How to Change the Keyboard Language of a Mac

This wikiHow teaches you how to change the language in which your keyboard types on your Mac computer.

Things You Should Know

  • Go to System Preferences… > Keyboard > Input Sources.
  • Click ➕ and choose a language. Click Add.
  • Check the "Show Input menu in menu bar" box. Click on the flag that appears and choose the language you want to use with your keyboard.

Steps

  1. Image titled Change the Keyboard Language of a Mac Step 1
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    Click on the Apple menu and then System Preferences…. It's the black apple icon in the upper-left corner of the screen.
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    Click on Keyboard.
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  3. Image titled Change the Keyboard Language of a Mac Step 3
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    Click on the Input Sources tab at the top of the dialog box.
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    Click on ➕ below the left pane of the dialog box.
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    Click on a language. They're listed alphabetically.
    • Keyboard languages that have already been added are at the top of the list.
  6. Image titled Change the Keyboard Language of a Mac Step 6
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    Click the desired keyboard/input style for the language. They're displayed in the right pane of the dialog box.
    • An example of the keyboard layout will appear below the right pane when you click on an input source.
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    Click on Add.
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    Check "Show Input menu in menu bar" at the bottom of the dialog box. A flag will appear on the right side of your menu bar.
  9. Image titled Change the Keyboard Language of a Mac Step 9
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    Click on the flag on the right side of the menu bar.
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    Click on the language you want to use with your keyboard.
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Community Q&A

  • Question
    Where is the flag key mentioned above? I can't see it on my keyboard.
    Community Answer
    Community Answer
    The flag key should be located in the top right corner, by the clock. If you haven't added any secondary keyboards and it's not there, open your Settings and go to Keyboard Preferences. From there add whichever keyboards you want and then change the active keyboard easily from the flag icon.
  • Question
    Why doesn't 'command + space' work for me?
    Community Answer
    Community Answer
    It might be conflicting with other apps that use the same shortcut, so you may want to change the shortcut by going to the Apple menu, into your System Preferences, and clicking on Keyboard. From there, you can click Shortcuts to change what that keyboard shortcut does.
  • Question
    What is the difference between a Greek keyboard and Greek polytonic keyboard?
    Community Answer
    Community Answer
    There are a few additional symbols on the Greek polytonic keyboard that were used in ancient Greece but aren't used nowadays. This option is pretty much solely for people who need to type an ancient Greek text.
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About This Article

wikiHow Staff
Co-authored by:
wikiHow Staff
wikiHow Staff Writer
This article was co-authored by wikiHow Staff. Our trained team of editors and researchers validate articles for accuracy and comprehensiveness. wikiHow's Content Management Team carefully monitors the work from our editorial staff to ensure that each article is backed by trusted research and meets our high quality standards. This article has been viewed 981,397 times.
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Co-authors: 23
Updated: October 25, 2022
Views: 981,397
Categories: Mac
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