Keyboard Layout: See Every Key on Any Layout

How to use the keyboard layout viewer

1. Check the chip above the keyboard. It says Detected when your browser confirmed your layout, or Best guess when it did not.
2. Choose a layout from the list, then set the physical form (ANSI, ISO, JIS or ABNT2), the OS (Windows or Mac) and the size: Full, TKL, 75%, 65%, 60% or Laptop.
3. Use the Normal, Shift, AltGr (Option on a Mac) and Shift+AltGr buttons to see each layer. Holding the real Shift or AltGr key switches the layer too.
4. Click or hover over a key to see its name, its event.code, the characters it types on each layer and a one-line description of what it does. Pressing a key on your own keyboard highlights it.
5. Turn on Compare with US QWERTY to outline every key that types something different.

Below the tool you will find a US QWERTY table, row by row, and the top row of each main layout family. To check that your keys actually work, use the keyboard tester.

What is a keyboard layout?

The word covers two separate things, and mixing them up causes most layout confusion.

• The software layout is a table in your operating system that maps each physical key to a character. It decides that the key to the right of P types [ on a US layout. Change the setting and the same key types something else, with no change to the hardware.
• The physical form is the shape and number of the keys: ANSI, ISO, JIS or ABNT2, and the size of the board.

The legends printed on your keycaps show only one software layout. That is why a keyboard can say one thing and type another. The viewer shows both the printed legends and the event.code of each key. The code names the physical position, such as KeyQ, and stays the same whichever layout you choose.

The QWERTY keyboard layout (US)

QWERTY is named after the first six letters of the top letter row. The US keyboard layout is the standard version, and it is what most people mean by the English keyboard layout, although the UK uses a different one (see below). The keys fall into five groups:

• Alphanumeric keys: a number row, then three letter rows, each offset a little further to the right.
• Modifiers: Shift, Ctrl, Alt, the Windows key (Command on a Mac), Caps Lock and Tab.
• Function row: Esc and F1 to F12 along the top.
• Navigation block: the arrow keys with Insert, Delete, Home, End, Page Up and Page Down.
• Numeric keypad: the number block on the right of a full-size board. TKL, 75%, 65% and 60% boards drop some of these groups.

The row-by-row table under the tool lists every character a US keyboard types, with and without Shift.

ANSI, ISO, JIS and ABNT2: the physical forms

These standards decide the shape of the board, not the language you type.

• ANSI is the US form. Enter is a wide, single-row key, and the \ key sits above it.
• ISO is the European form. Enter is tall, there is an extra key between left Shift and Z (IntlBackslash in the viewer), and the right Alt works as AltGr on many layouts.
• JIS is the Japanese form. It adds a Yen key, a Ro key and the Kana, Eisu, Convert and No-convert keys around a shorter space bar.
• ABNT2 is the Brazilian form. It has an ISO-style shape plus a Ro key and a numeric keypad comma.

Switch the physical form with the layout fixed and the extra keys appear or vanish. Click one to read what it does.

QWERTZ, AZERTY, Dvorak and Colemak

Most layouts are variations on QWERTY, so only some keys move.

• QWERTZ swaps Y and Z. German, Swiss, Czech and Hungarian keyboards use it. On the German layout, AltGr+Q types @ and AltGr+E types the euro sign.
• AZERTY is used in France and Belgium. A and Q swap, Z and W swap, and M moves. On the French layout the number row types symbols and accents first, so you hold Shift for digits. AltGr+0 types @.
• Dvorak puts the vowels on the left side of the home row and common consonants on the right. People pick it for comfort, not because a country requires it.
• Colemak keeps most QWERTY keys where they are, so shortcuts such as copy and paste stay in place, and moves the rest of the common letters onto the home row.

If you want to type German or French without changing your system, use the German online keyboard or the French online keyboard. The online keyboard index lists other languages.

UK vs US keyboard layout

The UK layout is ISO and shares the QWERTY letters with the US layout, but a few symbols differ. Switch to English (UK) and turn on the comparison to see them:

• Shift+2 types a double quote (") on UK and @ on US.
• Shift+' types @ on UK and a double quote on US.
• Shift+3 types the pound sign (£) on UK and # on US. The UK # has its own key next to Enter.
• The extra ISO key left of Z types \ and |.
• AltGr+4 types the euro sign, and AltGr plus a vowel types accents such as é.

Typing @ or " and getting the other one is the classic sign that the system layout is set to the wrong country.

How to check which layout you are using

Look at the chip above the keyboard first. Then press a few keys and watch which key lights up in the viewer. If the symbols you type do not match the keycaps, your software layout differs from the printed one. On Windows, the language code (for example ENG US) sits at the right of the taskbar. On a Mac, the input menu in the menu bar shows a flag or letter for the active source.

How to change your keyboard layout

Windows 11 and Windows 10

1. Open Settings, then Time & language, then Language & region.
2. Next to your language, choose Options (or the three dots), then Add a keyboard.
3. Pick the layout. To switch between layouts, press Win+Space or use the language code on the taskbar.

macOS

1. Open System Settings, then Keyboard.
2. Under Text Input, choose Edit next to Input Sources, then add the layout with the plus button.
3. Switch with Ctrl+Space or from the input menu in the menu bar.

Phones and tablets

On iPhone, go to Settings, General, Keyboard, Keyboards and add a keyboard. On Android, open Settings, search for the on-screen keyboard (such as Gboard) and add a language. Phone keyboards follow the language you add.

Keys type the wrong characters

1. Compare what you type with the viewer. If it matches another layout, remove or reorder the extra layout in your system settings.
2. Press Win+Space (Windows) or Ctrl+Space (Mac). You may have switched layout by accident.
3. Check the physical form. An ISO keyboard set to a US layout, or the reverse, puts symbols in unexpected places.
4. If several keys do nothing at all, the problem is not the layout. Follow keyboard not working.