How to show an on-screen keyboard on a Mac
A Mac has two on-screen keyboards built in. The quick one is the Keyboard Viewer: turn on the Input menu in System Settings > Keyboard, then choose Show Keyboard Viewer from it. The full-time one is the Accessibility Keyboard, which you switch on in System Settings > Accessibility > Keyboard. Both let you type by clicking keys with the pointer.
What neither is made for is showing other people what you press. If you want a keyboard on screen that lights up as you type on your real one, for a recording, a class or a screen share, you want a keyboard overlay such as Typebar. Below: how to open each built-in keyboard, what it does well, and how to tell which kind you need.
The quick one: Keyboard Viewer from the Input menu
The Keyboard Viewer lives in the Input menu, the menu bar item that shows your current input source. If you do not see it, turn it on first:
- Open System Settings and choose Keyboard in the sidebar.
- Under Text Input, click Edit next to Input Sources.
- Turn on “Show Input menu in menu bar”, then click Done.
- Click the Input menu in the menu bar and choose Show Keyboard Viewer.
A keyboard panel appears, laid out for the input source you are using. Click a key and it types into the app in front, just as if you had pressed it.
Its best use is finding characters. Hold Option, or Option and Shift, on your real keyboard and the keys in the viewer change to show what they type with those modifiers held. That is the fastest way to discover that Option-8 gives you a bullet on a US layout, or where your layout keeps a symbol you rarely type. Find any character on your keyboard with the Keyboard Viewer goes through that in detail.
When you are done, close the panel.
The full-time one: the Accessibility Keyboard
The Accessibility Keyboard is an on-screen keyboard you can use instead of a hardware one, all day if you need to. To turn it on:
- Open System Settings and choose Accessibility in the sidebar.
- Click Keyboard.
- Turn on Accessibility Keyboard.
It comes with more options than the Keyboard Viewer, set in the same place:
- Dwell. Type without clicking: rest the pointer on a key for a moment and it types. This pairs with head pointer and eye tracking setups for people who cannot use a mouse button.
- Fade panel after inactivity. The keyboard turns see-through when you are not using it, so it covers less of your work.
- Typing help. Settings to insert and remove spaces automatically and to capitalize sentences automatically.
- Panel Editor. Build your own panels, with buttons for actions you use often, if a full keyboard is more than you need.
You can also toggle accessibility features with the Accessibility Shortcut: press Option-Command-F5, or press Touch ID three times quickly on a Mac or keyboard that has it, and choose which features it offers in System Settings > Accessibility.
If your keyboard has failed, this is the one to reach for. It types into whatever app is in front, as a hardware keyboard would.
What the built-in keyboards are not for
Both are input tools. Their job is to let you type without pressing physical keys, and to show which characters your keys produce. That makes them the wrong tool for a different and common request: “I want people watching my screen to see what I press.”
Here is where they fall short for that:
- They do not name shortcuts. Press Command-Shift-4 and nobody watching learns that you just took a selection screenshot.
- They are built to be clicked. A keyboard you type with sits where your pointer can reach it. A keyboard for an audience needs to sit out of the way, in a corner of a recording, at a size the back of a room can read.
- They know nothing about recordings. They have no way to appear only while you record, or to keep what you type in a password manager out of a video.
None of this is a fault. They are doing a different job well. The macOS Accessibility Keyboard and when an overlay suits you better compares the two side by side.
A keyboard that lights up as you type
A keyboard overlay is the other kind of on-screen keyboard. You keep typing on your real keyboard, and the one on screen shows what you pressed. Tutorial makers, teachers and anyone sharing a screen use one so viewers can follow along without asking “what did you just press?”
Typebar is one. Every key you press lights the matching key on a keyboard drawn on screen, and every shortcut is named as you press it. A few details matter if you are coming from the built-in keyboards:
- It looks like your keyboard. Choose a MacBook, a Magic Keyboard with or without a number pad, or a tenkeyless shape, in ANSI, ISO or JIS. The keys follow your input source, so QWERTZ, AZERTY, Dvorak and Colemak show correctly.
- It names shortcuts. A keystroke pill shows what you pressed as keycaps, with the name the shortcut has in the app you are using, such as “⇧⌘4 Screenshot Selection”. The names come from the app’s own menus.
- It still shows characters. Hold Option for a moment and the keys relabel with the characters each one types, the job the Keyboard Viewer does. Hold Command instead and the keys show what they do in the app in front.
- It can still type by clicking. Click to Type, turned on with Control-Option-Command-T (⌃⌥⌘T), lets you click keys on the board to type into the app in front, for when you present with only a pointer. Presenting with only a mouse covers that setup.
Show or hide it with Control-Option-Command-K (⌃⌥⌘K), or by tapping fn three times. It appears in screen recordings and screen sharing like any other window, so record or share the whole display, or an area that includes it.
Which on-screen keyboard you need
| You want to | Use |
|---|---|
| Find which key types é, ©, or • | Keyboard Viewer, holding Option |
| Type with a pointer because your keyboard failed | Accessibility Keyboard |
| Type without clicking, by dwell | Accessibility Keyboard |
| Show viewers each key you press in a recording | A keyboard overlay |
| Show the name of each shortcut as you use it | A keyboard overlay with a keystroke pill |
| Type by clicking while you present | Either built-in keyboard, or an overlay with click to type |
If you are here because of a recording, How to show keystrokes in a screen recording on a Mac walks through the whole setup, from QuickTime Player to OBS.
Typebar is $9 once for up to 5 Macs, and free for 24 hours with everything on.
Questions
Does a Mac have an on-screen keyboard built in?
Yes, two. The Keyboard Viewer opens from the Input menu in the menu bar, and the Accessibility Keyboard is in System Settings > Accessibility > Keyboard. Both let you type by clicking keys.
Why is Show Keyboard Viewer missing from my menu bar?
The Input menu is not always shown. Turn on “Show Input menu in menu bar” in System Settings > Keyboard, under Text Input, by clicking Edit next to Input Sources.
Can I use the Mac on-screen keyboard if my keyboard stops working?
Yes. Turn on the Accessibility Keyboard with the pointer and type by clicking, or turn on Dwell to type by resting the pointer on keys.
How do I show the keys I press so viewers can see them?
Use a keyboard overlay rather than the built-in keyboards. It shows what you press on your real keyboard, and a good one names each shortcut too.