View source for QWERTY

{{Short description|Keyboard layout for Latin-script alphabets}}
{{Other uses}}
{{pp|small=yes}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2017}}
[[File:QWERTY keyboard.jpg|thumb|right|A laptop computer keyboard using the QWERTY layout]]
[[File:Bb-curve-8520(1).jpg|thumb|right|The [[BlackBerry]], which popularized the use of QWERTY keyboards on [[smartphone]]s in the late-2000s]]

'''QWERTY''' ({{IPAc-en|'|k|w|ɜːr|t|i}} {{respell|KWUR|tee}}) is a [[keyboard layout]] for [[Latin-script alphabet]]s; the name comes from the order of the first six keys on the top letter row of the keyboard: {{keypress|Q|W|E|R|T|Y|chain=}}. The design evolved for the quick typing of [[English language|English]] on [[typewriter]]s.

The QWERTY design is based on a layout included on the [[Sholes and Glidden typewriter]] sold by [[E. Remington and Sons]] from 1874. The layout became popular with the success of the Remington No. 2 of 1878 and remains in widespread use as a [[De facto standard|''de facto'' standard]] on computers, as of 2025. Two prominent alternatives, [[Dvorak keyboard layout|Dvorak]] and [[Colemak]], have been developed.  In Europe, two types of modified layouts, [[QWERTZ]] and [[AZERTY]], are used predominantly for [[German language|German]] and [[French language|French]], respectively.

==History==
{{Main|Typewriter|Sholes and Glidden typewriter}}
[[File:Continental Standard typewriter keyboard - key detail.jpg|thumb|upright|Keys are arranged on diagonal columns to give space for the levers.]]
The QWERTY layout was devised and created in the early 1870s by [[Christopher Latham Sholes]], a [[newspaper]] editor and printer who lived in [[Kenosha]], [[Wisconsin]]. In October 1867, Sholes filed a [[patent]] application for his early writing machine he developed with the assistance of his friends [[Carlos Glidden]] and [[Samuel W. Soule|Samuel W. Soulé]].<ref name="USPatent79868">{{cite patent |inventor-last=Shole |inventor-first=C. Latham |inventorlink=C. Latham Sholes |inventor2-last=Glidden |inventor2-first=Carlos |inventorlink2=Carlos Glidden |inventor3-last=Soule |inventor3-first=Samuel W. |inventorlink3=Samuel W. Soule |issue-date=14 July 1868 |title=Improvement in Type-writing Machines |country-code=US |patent-number=79868}}</ref>

The first model constructed by Sholes used a piano-like keyboard with two rows of characters arranged alphabetically as shown below:<ref name="USPatent79868" />
<pre>- 3 5 7 9 N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
2 4 6 8 . A B C D E F G H I J K L M</pre>

Sholes struggled for the next five years to perfect his invention, making many trial-and-error rearrangements of the original machine's alphabetical key arrangement. The study of [[bigram frequency|bigram (letter-pair) frequency]] by educator Amos Densmore, brother of the financial backer [[James Densmore]], was believed to have influenced the array of letters.<ref>{{cite book |last=Utterback |first=James M. |date=1999|title=Mastering the Dynamics of Innovation |location=Boston |publisher=Harvard Business Press|isbn=0-87584-740-4 |page=5}}</ref> Others consider this conjecture to be unfounded, suggesting instead that the letter groupings evolved from [[American Morse]] [[telegraph]] operators' feedback (noting the adjacency of {{angbr|e}} and {{angbr|r}}, a very common pairing in English).<ref name="Smithsonian" /><ref name="Yasuoka2011">{{cite journal |first1=Koichi |last1=Yasuoka |first2=Motoko |last2=Yasuoka |doi=10.14989/139379 |url=https://repository.kulib.kyoto-u.ac.jp/dspace/bitstream/2433/139379/1/42_161.pdf |title=On the Prehistory of QWERTY |date=March 2011 |journal=ZINBUN |volume=42 |page=161{{ndash}}174 |s2cid=53616602 |access-date=14 December 2021 |archive-date=18 September 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210918164426/https://repository.kulib.kyoto-u.ac.jp/dspace/bitstream/2433/139379/1/42_161.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref>{{rp|163}} {{rp|170}}

