Online keyboards and Changing Keyboard Settings
The following FAQs may answer the question you are having. If you still have questions, you may use the contact page to send us your question.
The online keyboards are not working
Check that JavaScript is turned on: the keyboard is drawn and driven by it, so with JavaScript blocked the keys never appear at all. Then check your browser. Current versions of Chrome, Edge, Firefox and Safari are all supported, on computers and on phones. A browser more than a few years old is not, and Internet Explorer has not been supported by Microsoft itself since 2022.
If the keys are there but nothing arrives when you press them, click into the text box above the keyboard first. That box is where the keys type.
There are missing letters
The first place to check for missing letters is to press . You can also press either + or and see if the missing letters are available.
Some accented letters may not show up initially on the keyboard. First you will need to type the diacritical mark and you will see the accented letters. Additional accented letters may be found when pressing .
I see boxes, vertical bars, or question marks instead of my letters
These may appear on your screen instead of your letters for a number of reasons. Make sure a Unicode font for your letters is installed on your computer. If you copied the text to a word processor, make sure a font that supports your letters is selected. You can download Unicode fonts from Alan Wood's website.
The keyboard has more than one layout
Many languages are typed in more than one way, so those keyboards carry a row of buttons above the keys. Pick a layout there and the keys change to match it. Your choice is remembered on that page, so the keyboard opens on the layout you used last time.
What does the Esc key do?
It turns conversion of your own keyboard on and off. With it on, the keys you press on your physical keyboard produce the letters shown on the online keyboard; with it off, they type as they usually would, which is what you want for a password or a web address. Pressing on your keyboard and clicking the key on screen do the same thing.
How do I type special characters like currency symbols, musical notes, scientific symbols, and the like?
You may use the Unicode Table to enter letters not available on the online keyboards.
Can I use the keyboards on a phone or tablet?
Yes. The pages fit a small screen, and the keys are made to be tapped. On a phone the text box is deliberately held read-only, so your own keyboard does not open on top of the one you came for; type with the keys on screen, then use and to take the text with you.
Is it free? Do I need an account?
Every keyboard and converter here is free to use, and none of them asks you to sign in or register.
How do I maintain my privacy while using the online keyboards?
The text you type using the online keyboards is not sent to any party*. If you are using a modern browser that is capable of storing data locally, we store the text on your browser so that you do not accidentally lose your work. This also allows you to and changes while editing text. If you accidentally close your browser, the text will not be lost. You can delete the text by pressing before leaving the page.
The text you type will transfer to Google or X if you explicitly click the corresponding buttons to search, translate, or tweet. will post the text you type to our server so that the server can post it back as a text file. We do not store the text on our server.
The image to text, PDF to text and text to image conversions all run in your own browser, and nothing you hand them leaves it: not the image you read text from, not the PDF, and not the background image you put behind your text.
*Note that conversion tools namely the Simplified to/from Traditional on the Chinese keyboard, Chinese to Pinyin, Romaji to Kanji, Hanja to Hangeul and Cantonese to Jyutping require posting the text to our server. We do not store the text on our server.
I want to use my language outside the browser
Two different things, depending on what you need. To keep a keyboard for offline use, save the page: each page carries its own styles and scripts, so it goes on working with no connection. To type your language in your other applications, add the language to your operating system, as below.
Windows
Open Settings, then Time & language, then Language & region, and add your language. Once it is installed, + moves between the keyboards you have, and the one in use is shown next to the clock.
Mac
Open System Settings, then Keyboard, and add an input source under Text Input. + moves between the sources you have added, and the one in use is shown in the menu bar.
Ubuntu and other Linux
Open Settings, then Keyboard, and add an input source. + moves between them. There are a great many layouts available, sorted by language.