Arabic Keyboard
Type Arabic with a full on-screen keyboard in the standard PC layout, including harakat, hamza forms and Arabic-Indic digits, then copy your text. It runs entirely in your browser, so nothing you type is uploaded.
Hold Shift (or press the on-screen ⇧) for harakat such as fatha ◌َ, damma ◌ُ, kasra ◌ِ, sukun ◌ْ and shadda ◌ّ, and for أ إ آ. Caps works as a Shift lock. Type the letter first, then its haraka.
How to use the Arabic Keyboard
- Type with your own keyboard while the text box is focused, or click the on-screen keys. Each Latin key gives the Arabic letter shown on it.
- Hold Shift or press ⇧ to reach harakat, hamza forms (أ إ آ) and Arabic punctuation (؟ ، ؛).
- Add vowel marks by typing the letter first and then the haraka, e.g. ب then Shift+Q for بَ.
- Switch digits with the Arabic-Indic digits option, or convert all digits in your text at once.
- Copy text and paste it into a message, document or search engine, or download it as a .txt file.
Arabic keyboard layout reference
The on-screen keyboard follows the standard Arabic (101) layout used by Windows and printed on most Arabic keyboards. This table shows which Latin key types each Arabic letter.
| Row | Latin keys | Arabic letters |
|---|---|---|
| Top | Q W E R T Y U I O P [ ] | ض ص ث ق ف غ ع ه خ ح ج د |
| Home | A S D F G H J K L ; ' | ش س ي ب ل ا ت ن م ك ط |
| Bottom | Z X C V B N M , . / | ئ ء ؤ ر لا ى ة و ز ظ |
| Left of 1 | ` | ذ |
Harakat (tashkeel) on the keyboard
Short vowels in Arabic are usually left out, but they matter in the Quran, children's books, poetry and for learners. They are combining marks: type the letter first, then the mark.
| Mark | Name | Sound | Keys | Example |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ◌َ | Fatha | short a | Shift+Q | بَ (ba) |
| ◌ُ | Damma | short u | Shift+E | بُ (bu) |
| ◌ِ | Kasra | short i | Shift+A | بِ (bi) |
| ◌ْ | Sukun | no vowel | Shift+X | بْ (b) |
| ◌ّ | Shadda | doubled consonant | Shift+` | بّ (bb) |
| ◌ً | Fathatan | -an | Shift+W | كتابًا |
| ◌ٌ | Dammatan | -un | Shift+R | كتابٌ |
| ◌ٍ | Kasratan | -in | Shift+S | كتابٍ |
Need plain text again? Use Remove harakat to strip all vowel marks while keeping the letters.
Tips for typing Arabic
- Letters join automatically. You always type the basic letter; the browser picks the correct initial, medial, final or isolated form.
- Lam-alef (لا) is a single key (B) but inserts two characters, ل and ا, exactly like a real Arabic keyboard.
- Tatweel (ـ, Shift+J) stretches the connection between letters for justification or decoration; avoid it in searchable text.
- Arabic punctuation: the Arabic comma ، (Shift+K), semicolon ؛ (Shift+P) and question mark ؟ (Shift+/) face the other way from their Latin versions.
- To hear your text read aloud, paste it into the text to speech tool and pick an Arabic voice if your device has one.
Frequently asked questions
How do I type Arabic without an Arabic keyboard?
Click in the text box and type with your normal keyboard. With physical keyboard mapping on, each key produces the Arabic letter of the standard Arabic PC layout, which is shown on the on-screen keys (for example H = ا, F = ب, J = ت). You can also click the letters with your mouse or tap them on a phone.
How do I add harakat (tashkeel)?
Type the letter first, then the vowel mark. With Shift: Q = fatha ◌َ, E = damma ◌ُ, A = kasra ◌ِ, X = sukun ◌ْ, W = fathatan ◌ً, R = dammatan ◌ٌ, S = kasratan ◌ٍ, and Shift + the key left of 1 = shadda ◌ّ. To add shadda and a vowel, type the shadda first, then the vowel.
Where are أ, إ, آ and ة?
Hamza on alif أ is Shift+H, hamza under alif إ is Shift+Y and alif madda آ is Shift+N. Lam-alef combinations are B (لا), Shift+G (لأ), Shift+T (لإ) and Shift+B (لآ). Ta marbuta ة is M, alif maqsura ى is N and hamza ء is X.
Why does the text go from right to left?
Arabic is written right to left, so the text box is set to RTL. Numbers and Latin words inside Arabic text still read left to right; the browser handles that automatically using the Unicode bidirectional algorithm.
What are Arabic-Indic digits?
They are the digits ٠١٢٣٤٥٦٧٨٩ (Unicode U+0660 to U+0669) used with Arabic script in much of the Middle East. Western digits 0-9 are standard in the Maghreb and widely understood everywhere. Tick the option to type them, or use Convert digits in text to switch all digits at once.
Is my text private?
Yes. Everything runs in your browser; your text is never uploaded. The current draft is saved only in this browser's local storage so you don't lose it on reload, and Clear removes it.
Does it work for Persian or Urdu?
This is the Arabic layout. It covers all 28 Arabic letters plus hamza forms, but not Persian or Urdu letters such as پ, چ, ژ, گ or ٹ.