In November 1868 he changed the arrangement of the latter half of the alphabet, N to Z, right-to-left.<ref name="Yasuoka2008">{{cite book |first1=Koichi |last1=Yasuoka |first2=Motoko |last2=Yasuoka |title=Myth of QWERTY Keyboard |location=Tokyo |publisher=NTT Publishing |date=2008 |isbn=9784757141766 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tEsAMggMKoMC&pg=PA8 |access-date=3 November 2016 |archive-date=9 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230309183000/https://books.google.com/books?id=tEsAMggMKoMC&pg=PA8 |url-status=live }}</ref>{{rp|12–20}} In April 1870 he arrived at a four-row, upper case keyboard approaching the modern QWERTY standard, moving six vowel letters, A, E, I, O, U, and Y, to the upper row as follows:<ref name="Yasuoka2008" />{{rp|24–25}}
<pre>
2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 -
A E I . ? Y U O ,
B C D F G H J K L M
Z X W V T S R Q P N</pre>

In 1873 Sholes's backer, James Densmore, successfully sold the manufacturing rights for the Sholes & Glidden Type-Writer to [[E. Remington and Sons]]. The keyboard layout was finalized within a few months by Remington's mechanics and was ultimately presented:<ref name="Yasuoka2011" />{{rp|161–174}}
<pre>
2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 - ,
Q W E . T Y I U O P
Z S D F G H J K L M
A X & C V B N ? ; R</pre>

After they purchased the device, Remington made several adjustments, creating a keyboard with essentially the modern QWERTY layout. These adjustments included placing the "R" key in the place previously allotted to the period key. Supposedly, this change was made to let salesmen impress customers by pecking out the brand name "TYPE WRITER QUOTE" from one keyboard row, but this is not formally substantiated.<ref name="Yasuoka2011" /> Vestiges of the original alphabetical layout remained in the "[[home row]]" sequence DFGHJKL.<ref name="david" >{{citation |last=David |first=Paul A. |title=Clio and the Economics of QWERTY |journal=[[American Economic Review]] |volume=75 |issue=2 |pages=332–337 |year=1985 |publisher=American Economic Association|jstor=1805621 }}</ref>

The modern [[American National Standards Institute|ANSI]] layout is<ref>{{cite book |url=https://webstore.ansi.org/standards/incits/incits1541988s2009 |title=INCITS 154-1988[S2009]: Office Machines and Supplies—Alphanumeric Machines—Keyboard Arrangement |date=2009 |url-access=subscription |author=[[INCITS]] |via=[[ANSI]] Webstore}}</ref>:
<pre>1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 - =
Q W E R T Y U I O P [ ] \
A S D F G H J K L ; '
Z X C V B N M , . /</pre>
[[File:Remington 2 typewriter (Martin Howard Collection).jpg|thumb|Remington 2 typewriter, 1878 – First typewriter with a shift key for upper and lower case characters]]
The QWERTY layout became popular with the success of the Remington No. 2 of 1878, the first typewriter to include both upper and lower case letters, using a {{keypress|[[shift key|Shift]]}} key.

One popular but possibly invented<ref name="Yasuoka2011" />{{rp|162}} (or even incorrect<ref name="Smithsonian">{{Cite web |last=Stamp |first=Jimmy |title=The QWERTY Keyboard Will Never Die. Where Did the 150-Year-Old Design Come From? |url=https://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/fact-of-fiction-the-legend-of-the-qwerty-keyboard-49863249/ |website=Smithsonian}}</ref>) explanation for the QWERTY arrangement is that it was designed to reduce the likelihood of internal clashing of typebars by placing commonly used combinations of letters farther from each other inside the machine.<ref name="David, P.A. 1986">David, P. A. (1986). "Understanding the Economics of QWERTY: the Necessity of History". In Parker, William N., ''Economic History and the Modern Economist''. Basil Blackwell, New York and Oxford.</ref>

