Arabic Keyboard Layout
The standard Arabic keyboard places each Arabic letter on a fixed Latin key. Once you know a handful of positions, you can type Arabic on any keyboard - even one with no Arabic letters printed on it.
English to Arabic key mapping
Press the Latin key on the left to write the Arabic character on the right.
| Key | Arabic |
|---|---|
| Q | ض |
| W | ص |
| E | ث |
| R | ق |
| T | ف |
| Y | غ |
| U | ع |
| I | ه |
| O | خ |
| P | ح |
| [ | ج |
| ] | د |
| A | ش |
| S | س |
| D | ي |
| F | ب |
| G | ل |
| H | ا |
| J | ت |
| K | ن |
| L | م |
| ; | ك |
| ' | ط |
| Z | ئ |
| X | ء |
| C | ؤ |
| V | ر |
| B | لا |
| N | ى |
| M | ة |
| , | و |
| . | ز |
| / | ظ |
Shift characters
Holding Shift gives hamza forms, lam-alef ligatures, Arabic punctuation and most diacritics.
| Shift + | Arabic |
|---|---|
| Shift + Q | َ |
| Shift + W | ُ |
| Shift + E | ِ |
| Shift + R | ٌ |
| Shift + T | ً |
| Shift + Y | ٍ |
| Shift + U | ّ |
| Shift + P | ؛ |
| Shift + A | ٍ |
| Shift + S | ٌ |
| Shift + G | لأ |
| Shift + H | أ |
| Shift + J | ـ |
| Shift + K | ، |
| Shift + X | ْ |
| Shift + B | لآ |
| Shift + N | آ |
| Shift + / | ؟ |
Arabic diacritics
Diacritics are written after the letter they belong to. They are optional in everyday writing but useful for teaching, poetry and religious texts.
| Arabic diacritics | Arabic |
|---|---|
| Fatha | ـَ |
| Damma | ـُ |
| Kasra | ـِ |
| Shadda | ـّ |
| Sukun | ـْ |
| Tanween Fath | ـً |
| Tanween Damm | ـٌ |
| Tanween Kasr | ـٍ |
Numbers and punctuation
The number row writes Western digits 1234567890; hold Shift for Arabic-Indic digits ١٢٣٤٥٦٧٨٩٠. Arabic comma (،), semicolon (؛) and question mark (؟) are on the Shift layer.
How your physical keyboard maps to Arabic
When the editor is focused, every keystroke is translated using the table above and the matching virtual key is highlighted. Nothing is installed and your system language is never changed, so you can switch back to Latin typing by clicking outside the editor.