Keyboard Layout Tester

Visualize QWERTY, AZERTY, QWERTZ, Dvorak, and Colemak layouts. Type on your keyboard to see keys highlighted in real time.

Layout: QWERTY
Click here (or anywhere) then type on your keyboard...
Keys pressed: 0 Characters: 0 Layout: QWERTY
Layout: QWERTY — 0 keys pressed

Layout Comparison

About Keyboard Layouts

Keyboard layouts define how physical keys map to characters. While most people use QWERTY, there are several alternative layouts designed for different languages, ergonomics, or typing efficiency. Understanding these layouts is useful for developers working with international applications, system administrators configuring multi-region setups, and anyone learning touch typing on an alternative layout.

QWERTY — The Universal Standard

QWERTY was designed in the 1870s by Christopher Latham Sholes for the Remington typewriter. The layout was partly designed to prevent mechanical jamming by placing frequently combined letters apart. Despite this mechanical origin, QWERTY has dominated for 150 years because of its universal adoption. Nearly every operating system, keyboard hardware, and typing training program defaults to QWERTY. For software developers working in English, QWERTY places important symbols ({ } [ ] / \ ; :) in convenient positions.

AZERTY — French Standard

AZERTY is the default layout for French-language keyboards. It swaps Q↔A, W↔Z, and M moves to the right of L. It adds dedicated keys for accented characters (é, è, ê, à, ù) and the cedilla (ç). AZERTY is used primarily in France, Belgium, and some North African countries. Belgian AZERTY differs slightly from French AZERTY in symbol placement.

QWERTZ — German Standard

QWERTZ is standard for German, Austrian, Swiss, Czech, Slovak, and South Slavic language keyboards. The critical change is swapping Y and Z — since Z is far more common in German than Y, this reduces pinky-finger travel. QWERTZ also adds Ä, Ö, Ü, and ß keys. Swiss German QWERTZ supports both German and French characters simultaneously.

Dvorak — Ergonomic Alternative

The Dvorak Simplified Keyboard was patented in 1936 by August Dvorak and William Dealey. The design philosophy places the five most common vowels (A, O, E, U, I) on the left home row and the most common consonants (D, H, T, N, S) on the right home row. This means roughly 70% of common English words can be typed entirely from the home row. Dvorak is natively supported on Windows, macOS, and Linux and has a dedicated following among programmers with repetitive strain injuries.

Colemak — Modern Ergonomic

Colemak was designed in 2006 by Shai Coleman as a more practical alternative to Dvorak. It changes only 17 keys from QWERTY (Dvorak changes 33), keeping Ctrl+Z/X/C/V in the same physical position for copy-paste shortcuts. The home row design places the 10 most common English letters on the home row. Colemak-DH (a popular variant) further optimizes for reducing lateral finger movement.

How to Use This Tool

  1. Select a layout using the chips above the keyboard visualization.
  2. Click anywhere on the page to focus the input, then type on your physical keyboard.
  3. Watch the virtual keyboard highlight each pressed key according to the selected layout mapping.
  4. Use the Compare section below to see all layout rows side by side.

Frequently Asked Questions

QWERTY is the English standard with Q-W-E-R-T-Y on the top row. AZERTY is the French standard where those keys are A-Z-E-R-T-Y. AZERTY also moves M next to L, and includes dedicated keys for French accented characters (é, è, ê, à, ù, ç). AZERTY is used in France, Belgium, and some African countries.
Evidence is mixed. Dvorak places the most common English letters on the home row to minimize finger travel. Some studies show modest speed improvements for trained typists, others show no difference. Most people don't switch because retraining costs outweigh benefits unless starting from scratch. World speed records have been set on both layouts.
Colemak is a 2006 keyboard layout designed to be ergonomic while being easier to learn than Dvorak. It changes only 17 keys from QWERTY (Dvorak changes 33), keeps Ctrl+Z/X/C/V in familiar positions, and places the 10 most common English letters on the home row. It's popular among developers who type for long hours.
QWERTZ is the standard layout for German-speaking countries. The main difference from QWERTY is that Y and Z are swapped (Z is more common in German), and it adds Ä, Ö, Ü, and ß keys. QWERTZ is used in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, and several Eastern European countries.
Windows: Settings > Time & Language > Language > Add a language. macOS: System Preferences > Keyboard > Input Sources. Linux: System Settings > Region & Language > Input Sources. After adding a layout, use Win+Space (Windows), Ctrl+Space (some Linux), or Command+Space (macOS) to switch between installed layouts.