===Differences from modern layout===

==== Substituting characters ====
[[File:QWERTY 1878.png|thumb|right|upright 1.25|Christopher Latham Sholes's 1878 QWERTY keyboard layout]]
The QWERTY layout depicted in Sholes's 1878 patent is slightly different from the modern layout, most notably in the absence of the numerals 0 and 1, with each of the remaining numerals shifted one position to the left of their modern counterparts. The letter M is located at the end of the third row to the right of the letter L, rather than on the fourth row to the right of the N, the letters X and C are reversed, and most [[Punctuation|punctuation marks]] are in different positions or are missing entirely.<ref name="patent">{{cite patent
 | inventor-last = Sholes
 | inventor-first = Christopher Latham
 | issue-date = 27 August 1878
 | title =
 | country-code = US
 | description =
 | patent-number = 207559
}}</ref> 0 and 1 were omitted to simplify the design and reduce the manufacturing and maintenance costs; they were chosen specifically because they were "redundant" and could be recreated using other keys. Typists who learned on these machines learned the habit of using the uppercase letter [[I]] (or lowercase letter [[L]]) for the digit one, and the uppercase [[O]] for the zero.<ref name="Weller" >{{Citation
  | last = Weller| first = Charles Edward
  | year = 1918
  | url = https://archive.org/details/earlyhistorytyp00wellgoog
  |title=The early history of the typewriter
  | place = La Porte, Indiana| publisher = Chase & Shepard, printers
| hdl = 2027/nyp.33433006345817
  | hdl-access = free
  }}</ref>

The 0 key was added and standardized in its modern position early in the history of the typewriter, but the 1 and exclamation point were left off some typewriter keyboards into the 1970s.<ref>See for example the [http://www.mrmartinweb.com/type.htm#olivetti Olivetti Lettera 36] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080827184348/http://www.mrmartinweb.com/type.htm#olivetti |date=27 August 2008 }}, introduced in 1972</ref>

==== Combined characters ====
{{See also|Dead keys}}
In early designs, some characters were produced by printing two symbols with the [[typewriter carriage|carriage]] in the same position. For instance, the [[Exclamation mark|exclamation point]], which shares a key with the numeral 1 on post-mechanical keyboards, could be reproduced by using a three-stroke combination of an apostrophe, a backspace, and a period. A semicolon (;) was produced by printing a comma (,) over a colon (:). As the backspace key is slow in simple mechanical typewriters (the carriage was heavy and optimized to move in the opposite direction), a more professional approach was to block the carriage by pressing and holding the space bar while printing all characters that needed to be in a shared position. To make this possible, the carriage was designed to advance only after releasing the space bar.

In the era of mechanical typewriters, combined characters such as ''é'' and ''õ'' were created by the use of [[dead key]]s for the [[diacritic]]s (''′, ~''), which did not move the paper forward. Thus, the ''′'' and ''e'' would be printed at the same location on the paper, creating ''é''.

===Contemporaneous alternatives===
[[File:Crandall 1, 1883.jpg|thumb|Crandall 1, 1883]]
There were no particular technological requirements for the QWERTY layout,<ref name="Yasuoka2011" /> since at the time there were ways to make a typewriter without the "up-stroke" typebar mechanism that had required it to be devised. Not only were there rival machines with "down-stroke" and "front stroke" positions that gave a visible printing point, the problem of typebar clashes could be circumvented completely: examples include [[Thomas Edison]]'s 1872 electric print-wheel device which later became the basis for [[Teleprinter|Teletype]] machines; [[Lucien Stephen Crandall]]'s typewriter (the second to come onto the American market in 1883) whose type was arranged on a cylindrical sleeve; the [[Hammond Typewriter|Hammond typewriter]] of 1885 which used a semi-circular "type-shuttle" of hardened rubber (later light metal); and the [[Blickensderfer typewriter]] of 1893 which used a type wheel. The early Blickensderfer's "Ideal" keyboard was also non-QWERTY, instead having the sequence "DHIATENSOR" in the [[home row]], these 10 letters being capable of composing 70% of the words in the English language.<ref>{{cite book|last=Shermer|first=Michael|title=The mind of the market|year=2008|publisher=Macmillan|isbn=978-0-8050-7832-9|page=[https://archive.org/details/mindofmarketcomp00sher/page/50 50]|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/mindofmarketcomp00sher/page/50}}</ref>

