Type Arabic right here. The keyboard below uses the standard Arabic layout that Windows and macOS install, so anything you practise on it works on a real keyboard afterwards. With the box focused you can also type on your own keys and Arabic comes out. Nothing you type leaves your browser. If you do not know the layout, switch to Phonetic and spell the sound in English letters: salam becomes سلام, and the keyboard offers likely spellings as you type. The links under the box send your text to Google search, Google Translate, YouTube or WhatsApp.
Short vowels and marks
Hamza forms and punctuation
The small grey letter on each key is the English key in the same position. This is the standard Arabic layout that Windows and macOS install, so what you practise here works on a real keyboard. With the box focused you can also just type on your own keyboard and Arabic comes out.
Type an Arabic word the way it sounds, in Latin letters (salam, shukran, 7abibi), then pick its Arabic spelling from the list under the text box. Space, Enter or a punctuation mark takes the first choice; the up and down arrow keys move through the list; Esc keeps what you typed. Digits stand for the sounds Latin letters lack: 2 ء, 3 ع, 5 خ, 7 ح, 9 ص.
More ways to type: the phonetic Arabic keyboard explains every Latin spelling it understands, typing the vowel marks covers the harakat keys, the English to Arabic key map lists which English key gives which letter, and the printable keyboard stickers put the letters on your own keys.
Arabic typing practice
The typing practice below teaches you to touch-type Arabic on the same Arabic (101) layout as the keyboard above, in six short lessons from the home row to whole sentences. The next key lights up on the keyboard, and your speed and accuracy update as you type. It works on your own keyboard, with or without an Arabic layout installed, and by tapping the keys on a phone.
The typing practice needs JavaScript. The layout it teaches is on the keyboard below.
Large letter: what the key types. Small green character: the same key with Shift. Grey letter: that key on a US keyboard. Speed counts five correct characters, spaces included, as one word.
The lessons follow the rows of the keyboard. Each row lesson drills its new keys in pairs, left hand then right hand, and then types real words that use only the keys learned so far, taken in frequency order from our list of the 100 most common Arabic words. The fourth lesson adds the Shift layer: أ (alif with hamza above, Shift + H), إ (alif with hamza below, Shift + Y), آ (alif madda, Shift + N) and the Arabic question mark ؟ (Shift + /). The Words lesson types forty words from our Arabic word games, with their meanings, and the Sentences lesson types twelve sentences from basic Arabic sentences without vowel marks, the way Arabic is normally typed. If a letter is new to you, the Arabic alphabet chart shows its forms and sound.
How typing speed and accuracy are measured
Speed is shown in words per minute (wpm), counted the way typing tests count it: every five characters you type correctly, spaces included, make one word, so the number does not depend on how long the words in a lesson are. Wikipedia's article on words per minute describes the same five-character word. The clock starts at your first key and stops at the last key of the lesson. Accuracy is the share of your key presses that were right: a wrong key is counted, and the cursor waits until you press the right one.
Your best result on each lesson is saved in this browser only, and nothing you type is sent anywhere. We suggest getting a lesson to near-perfect accuracy before trying to go faster on it: speed comes from not having to look for keys, and in this drill a wrong key costs a second key press as well as accuracy.
How to type Arabic on your own device
The keyboard above is for when you need a few words now and do not want to change any settings. If you are going to write Arabic regularly, install a real Arabic keyboard instead – it is free and already built into every operating system. The rest of this page covers how, and what to buy if you want the letters printed on the keys.
Arabic Learning Resources > Arabic Keyboards
Arabic script has 28 letters, runs right to left, and shares nothing with the Latin alphabet printed on your keyboard. Out of the box your computer cannot type it: you need to enable an Arabic keyboard layout, usually through a free language pack built into your operating system, and then some way of knowing which physical key produces which letter. Both problems are cheap to solve.
There are three broad approaches. A physical bilingual keyboard has Arabic and English printed side by side on every key - the most comfortable option if you type Arabic daily. Keyboard stickers or a silicone overlay add Arabic lettering to the keyboard you already own for a few dollars, though transparent stickers can shift or peel under heavy use. An on-screen (virtual) keyboard costs nothing: your operating system displays a clickable Arabic keyboard in a window, fine for occasional typing or for checking where a letter lives while you memorize the layout.
Setting up typing early does more for your Arabic than convenience alone. Typing a word forces you to pick each letter deliberately, which fixes the difference between similar pairs such as د and ذ or س and ش better than reading ever does. Once you can type, you can look words up in online dictionaries and message tutors or language partners between lessons instead of waiting for the next session.
How to add the Arabic keyboard on Windows, Mac, iPhone and Android
Every major operating system includes an Arabic keyboard at no cost, and adding it takes about a minute. Each set of steps follows the maker's own help page, linked under it and checked on 15 October 2026. On a computer, choose the layout called Arabic (101) on Windows or Arabic – PC on a Mac: it is the layout of the keyboard and the typing practice on this page, and of the printable chart below.
Windows 11 and Windows 10
- Select Start > Settings > Time & language > Language & region. On Windows 10 the last item is called Language.
- Next to Preferred languages, select Add a language.
- Type Arabic, choose a country and select Next. Arabic (Saudi Arabia), Arabic (Egypt) and most other countries in the list come with the Arabic (101) keyboard. Arabic (Algeria), Arabic (Morocco) and Arabic (Tunisia) come with Arabic (102) AZERTY instead, a different layout.
- Leave Set as my Windows display language unticked unless you want Windows itself in Arabic, then select Install.
- Switch keyboards with the Windows key + Space, or with the language button on the taskbar.
Sources: Microsoft, Manage the language and keyboard/input layout settings in Windows, and its table of default keyboards for each Arabic country.
