Change your keyboard layout

You can customize your keyboard for a specific language or format by changing the keyboard layout. The layout controls which characters appear on the screen when you press the keys on your keyboard. Some input languages have several keyboard layouts; others have only one. For example, you can change your keyboard layout from the English QWERTY format to the English Dvorak format. After you change the layout, the characters on your screen might not correspond to the characters on your keyboard keys.

Before you can change the keyboard layout, you must add the input language and keyboard layout that you want to Windows. For more information, see Add or change an input language.

    On the Language bar, click the Input language button, and then select an input language.

    Picture of the Language barLanguage bar

    Click the Keyboard layout button, and then select a keyboard layout.
    Note

        If you don't see the Language bar, right-click the taskbar, point to Toolbars, and then click Language bar

        Hide content To change the keyboard layout on the Welcome screen

            On the Welcome screen, click the Keyboard layout button Picture of the keyboard layout button on the Welcome screen, and then select a keyboard layout.
            Note

                If you don't see the Keyboard layout button, you might not have more than one input language, or your regional and language settings might not be applied to reserved accounts. For more information about reserved accounts, see Apply regional and language settings to reserved accounts.