About keyboards and different languages

Different languages comprise different sets of characters, some of which come from entirely different alphabets. This means that some languages use a different keyboard layout from the one on the keyboard you use to type text.

Can you type text in a language that doesn't match the one your keyboard is laid out in? For example, if you want to type in Spanish or Greek but you're using a U.S. keyboard, where do you start?

There are simple steps you can take in Microsoft Windows® and Microsoft Office (Microsoft Word, Microsoft Outlook®, Microsoft Excel, Microsoft FrontPage®, Microsoft Access, Microsoft Publisher, or Microsoft PowerPoint®) to type text in a different language.

1. Depending on how much the language differs from the language of your keyboard, install the keyboard language you want to use, and then switch to the keyboard layout for the language you want to use.
2. Enter text by using your keyboard or by using Microsoft Visual Keyboard, an online visual keyboard layout and text entry program. Visual Keyboard is available as a Microsoft Office Online download.

   Note   Visual Keyboard does not work with Publisher 2000.

When is it necessary to use a different keyboard language and layout?

Whether or not you use the keyboard for the language you want to type largely depends on how different the language's alphabet and keyboard layout are from your language's.

• If the language's alphabet uses characters similar to the ones on your physical keyboard, it's less important to use the correct keyboard layout. However, it is still recommended.

  For example, if you're using an English keyboard and want to type in Spanish, you can still do so without using the Spanish keyboard layout because English and Spanish alphabets use similar basic characters. However, you may not have quick keyboard access to certain Spanish characters such as the inverted question mark.

• If the language uses a different alphabet from your keyboard's, it's important to switch to the correct keyboard layout; otherwise, you won't have keyboard access to many of the correct characters.

  For example, if you're using an English keyboard and want to type in Russian (Cyrillic alphabet), you must first install and switch to the Russian keyboard layout.

Installing the correct keyboard layout

Installing a keyboard layout is a simple task that you perform in Control Panel. For more information, type install keyboard layout in the Office Assistant or on the Answer Wizard tab in the Help window of Word, and then click Search.

Note   If you want to type in an East Asian language (Simplified or Traditional Chinese, Japanese, or Korean), you must use an Input Method Editor (IME) or Global IME instead of using the Control Panel method. For more information, type about IMEs in the Office Assistant or on the Answer Wizard tab in the Help window of Word, and then click Search.

Switching to the keyboard layout

Once you've installed the keyboard layout, you need to switch to it by clicking the keyboard layout indicator on the Windows taskbar and then selecting the language you want to type in.

You can also cycle through the available keyboard layouts to select one by pressing LEFT ALT+SHIFT.

For more information about switching keyboard layouts, type switch keyboard layout in the Office Assistant or on the Answer Wizard tab in the Help window of Word, and then click Search.

See the keyboard on-screen: Visual Keyboard

Once you've switched keyboard layouts, you may find that the layout on your keyboard doesn't match the characters that appear on the screen. This can make it hard to type in the language, even though your keyboard is set up to do so.

Microsoft Visual Keyboard is an on-screen visual keyboard layout program that enables you to see the new layout as you work. You can also use it to actually enter text in the language.

To use Visual Keyboard, start it, and then switch to the keyboard language you want to type in, as described earlier. The keyboard layout depicted in Visual Keyboard changes correspondingly. For example, here is the layout for English:

And here is the layout when you switch to Greek:

Visual Keyboard and instructions for using it are available as a Microsoft Office Online download. Visual Keyboard does not work with Publisher 2000.