Mac
- Choose Apple menu > System Settings, then click Keyboard in the sidebar.
- Under Text Input, click Edit, then click the + button.
- Search for Arabic, select the input source Arabic – PC and click Add. macOS lists more than one Arabic input source; Arabic – PC is the one laid out like Windows.
- Switch with Control + Space, or from the Input menu in the menu bar.
Sources: Apple, Write in another language on Mac; Wellesley College's Arabic library guide for the Arabic – PC input source.
iPhone and iPad
- Open Settings > General > Keyboard > Keyboards.
- Tap Add New Keyboard and choose Arabic.
- While typing, touch and hold the globe key (or the emoji key), then tap the keyboard you want.
Sources: Apple, Add or change keyboards on iPhone and on iPad.
Android
These steps are for Gboard, Google's keyboard. Phones that use another keyboard app, such as Samsung's, add languages in that app's own settings.
- Open any app you can type in and tap a text field.
- At the top of the keyboard, tap Settings, then Languages > Add keyboard.
- Choose Arabic, pick a layout and tap Done.
- Touch and hold the space bar to switch languages.
Source: Google, Type in a different language (Gboard Help).
Printable Arabic keyboard layout (PDF)
Our printable Arabic keyboard layout (PDF, one A4 landscape page, 117 KB) shows every key of the Arabic (101) layout with its letter, its Shift character and the English key in the same place. Under the keyboard it lists the vowel marks with their keys, the hamza, lam-alif and punctuation keys, and the setup steps above in short. We drew it from Microsoft's own chart of the Arabic (101) keyboard, key by key. Keep it next to your keyboard until you stop looking at it; if you still need it after a few weeks of practice, the stickers and bilingual keyboards in the table below are the next step. For how often people in each country search for an Arabic keyboard, see our Arabic search statistics.
How to choose
Start with what your device already includes. Windows, macOS, iOS, and Android all ship with free Arabic keyboard layouts - the Language Pack and Virtual Keyboard guides in the table below cover Windows, and on a Mac or a phone it is a one-minute settings change. Type on the free layout for a couple of weeks before spending money. Stickers are the cheapest upgrade, a bilingual keyboard is the most durable, and a silicone overlay is the practical choice on Mac laptops, where flat keys give stickers little to grip.
The other decision is what to type: proper Arabic script or Arabizi, the chat alphabet that spells Arabic in Latin letters and numbers (3 for ع, 7 for ح, 2 for ء). Arabizi is everywhere in casual texting, but commit to script from the start: dictionaries, news sites, subtitles, and course materials are all written in it, while Arabizi has no standard spelling. Every hour typed in Latin letters is an hour not spent getting faster at the real alphabet. The keyboard's Phonetic mode is a halfway step: you spell the sound in Latin letters, but what comes out, and what you read back, is Arabic script.
The table below lists the keyboards, sticker sets, and setup guides we recommend for typing in Arabic.
| Resource | Description | Extra Links |
|---|---|---|
| Transparent Keyboard Stickers | Clear Arabic overlay stickers for your keyboard. The stickers tend to move if you are a heavy user (i.e. play computer games) | Non transparent option |
| Keyboard | An Arabic and English keyboard. | |
| Language Pack | Add language pack to Windows so you can type the Arabic characters | |
| Virtual Keyboard | Learn how to configure a virtual keyboard for Windows | |
| Arabic overlay for Mac | A silicone overlay for your macbook pro keyboard. |
Embed this keyboard on your site
Teachers, schools and bloggers can put this keyboard on their own page for free. Copy the code below into your page's HTML: it shows the keyboard in a frame with a small credit line under it. The frame carries no ads and no analytics.
Copy this code into the HTML of your page or blog post. The keyboard opens in a frame, works on phones and shows no ads; the text your visitors type stays in their browser.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need Arabic stickers on my keyboard?
No. Stickers are a convenience, not a requirement - the Arabic layout works on any keyboard once the language pack is enabled. They help most in the first few weeks, when you would otherwise hunt for letters on an on-screen keyboard. Some learners skip them entirely, keeping a printed layout chart nearby until muscle memory takes over. If you want stickers without buying any, print our free sticker sheet.
How do I type Arabic on Windows, Mac, or my phone?
On Windows 11, go to Settings, Time & language, Language & region, and add Arabic; pressing the Windows key plus the space bar then switches between layouts. On a Mac, add the Arabic – PC input source under System Settings, Keyboard, Text Input. On iPhone and iPad, add Arabic under Settings, General, Keyboard, Keyboards and switch with the globe key; on Android, add it in Gboard's Languages settings and switch by holding the space bar. All of these are built in and free.
Should I type in Arabizi or Arabic script?
Write in Arabic script. Arabizi (Arabic written in Latin letters and numbers) is handy for reading friends' text messages, but it has no standard spelling and dictionaries do not accept it. If you do not know the layout yet, the keyboard's Phonetic mode lets you spell the sound in Latin letters and still puts Arabic script on the page, so what you read back is the real alphabet. Use it as a bridge, and move to the layout as soon as you can: since script layouts are free on every device, there is little reason not to learn it. When a friend writes to you in Arabizi, our Arabizi and Arabic transliteration tool converts it back into script.
Which Arabic keyboard layout should I use?
Use Arabic (101), the keyboard Windows installs for Arabic in Saudi Arabia, Egypt and most other Arabic-speaking countries. On a Mac the matching input source is Arabic – PC. Windows set up for Algeria, Morocco or Tunisia installs Arabic (102) AZERTY instead, which puts some letters on other keys. Arabic (101) is also the layout of the keyboard, the typing practice and the printable chart on this page.