How to Change the Keyboard Layout in iOS

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Co-authored by wikiHow Staff

Last Updated: March 19, 2024 Tested

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• Customizing Layouts
|
• Adding Keyboards

|Show more |Show less

This wikiHow teaches you how to switch the keyboard format on iOS, as well as add keyboards on your iPhone or iPad and change between them, so you can use emojis, a different language, or a downloaded third-party layout.

Adjusting the iOS Keyboard Format

1. Open Settings.
2. Tap General.
3. Tap Keyboard and then Keyboards.
4. Tap English.
5. Tap a new keyboard layout.

Steps

Part 1

Part 1 of 2:

Customizing Layouts

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1. 1
   Open Settings on your iOS device. Do this by tapping the gray sprockets icon on one of your Home screens.

   • If it's not on one of your home screens, it may be in a folder called Utilities.
2. 2
   Tap General. It's next to a gray icon containing a gear in the third section of the menu.
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3. 3
   Tap Keyboard. It's the second selection in the seventh group of options under the menu.
4. 4
   Tap Keyboards. It's at the top of the menu.
5. 5
   Tap English.
6. 6
   Select a keyboard layout. Choose from QWERTY, AZERTY, or QWERTZ.

   • QWERTY is the standard, U.S. keyboard layout, in which the top row of letter keys begins with Q-W-E-R-T-Y.
   • AZERTY is a keyboard layout used for Latin-based languages, in which the top row of letter keys begins with A-Z-E-R-T-Y. It is standard in France.
   • QWERTZ is the keyboard layout most often used in Central Europe. The first row of letter keys begins with Q-W-E-R-T-Z, and it is standard in Germany.
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Part 2

Part 2 of 2:

Adding Keyboards

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1. 1
   Open Settings on your iOS device. Do this by tapping the icon with gray sprockets on one of your Home screens.

   • If it's not on one of your home screens, it may be in a folder called Utilities.
2. 2
   Tap General. It's next to a gray icon containing a gear in the third section of the Settings menu.
3. 3
   Tap Keyboard. It's the second selection in the seventh group of options under the General menu.
4. 4
   Tap Keyboards. It's at the top of the menu.
5. 5
   Tap Add New Keyboard. It's the second section of the menu.
6. 6
   Select a new keyboard. Select a 3rd party keyboard, such as Google or Bitmoji, that you've downloaded, or one of the other iOS keyboards listed by language and region.

   • When using an iOS keyboard, you can toggle between your added layouts by tapping the button between the 123 and microphone buttons in the lower left. The button may display a globe icon (🌐) or an emoji icon (😀), depending on which layouts you've added and which one is currently selected.
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