This English virtual keyboard mirrors the QWERTY layout of a physical English keyboard. Its 47 character keys reach the 26 letters of the Latin script (U+0041–U+005A, U+0061–U+007A) straight from the browser, with no software to install and no system setting to change.
Every character on it belongs to basic ASCII: what sets this layout apart is the order of the keys, not the character set.
Script
Latin
Layout
QWERTY
Reading direction
Left to right
Character keys
47
Letters available
26
Non-ASCII characters
—
Unicode range
U+0041–U+005A, U+0061–U+007A
Third layer (AltGr)
No
Transliteration
No
How to type in English
Click the on-screen keys or type on your physical keyboard — both write into the same text area.
Shift shows the second layer of every key: capitals and the characters printed at the top right.
The Copy button puts the whole text on the clipboard, ready to paste into an email, a document or a form.
The Google, YouTube and ChatGPT buttons run a search with the text you typed, without retyping it.
Key reference table
Each row is one physical key: the base character, the one produced with Shift, then the one produced with AltGr.
Key
With Shift
With AltGr
`
~
—
1
!
—
2
@
—
3
#
—
4
$
—
5
%
—
6
^
—
7
&
—
8
*
—
9
(
—
0
)
—
-
_
—
=
+
—
q
Q
—
w
W
—
e
E
—
r
R
—
t
T
—
y
Y
—
u
U
—
i
I
—
o
O
—
p
P
—
[
{
—
]
}
—
\
|
—
a
A
—
s
S
—
d
D
—
f
F
—
g
G
—
h
H
—
j
J
—
k
K
—
l
L
—
;
:
—
'
"
—
z
Z
—
x
X
—
c
C
—
v
V
—
b
B
—
n
N
—
m
M
—
,
<
—
.
>
—
/
?
—
Other keyboards in the Latin script
These keyboards are written in the same script and share much of their character set.
The same language is not typed on the same keyboard everywhere. Pick yours in the “Layout” list under the keyboard: the keys, the Shift and AltGr characters and the dead keys change with it, and with “Type with my physical keyboard” on, your own keyboard follows the layout you chose.
QWERTY US
The American layout, the most widespread in the world and the reference for keyboard shortcuts. It has no accented letters: to type them, switch to US International. Use this layout
QWERTY UK
The British layout: £ on Shift+3, @ and " swapped compared with the American layout, # and ~ next to Enter, and an extra key with \ and | left of Z. AltGr gives € and the acute accents á, é, í, ó, ú. Use this layout
US International
The American layout with dead keys: ' then e gives é, " then u gives ü, and `, ~ and ^ work the same way; followed by a space they give the plain sign. AltGr adds ñ, ç, ß, æ, ø and €. The usual choice for writing Spanish, French, German or Portuguese on a US keyboard. Use this layout
Dvorak
Designed by August Dvorak in 1936: the vowels are on the left half of the home row and the most common English consonants on the right, so about 70% of keystrokes stay on the home row, against a third on QWERTY. Built into Windows, macOS and Linux. Use this layout
Colemak
Published in 2006, Colemak moves only 17 keys of QWERTY. Z, X, C and V, and with them Ctrl+Z, X, C and V, stay where they are, which makes it easier to learn than Dvorak while putting the most used letters (a r s t d h n e i o) on the home row. Use this layout
US vs UK keyboard: which keys actually differ
This page uses the US layout. It is the default in North America and on most laptops sold worldwide. The UK layout changes only a handful of keys, but they are the ones you use most for email and forms:
Character
US (this page)
UK
@
Shift+2
Shift+'
"
Shift+'
Shift+2
#
Shift+3
Its own key, left of Enter
£
not available
Shift+3
Backslash and vertical bar
Key above Enter
Key left of Z
~
Shift + backtick key (top left)
Shift + the # key
€
not available
AltGr+4
Physical keyboard mode reads your keys by position. On a UK keyboard, Shift+2 types @ here, as it would on a US machine. If you'd rather your keys type what is printed on them, turn off "Type with my physical keyboard" and your system layout is used instead.
Why your @, quotes or apostrophes come out wrong
If @ and " have swapped on your own computer, your system layout has changed between US and UK. On Windows this often happens after an accidental Alt+Shift or Win+Space. Check the language indicator on the taskbar and remove the layout you don't use.
If an apostrophe only appears after you type the next character, or typing "Ever" gives Ëver", you are on United States-International. That layout makes '"`~^ dead keys that wait to combine with a letter. Press Space after the symbol to type it on its own, or switch back to plain "US".
This page always types straight ASCII quotes (' and "). That is what code, spreadsheets, CSV files and terminals expect. Word processors often replace them with curly "smart" quotes as you type, so if you paste text into a code editor, type the quotes there.
Dashes, accents and symbols that aren't on QWERTY
English text regularly needs characters that the US layout leaves out:
Em dash (—): Alt+0151 on the Windows numeric keypad, or Option+Shift+hyphen on a Mac.
En dash (–), used for ranges like 9–5: Alt+0150 on Windows, or Option+hyphen on a Mac.
é in café or résumé: On a Mac, press Option+E and then the letter. With US-International on Windows, type ' and then the letter. On phones, long-press the letter.
To set the layout on your own device: on Windows 11, go to Settings → Time & language → Language & region. Under your English language, choose Language options → Add a keyboard ("US" or "United Kingdom"). On macOS, go to System Settings → Keyboard → Text Input → Edit and add "U.S." or "British". On Android and iPhone the letter keys are the same for English (US) and English (UK); the variant mainly changes spelling correction.
If you write more than an occasional accent, a dedicated layout with those letters on their own keys is faster. Try the French keyboard or the Spanish keyboard.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the English QWERTY keyboard layout?
QWERTY is the most common keyboard layout worldwide, named after the first six letters in the top row. It's the standard layout for English typing.
Why is it called QWERTY?
The name comes from the first six letters on the top letter row: Q-W-E-R-T-Y. This layout was designed in the 1870s for typewriters.
How do I type special characters like @, #, $?
Special characters are accessed using Shift + number keys. For example, Shift+2 gives @, Shift+3 gives #, and Shift+4 gives $.
What's the difference between UK and US QWERTY keyboards?
The main differences are the £ symbol on UK keyboards, different positions for @ and ", and the UK keyboard has an extra key next to the left Shift.
How do I type accented characters on an English keyboard?
For occasional accented characters, you can use Alt codes or the Character Map. This virtual keyboard focuses on the standard English layout.
Can I use this for typing in other languages?
Yes, the English QWERTY layout includes all basic Latin letters and can be used for many European languages, though specialized keyboards are better for frequent use.
What is the Caps Lock key used for?
Caps Lock toggles between lowercase and uppercase letters. When active, all letters are typed in uppercase without holding Shift.
How do I type brackets and braces?
Square brackets [ ] are on the keys next to P. Curly braces { } require Shift + [ or ]. Parentheses ( ) are Shift + 9 and Shift + 0.
What's the purpose of the Tab key?
Tab inserts a tab character (usually 4-8 spaces) and is commonly used for indentation in documents and code, or to navigate between form fields.
How do I type the pipe symbol |?
The pipe symbol | is typically Shift + \ (backslash key), usually located above the Enter key or next to the left Shift key.