==Properties==
Alternating hands while typing is a desirable trait in a keyboard design. While one hand types a letter, the other hand can prepare to type the next letter, making the process faster and more efficient. In the QWERTY layout many more words can be spelled using only the left hand than the right hand. Thousands of English words can be spelled using only the left hand, while only a couple of hundred words can be typed using only the right hand<ref name=Diamond >{{Citation |last=Diamond |first=Jared |author-link=Jared Diamond |date=April 1997 |title=The Curse of QWERTY |journal=[[Discover (magazine)|Discover]] |url=http://discovermagazine.com/1997/apr/thecurseofqwerty1099/ |access-date=2009-04-29 |quote=More than 3,000 English words utilize QWERTY's left hand alone, and about 300 the right hand alone. |archive-date=20 September 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080920034117/http://discovermagazine.com/1997/apr/thecurseofqwerty1099 |url-status=live}}</ref> (the three most frequent letters in the English language, {{keypress|E}}{{keypress|T}}{{keypress|A}}, are all typed with the left hand). In addition, more typing strokes are done with the left hand in the QWERTY layout. This is helpful for left-[[handedness|handed]] people but disadvantageous for right-handed people.

Contrary to popular belief, the QWERTY layout was not designed to slow the typist down,<ref name="Yasuoka2011" />{{rp|162}} but rather to speed up typing. Indeed, there is evidence that, aside from the issue of jamming, placing often-used keys farther apart increases typing speed, because it encourages alternation between the hands.<ref name="sd">{{Cite web |last=Adams |first=Cecil |date=30 October 1981 |title=Was the QWERTY keyboard purposely designed to slow typists? |url=http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/221/was-the-qwerty-keyboard-purposely-designed-to-slow-typists |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170803025408/http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/221/was-the-qwerty-keyboard-purposely-designed-to-slow-typists |archive-date=3 August 2017 |access-date=12 March 2013 |publisher=straightdope.com}}</ref> (On the other hand, in the German keyboard the {{keypress|Z}} has been moved between the {{keypress|T}} and the {{keypress|U}} to help type the frequent digraphs TZ and ZU in that language.) Almost every word in the English language contains at least one vowel letter, but on the QWERTY keyboard only the vowel letter {{keypress|A}} is on the home row, which requires the typist's fingers to leave the home row for most words.

A feature much less commented on than the order of the keys is that the keys do not form a rectangular grid, but rather each column slants diagonally. This is because of the mechanical linkages – each key is attached to a lever, and hence the offset prevents the levers from running into each other – and has been retained in most electronic keyboards. Some keyboards, such as the [[Kinesis (keyboard)|Kinesis]] or [[TypeMatrix]], retain the QWERTY layout but arrange the keys in vertical columns, to reduce unnecessary lateral finger motion.<ref>[http://www.kinesis-ergo.com/benefits.htm Kinesis – Ergonomic Benefits of the Contoured Keyboard] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100328105633/http://www.kinesis-ergo.com/benefits.htm |date=28 March 2010 }} – Vertical key layout</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://typematrix.com/2030/why.php|title=TypeMatrix - The Keyboard is the Key|author=TypeMatrix|website=typematrix.com|access-date=29 January 2013|archive-date=8 February 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130208220252/http://typematrix.com/2030/why.php|url-status=live}}</ref>

==Computer keyboards==
[[File:KB United States.svg|thumb|right|upright 1.5|[[ANSI]] QWERTY [[keyboard layout]] (US)]]

The first computer terminals such as the Teletype were typewriters that could produce and be controlled by computer codes. These used the QWERTY layouts but added keys such as [[Esc key|escape]] {{keypress|Esc}}, added [[ASCII]] punctuation like less-than and greater-than signs, and often moved the shift combinations for punctuation to simplify the electronics. Later keyboards copied punctuation arrangements from the IBM Selectric and other typewriters.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Castillo|first=M.|title=QWERTY, @, &, #|journal=[[American Journal of Neuroradiology]]|date=2 September 2010|volume=32|issue=4|pages=613–614|doi=10.3174/ajnr.a2228|pmid=20813871|pmc=7965893 |doi-access=free | issn=0195-6108}}</ref>

