The Arabic Keyboard Layout: A Guide for Touch Typists
9 October 2026 · Typing Quest
If you already touch type in English, learning Arabic is mostly learning new letters on familiar keys. Your fingers stay in the same places.
The Arabic home row
On the standard Arabic (101) layout, the home row reads ش س ي ب ل ا ت ن م ك ط. Your index fingers rest on ب (the F key) and ت (the J key).
Hamza forms are separate keys
- ء ؤ ئ are on the bottom-left (X, C, Z).
- أ is Shift + ا, إ is Shift + غ, and آ is Shift + ى.
- The لا key types lam and alef together.
Our course teaches each form deliberately and never treats them as interchangeable.
Diacritics (harakat)
Fatha, damma, kasra, sukun, shadda and tanween are all typed with Shift on the top-left keys. Type the letter first, then the diacritic.
Digits
The Arabic PC layout types Western digits (1 2 3) from the number row. Some layouts type Arabic-Indic digits (١ ٢ ٣) instead.
On a Mac
macOS includes an "Arabic – PC" input source that matches this layout. The default "Arabic" input source places several letters differently.
Switching languages
Real writing often mixes Arabic with English names and terms. Practise switching with Alt + Shift (Windows) or Ctrl + Space (Mac). The Arabic course has a full stage on this.