for additional languages.

Open the iOS device’s Settings app and tap General > Keyboard > Keyboards.

Tap Add New Keyboard.

Scroll through the languages and tap the one you want to add to your keyboard options.

Switch between installed keyboards on iOS by long-pressing the globe icon on the iOS keyboard and then tapping the language you want to use. If you have several languages installed, tap lightly on the globe to toggle through them. As you do, the name of the language appears briefly on the space bar.

How to Add and Use Different Language Keyboards on Windows

Follow these instructions on any computer running Windows 10 to add keyboard support for additional languages.

Press Windows Key+I to open Windows Settings.

Select Time & language.

Select Language in the left pane.

Under the Preferred Languages section, select + Add a preferred language.

Scroll through the list of languages and select a language or enter a language in the search field to jump to the language you want and choose it.

After you add the language or languages you want to use, switching between them is easy. Select the language icon in the system tray in the lower right portion of the screen and choose the one you want to use.

How to Add and Use Language Keyboards on macOS

Follow these instructions on Apple computers running macOS to add keyboard support for additional languages.

Select the Apple menu and choose System Preferences in the drop-down menu.

Select Keyboard.

Select the Input sources tab.

Check the box next to Show Input menu in the menu bar. This action adds an indicator to the menu bar that displays the current keyboard language selected, along with a drop-down menu to let you switch to other installed languages.

Select the + icon in the lower left corner.

Choose a language from the list in the left pane to add it. Depending on the language, you may see variations to choose from in the window to the right of the language list. Choose the variation you want to use. Click Add.

To switch between installed language keyboards on macOS, select the Input menu in the menu bar and choose the language you want to use.

How to Add Language Keyboards on Chrome OS

Follow these instructions on devices running Chrome 76 (or newer) to enable keyboard support for additional languages in Chrome OS.

Select the three vertical dots typically found in the upper right corner.

Select Settings.

Select Advanced from the left menu to expand the menu. Then, select Languages and Input.

Select the current language.

Select Add languages.

Scroll to the name of the language you want to add and place a check mark in front of it. Select Add.

Select the current input method keyboard.

Select the Show input options on the shelf slider to enable it.

Select Manage input methods.

Select the check box next to every language keyboard you want to use.

Switch the language for the installed keyboard and enable input methods on Chrome OS devices by selecting the Input options from the shelf (typically in the lower right corner) and then choosing the language you want to use.

How to Add and Change Keyboard Language in Windows and Mac OS

If you are person who need to write in more than one language, or you live in foreign country, or you are simply a translator, you’ll need multiple keyboard languages in your operating system. To use them, first you need to know how to add them, and then, how to change/switch them efficiently.

Great addition to such setup are our bilingual keyboard stickers with two languages printed on them. You can then easily write in two languages without the need to learn letters placement in mind.

So, how to add and change languages? Click on your operating system to jump to proper section:

Mac OS X

Adding keyboard language

1. Open Spotlight (Cmd + space) and type «system», then click on System Preferences, or click on Apple in top left corner of the screen and choose System Preferences from menu.

2. Click on Keyboard.

3. Switch from Keyboard to Input Sources tab, and then click on + (plus) button in bottom left corner of the window.

4. From popup choose desired language from left list, and then choose particular layout for this language from right list. Finally, click on Add button to add this language to your system.

Switching keyboard language

There is no quick method of doing this out of the box in Mac OS X. You need to manually assign keyboard shortcut to the «switching» action.

1. Go to Keyboard in System Preferences.

2. From Keyboard switch to Shortcuts tab.

3. Click on Input Sources on the left list and check Select next source in Input menu. You’ll see a little warning, because this keyboard shortcut is already used by Spotlight.

4. Click on Spotlight on the left list and uncheck Show Finder search window. Now the warning is gone.

5. That’s it. Now you can switch languages by using Cmd + Opt + Space shortcut 🙂

Windows Vista

Adding keyboard language

1. Click on Start menu and choose Control Panel.

2. Click on Clock, Language and Region.

3. Switch to Keyboards and languages tab and click on Change keyboards button.

4. Under Installed services, click Add button.

Switching keyboard language

To set this up, right-click on the taskbar (the gray bar at the bottom on screen) and from menu choose Toolbars, and then click Language Bar. Language Bar will show up on the taskbar. Now to switch language click on language name next to little keyboard icon and from list, select desired language.

Windows 7

Adding keyboard language

1. Click on Start menu and choose Control Panel.

2. Click on Clock, Language and Region.

3. Switch to Keyboards and languages tab and click on Change keyboards button.

4. Under Installed services, click Add button.

5. Double-click on language you want to add, double-click the keyboard you want to add, and select text services options you want to add. Click OK button.

Switching keyboard language

Windows 8 / 8.1

Adding keyboard language

1. Use Windows + W keyboard shortcut to bring Search. In the search field type «language«, then from the search results, on the left, click on Language.

2. In the Language window, click on Add a language link.

3. In the Add languages window find desired language from the list, select it, and click Add button. Some languages are expandable, so select particular language layout you want to use.

Switching keyboard language

To switch keyboard languages simply use Windows + Space shortcut.

Windows 10

Adding keyboard language

1. Use Windows + W keyboard shortcut to bring Search. In the search field type «language«, then from the search results, on the left, click on Language.

2. In the Language window, click on Add a language link.

3. In the Add languages window find desired language from the list, select it, and click Add button. Some languages are expandable, so select particular language layout you want to use.

Switching keyboard language

To switch keyboard languages simply use Windows + Space shortcut.

That’s it! If this article was helpful or you simply like what we do, please use buttons on the right to share this article with the world 🙂 Thanks!

Sebastian Konczak

Multi-discipline man and co-founder at Keyshorts. I write about working from home, productivity hacks, e-commerce, keyboards, and Adobe tutorials.

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