===Diacritical marks===
QWERTY was designed for [[English language|English]], a language without accents ('[[diacritic]]s') except for a few words of foreign origin.  The standard US keyboard has no provision for accents at all; the need was later met by the so-called "[[#US-international|US-International]]" [[keyboard mapping]], which uses a "[[dead key]]" technique to type accents without having to add more physical keys. (The same principle is used in the standard US keyboard layout for [[macOS]], but in a different way). Most European (including UK) keyboards for PCs have an {{keypress|[[AltGr]]}} key ('Alternative Graphics' key,{{efn|Where this key is not provided, some layouts provide its equivalent using {{keypress|Ctrl|Alt}}+the letter to be accented, which can mean some [[chorded keyboard|chord]]s that require additional manual dexterity. Other keyboard mappings convert the right {{keypress|Alt}} key to be an AltGr key, despite its engraving.}} replaces the right Alt key) that enables easy access to the most common diacritics used in the territory where sold. For example, default keyboard mapping for the UK/Ireland keyboard has the diacritics used in [[Irish language|Irish]] but these are rarely printed on the keys; but to type the accents used in [[Welsh language|Welsh]] and [[Scots Gaelic]] requires the use of a "[[#United Kingdom (Extended) Layout|UK Extended]]" keyboard mapping and the dead key or [[compose key]] method. This arrangement applies to Windows, [[ChromeOS]] and [[Linux]]; macOS computers have different techniques. The US International and UK Extended mappings provide many of the diacritics needed for students of other European languages.

===Other keys and characters===
{{Main|Alt code|Compose key|Option key}}

Some QWERTY keyboards have [[alt code]]s, in which holding {{keypress|Alt}} while inputting a sequence of numbers on a numeric keypad allows the entry of special characters. For example, {{keypress|Alt}}+{{keypress|1}}{{keypress|6}}{{keypress|3}} results in ú (a Latin lowercase letter u with an acute accent).

==Specific language variants==
There are a large number of QWERTY keyboard layouts used for languages written in the Latin script, the most popular layouts include English, Czech, Danish, Dutch, Estonian, Faroese, Icelandic, Irish, Italian, Latvian, Lithuanian, Maltese, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Slovak, Spanish, Swedish, Turkish, Vietnamese languages.

{{Main articles|List of QWERTY keyboard language variants}}

Minor changes to the arrangement are made for other languages. There are a large number of different keyboard layouts used for different languages written in Latin script. They can be divided into three main families according to where the {{Key press|Q}}, {{Key press|A}}, {{Key press|Z}}, {{Key press|M}}, and {{Key press|Y}} keys are placed on the keyboard. These are usually named after the first six letters, for example this QWERTY layout and the [[AZERTY]] layout.

==Multilingual variants==
{{Split section|discuss=Talk:QWERTY#Possible split of two sections about language variants into new article|date=October 2021}}
[[Multilingual]] keyboard layouts, unlike the default layouts supplied for one language and market, try to make it possible for the user to type in any of several languages using the same number of keys. Mostly this is done by adding a further virtual layer in addition to the {{Key press|Shift}}-key by means of {{Key press|[[AltGr]]}} (or 'right {{Key press|[[Alt key|Alt]]}}' reused as such), which contains a further repertoire of symbols and diacritics used by the desired languages.

This section also tries to arrange the layouts in ascending order by the number of possible languages and not chronologically according to the Latin alphabet as usual.

===United Kingdom (Extended) Layout <span class="anchor" id="United Kingdom (Extended) Layout"></span>===
<!--ref: install this keyboard on a Windows/Linux/ChromeOS machine to document these keystrokes-->
[[File:KB United Kingdom Ext.png|thumb|upright 1.5|[[United Kingdom]] Extended Keyboard Layout for Windows]]
[[File:UKExtUbuntu.png|thumb|upright 1.5|United Kingdom Extended Keyboard Layout for Linux]]
[[File:UKIntlUbuntu.png|thumb|upright 1.5|United Kingdom International Keyboard Layout for Linux]]
<!-- For MacOS, see 'Apple International English Keyboard' a little further below-->

====Windows====
From [[Microsoft Windows XP|Windows XP SP2]] onwards, Microsoft has included a variant of the British QWERTY keyboard (the "United Kingdom Extended" keyboard layout) that can additionally generate several [[diacritic|diacritical marks]]. This supports input on a standard physical UK keyboard for many languages without changing positions of frequently used keys, which is useful when working with text in [[Welsh language|Welsh]], [[Scots Gaelic]] and Irish — languages native to parts of the UK ([[Wales]], [[Gàidhealtachd|parts of Scotland]] and [[Northern Ireland]] respectively).

