Switch keyboard layouts on a Mac: QWERTZ, AZERTY, Dvorak, Colemak
To change your keyboard layout on a Mac, open System Settings, choose Keyboard, and under Text Input click Edit next to Input Sources. Click the + button, pick a language, pick the layout (German for QWERTZ, French for AZERTY, Dvorak or Colemak under English), and click Add. Once you have two or more, switch between them from the Input menu in the menu bar, with the Globe key, or with Control-Space (⌃Space).
macOS calls layouts input sources, and it ships with all four of the layouts in the title. No download needed. What does take some getting used to is that your keyboard shortcuts move with the letters, and that part is worth understanding before you switch for good.
Add a layout
- Open System Settings and choose Keyboard in the sidebar.
- Scroll to Text Input and click Edit next to Input Sources.
- Click the + button at the bottom left of the list.
- Choose a language on the left, then a layout on the right. You can also type a name into the search field.
- Click Add.
Where to find the common ones:
- QWERTZ: German, Austrian and Swiss German.
- AZERTY: French and Belgian. French PC follows the key positions of Windows AZERTY keyboards, which helps if that is what you learned on.
- Dvorak: under English, with Left-Handed and Right-Handed versions, and a Dvorak QWERTY ⌘ version covered below.
- Colemak: under English.
To remove a layout, select it in the same list and click the minus button.
Switch between layouts
You have four ways to switch, and most people settle on one.
The Input menu. In the Input Sources window, select All Input Sources at the top of the list and turn on Show Input menu in menu bar. A flag or short label appears in the menu bar; click it and choose a layout. The same menu has Show Keyboard Viewer, which draws your current layout on screen.
The Globe key. On Macs with a Globe (🌐) key, go to System Settings, Keyboard, and set “Press 🌐 key to” to Change Input Source. One press then moves to another layout. What the fn and Globe key does on a Mac covers the other things that key can do.
Control-Space. By default, Control-Space selects the previous input source and Control-Option-Space (⌃⌥Space) selects the next one in the Input menu. With two layouts, Control-Space flips between them. Both are listed in System Settings, Keyboard, Keyboard Shortcuts, under Input Sources, where you can check they are on or pick other keys.
Caps Lock. The Input Sources window has an option to use the Caps Lock key to switch to and from another layout. A short press switches; press and hold it to type in capitals.
One more setting in the same window is worth a look: Automatically switch to a document’s input source. With it on, each window remembers its own layout, so a German email can stay German while your notes stay in English.
What happens to your shortcuts
On a Mac, a keyboard shortcut follows the character, not the key’s position. Command-Z (⌘Z) means “the key that types Z in your current layout”, wherever that key sits. Menus always show ⌘Z; your fingers are what have to adapt.
Here is where the common shortcuts land, described by the key they use on a US keyboard:
| Layout | What moves | Where Undo (⌘Z) lands |
|---|---|---|
| QWERTZ | Z and Y swap | The key that is Y on a US keyboard, between T and U |
| AZERTY | A and Q swap, Z and W swap, M moves beside L | The key that is W on a US keyboard |
| Dvorak | Almost every letter | The / key; ⌘C is on the I key, ⌘V on the period key |
| Colemak | Most letters, but Z, X, C, V, B, Q, W, A, H and M stay | The usual place |
A few things follow from that:
- AZERTY puts Quit where Select All was. ⌘Q sits on the key that types A on a US keyboard, right beside Caps Lock, and ⌘A moves up to the key beside Tab. That takes a week to stop being alarming.
- Dvorak scatters the editing shortcuts. Cut, copy, paste and undo are no longer a row along the bottom left. That is why macOS includes Dvorak QWERTY ⌘: it types Dvorak, but while you hold Command the keys act as QWERTY, so ⌘C, ⌘V and the rest stay where your hands expect them.
- Colemak keeps the bottom left alone. Z, X, C and V are unmoved, and so are Q, W and A, which is part of why people find it easier to move to. ⌘S and ⌘F do move.
- Non-Latin layouts use QWERTY for shortcuts. With a Russian or Greek layout active, shortcuts behave as if the keys were in their US places.
A few apps, mostly games and some cross-platform tools, read the physical key instead of the character. If a shortcut in one of them seems to be in the wrong place, that is usually why.
Characters that move with the layout
Switching layouts also moves the symbols you type every day. Some that catch people out on Apple’s layouts:
- German: @ is Option-L (⌥L), square brackets are Option-5 and Option-6, braces are Option-8 and Option-9, and the vertical bar is Option-7.
- British: Shift-3 types £, and # is Option-3.
- French: the number row types é, è, ç and à; hold Shift for the digits.
The quickest way to find anything is the Keyboard Viewer, from the Input menu. Hold Option or Shift while it is open and its keys change to show what they type. Find any character on your keyboard with the Keyboard Viewer walks through it, and Type accents on a Mac: dead keys and the press-and-hold menu covers accented letters on each layout.
Showing your layout in a recording
If you record tutorials on anything other than a US layout, your viewers will be watching your fingers press keys that are not where theirs are. Two things help: say which layout you use, and name shortcuts by their letters rather than their position.
Typebar handles the visual side. Its on-screen keys follow your input source, so QWERTZ, AZERTY, Dvorak and Colemak each show their own letters, and the key you press is the one that lights. The keystroke pill shows the keys you press as keycaps and names each shortcut with the name it has in the app’s own menus, so a viewer on any layout can find it there. Holding Option for a moment relabels the keys with the characters each one types, which is a handy check when you are learning a new layout.
If you are still learning where things are, the physical side matters too: ANSI, ISO and JIS Mac keyboards: how to tell which you have explains why the shape of your keyboard and its layout are two separate things.
Typebar is $9 once for up to 5 Macs, with a free 24-hour trial.
Questions
Do I need a new keyboard to type in AZERTY or Dvorak?
No. Any layout works on any keyboard. The printed legends will not match, so keep the Keyboard Viewer handy for the first few days, or buy keycaps or stickers if you switch for good.
Why did my keyboard shortcuts move after switching layouts?
Mac shortcuts follow the letter, not the key position. Command-Z is wherever Z is in your current layout. Dvorak users who want the old positions can use the Dvorak QWERTY ⌘ layout.
How do I switch layouts without the mouse?
Press Control-Space for the previous layout or Control-Option-Space for the next, or set the Globe key to Change Input Source in System Settings, Keyboard.
Can each document keep its own layout?
Yes. Turn on Automatically switch to a document’s input source in the Input Sources window, and each window remembers the layout you last used in it.