Language change on my keyboard

Question

I want to change my keyboard to handle European characters and symbols.

Answer 1

The language you set on your keyboard typically needs to be set to the same language of your physical keyboard language, though you may be able to install the International version of the keyboard language.

1

Open the Settings App.

Go to Time and Language - Region and Language.

What keyboard language is set there.

2

Please provide a photo of your physical keyboard.

Answer 2

Dear @SA

To ensure proper handling of European characters, accented letters, and special symbols in Windows, it is recommended to configure a keyboard layout that corresponds to the language you use most frequently.

To add or change a keyboard layout:

1. Open Settings.
2. Navigate to Time & language > Language & region.
3. Under Preferred languages, select the relevant language and click Language options.
4. Under Keyboards, click Add a keyboard and select the required keyboard layout.

Selecting the appropriate keyboard layout ensures that the required language-specific characters and symbols are readily available. Different layouts may provide access to different sets of characters and use different key combinations.

Answer 3

To handle European characters and symbols on Windows, install and switch to a keyboard layout for the language used most often.

1. Open Settings.
2. Go to Time & language > Language & region.
3. Under Preferred languages, select the language to use and open Options.
4. Under Keyboards, add the keyboard layout needed.
5. Switch between installed keyboard layouts with Windows key + Spacebar.

This is useful because different layouts expose different characters and symbol behavior. For example, the French Standard, AZERTY layout includes easier access to accented characters, ligatures, monetary symbols, Greek letters, additional European characters, and mathematical symbols.

If working in Word or Outlook, accented and special characters can also be inserted with keyboard shortcuts. For example:

• æ / Æ: CTRL+SHIFT+&, a or A
• œ / Œ: CTRL+SHIFT+&, o or O
• ç / Ç: CTRL+, (COMMA), c or C
• Euro symbol: type 20AC, then press ALT+X

Windows also supports Alt codes for some symbols, such as:

• £: Alt+0163
• Euro currency: Alt+0128
• ¥: Alt+0165

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