In this layout, the grave accent key ({{keypress|`¦}}) becomes, as it also does in the US International layout, a [[dead key]] modifying the character generated by the next key pressed. The apostrophe, double-quote, tilde and circumflex ([[caret (disambiguation)|caret]]) keys are not changed, becoming dead keys only when 'shifted' with {{keypress|AltGr}}. Additional [[precomposed character]]s are also obtained by shifting the 'normal' key using the {{Key press|AltGr}} key. The extended keyboard is software installed from the Windows [[Control Panel (Windows)|control panel]], and the extended characters are not normally engraved on keyboards.

The UK Extended keyboard uses mostly the AltGr key to add diacritics to the letters a, e, i, n, o, u, w and y (the last two being used in Welsh) as appropriate for each character, as well as to their capitals. Pressing the key and then a character that does not take the specific diacritic produces the behaviour of a standard keyboard. The key presses followed by spacebar generate a stand-alone mark.:
* [[grave accent]]s (e.g. à, è, etc.) needed for Scots Gaelic are generated by pressing the grave accent (or 'backtick') key {{key press|`}}, which is a dead key, then the letter. Thus {{keypress|`|a}} produces à.
* [[acute accent]]s (e.g. á) needed for Irish are generated by pressing the {{key press|[[AltGr key|AltGr]]}} key together with the letter.{{efn|The sequence {{key press|AltGr|[[apostrophe|']]}}{{snd}} acting as a dead key combination{{snd}} followed by the letter, has the same effect. This inconvenient facility is rarely used, being needed only for use with programs that use the combination of {{Key press|AltGr}} and a letter (or {{keypress|Ctrl|Alt}} and letter) for other functions, in which case the {{Key press|AltGr|'}} method must be used to generate acute accents.}} Thus {{keypress|AltGr|a}} produces á; {{keypress|AltGr|Shift|a}} produces Á.
* the [[circumflex]] diacritic needed for Welsh may be added by {{key press|AltGr|6}}, acting as a dead key combination, followed by the letter. Thus {{key press|AltGr|6}} then {{key press|a}} produces â, {{key press|AltGr|6}} then {{key press|w}}  produces the letter ŵ.

Some other languages commonly studied in the UK and Ireland are also supported to some extent:
* [[diaeresis (diacritic)|diaeresis or umlaut]] (e.g. ä, ë, ö, etc.) is generated by a dead key combination {{key press|AltGr|2}}, then the letter. Thus {{key press|AltGr|2}}{{keypress|a}} produces ä.
* [[tilde]] (e.g. ã, ñ, õ, etc., as used in Spanish and Portuguese) is generated by dead key combination {{key press|AltGr|#}}, then the letter. Thus {{key press|AltGr|#}}{{keypress|a}} produces ã.
* [[cedilla]] (e.g. ç) under c is generated by {{Key press|AltGr|C}}, and the capital letter (Ç) is produced by {{Key press|AltGr|Shift|C}}

The {{key press|AltGr}} and letter method used for acutes and cedillas does not work for applications which assign shortcut menu functions to these key combinations.

These combinations are intended to be [[mnemonic]] and designed to be easy to remember: the circumflex accent (e.g. â) is similar to the free-standing circumflex ([[caret]]) (<code>^</code>), printed above the {{key press|6}} key; the diaeresis/umlaut (e.g. ö) is visually similar to the double-quote (<code>"</code>) above {{key press|2}} on the UK keyboard; the tilde (<code>~</code>) is printed on the same key as the {{key press|#}}.

The UK Extended layout is almost entirely transparent to users familiar with the UK layout. A machine with the extended layout behaves exactly as with the standard UK, except for the rarely used grave accent key. This makes this layout suitable for a machine for shared or public use by a user population in which some use the extended functions.

Despite being created for multilingual users, UK-Extended in Windows does have some gaps — there are many languages that it cannot cope with, including Romanian and Turkish, and all languages with different [[character encoding|character sets]], such as Greek and Russian. It also does not cater for [[thorn (letter)|thorn]] (þ, Þ) in [[Old English]], the ß in German, the œ in French, nor for the å, æ, ø, ð, þ in Nordic languages.

====ChromeOS====
{{anchor|Chrome OS}}<!-- many links to this section title. If changing, please check "what links here". -->
The UK-Extended "input method" in [[Chrome OS]] provides all the same combinations as with Windows, but adds many more symbols and dead keys via {{green|AltGr}}. 
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"
| ¬ {{green|¦}}<br>` {{green|◌}}||! {{green|¡}}<br>1 {{green|¹}}||" {{green|½}}<br>2 {{green|◌}}||£ {{green|⅓}}<br>3 {{green|⅓}}||$ {{green|¼}}<br>4 {{green|€}}||% {{green|⅜}}<br>5 {{green|½}}||^ {{green|⅝}}<br>6 {{green|◌}}||& {{green|⅞}}<br>7 {{green|{}}||* {{green|™}}<br>8 {{green|[}}||( {{green|±}}<br>9 {{green|]}}||) {{green|°}}<br>0 {{green|}}<nowiki>}</nowiki>||_ {{green|¿}}<br>- {{green|\}}||+ {{green|◌}}<br>= {{green|◌}}
|-
|tab||Q {{green|Ω}}<br>q {{green|@}}||W {{green|Ẃ}}<br>w {{green|ẃ}}||E {{green|É}}<br>e {{green|é}}||R {{green|®}}<br>r {{green|¶}}||T {{green|Ŧ}}<br>t {{green|ŧ}}||Y {{green|Ý}}<br>y {{green|ý}}||U {{green|Ú}}<br>u {{green|ú}}||I {{green|Í}}<br>i {{green|í}}||O {{green|Ó}}<br>o {{green|ó}}||P {{green|Þ}}<br>p {{green|þ}}||{ {{green|◌}}<br>[ {{green|◌}}||} {{green|◌}}<br>] {{green|◌}}
|-
|🔍||A {{green|Á}}<br>a {{green|á}}||S {{green|§}}<br>s {{green|ß}}||D {{green|Ð}}<br>d {{green|ð}}||F {{green|ª}}<br>f {{green|đ}}||G {{green|Ŋ}}<br>g {{green|ŋ}}||H {{green|Ħ}}<br>h {{green|ħ}}||J {{green|◌}}<br>j {{green|◌}}||K {{green|&}}<br>k {{green|ĸ}}||L {{green|Ł}}<br>l {{green|ł}}||: {{green|◌}}<br>; {{green|◌}}||@ {{green|◌}}<br>' {{green|◌}}||~ {{green|◌}}<br># {{green|◌}}
|-
|shift||<nowiki>|</nowiki> {{green|¦}}<br>\ {{green|<nowiki>|</nowiki>}}||Z {{green|<}}<br>z {{green|«}}||X {{green|>}}<br>x {{green|»}}||C {{green|Ç}}<br>c {{green|ç}}||V {{green|‘}}<br>v {{green|“}}||B {{green|’}}<br>b {{green|”}}||N {{green|N}}<br>n {{green|n}}||M {{green|º}}<br>m {{green|µ}}||<nowiki><</nowiki> {{green|×}}<br>, {{green|─}}||<nowiki>></nowiki> {{green|÷}}<br>. {{green|·}}||? {{green|◌}}<br>/ {{green|◌}}||shift
|}
Notes: 
* Dotted circle (◌) is used here to indicate a dead key.
* {{keypress|AltGr|shift|0}} (°) is a [[degree sign]];  {{keypress|AltGr|shift|M}} (º) is a masculine [[ordinal indicator]]
* {{as of|March 2025}}, the combinations {{keypress|AltGr|Shift|2}} and {{keypress|AltGr|5}} both produce a {{frac|2}} symbol: there is no key for {{notatypo|{{char|²}} ({{unichar|00B2|nlink=Unicode subscripts and superscripts}}, "squared sign").}}
* The [[diacritic]]s used in the United Kingdom's native languages (English, Welsh, Scottish Gaelic and Irish{{efn|The acute accent in Irish is additionally provided using AltGr+vowel.}} ) are provided by using deadkey combinations below.

'''Dead keys'''
* {{keypress|AltGr|`|letter}} produces grave accents (e.g., {{mono|à/À}}).
* {{keypress|AltGr|2}}(release){{keypress|letter}} produces [[two dots (diacritic)|two dots]] accents [diaeresis, umlaut] (e.g., {{mono|ä/Ä}})
*{{keypress|AltGr|6}}(release){{keypress|letter}} produces circumflex accents (e.g., {{mono|â/Â}})
* {{keypress|AltGr|{{=}}}} (release) {{keypress|letter}} produces (mainly) [[Comma#Diacritical usage|comma diacritic]] or cedilla below the letter e.g., {{mono|ş/Ş}}
* {{keypress|AltGr|shift|{{=}}}} (release) {{keypress|letter}} produces a [[hook (diacritic)]] on vowels (e.g., {{mono|ą/Ą}})
*AltGr+[ same as AltGr+2
*{{keypress|AltGr|<nowiki>]</nowiki>}}(release){{keypress|letter}} produces [[macron (diacritic)|macron]]s  (e.g., {{mono|ā/Ā}}) 
*{{keypress|AltGr|<nowiki>{</nowiki>}}(release){{keypress|letter}} produces [[overring (diacritic)|overring]]s  (e.g., {{mono|å/Å}}) 
*AltGr+} same as AltGr+# (another tilde)
*{{keypress|AltGr|j}}(release){{keypress|letter}} produces mainly [[horn (diacritic)]]s  (e.g., {{mono|ả/Ả}})
*{{keypress|AltGr|shift|j}}(release){{keypress|letter}} is a dead key that appears to have no function ({{as of|March 2025|lc=on}}) 
*{{keypress|AltGr|;}}(release){{keypress|letter}} produces acute accents (e.g., {{mono|ź/Ź}}) 
*{{keypress|AltGr|shift|;}}(release){{keypress|letter}} is another dead key that appears to have no function  
* {{keypress|AltGr|'}}(release){{keypress|letter}} produces [[acute accent]]s (e.g., {{mono|á/Á}})   
* {{keypress|AltGr|shift|'}}(release){{keypress|letter}} produces [[caron]] (haček)  diacritics (e.g., {{mono|ǎ/Ǎ}}) 
* {{keypress|AltGr|#}}(release){{keypress|letter}} produces [[tilde]] diacritics (e.g., {{mono|ã/Ã}})
* {{keypress|AltGr|shift|#}}(release){{keypress|letter}} produces inverted [[breve]]  diacritics (e.g., {{mono|ă/Ă}}) 
*{{keypress|AltGr|/}}(release){{keypress|letter}} produces mainly [[dot (diacritic)#Underdot|underdot]]s  (e.g., {{mono|ạ/Ạ}}) 
*{{keypress|AltGr|shift|/}}(release){{keypress|letter}} produces mainly [[dot (diacritic)#Overdot|overdot]]s  (e.g., {{mono|ȧ/Ȧ}})

Finally, any arbitrary Unicode [[glyph]] can be produced given its hexadecimal [[code point]]: {{keypress|ctrl|shift|u}}, release, then the hex value, then {{key top|space bar}} or {{key top|Return}}. For example {{keypress|ctrl|shift|u}} (release) {{keypress|1|2|3|4|space|chain=}} produces the [[Ethiopic]] syllable SEE, ሴ.
̣̣̣̣

===US-International <span class="anchor" id="US-international"></span><span class="anchor" id="US International"></span><span class="anchor" id="US international"></span>===

[[File:KB US-International.svg|thumb|upright 1.5|US-International keyboard layout (Windows)]]
Windows provides an alternative layout for a US keyboard to type diacritics, called the US-International layout. Linux and [[ChromeOS]] (which calls it the International/Extended keyboard{{cn|date=December 2023}}) also provide this layout with slight modifications such as many more {{keypress|AltGr}} combinations.

The layout is installed from the settings panel.<ref>[http://support.microsoft.com/kb/306560 How to use the United States-International keyboard layout in Windows 7, in Windows Vista, and in Windows XP] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150304220917/http://support.microsoft.com/kb/306560 |date=4 March 2015 }}, Microsoft, 17 August 2009</ref> The additional functions (shown in blue) may or may not be engraved on the keyboard, but are always functional. It can be used to type most major languages from Western Europe: [[Afrikaans language|Afrikaans]], [[Danish language|Danish]], [[Dutch language|Dutch]], [[English language|English]], [[Faroese language|Faroese]], [[Finnish language|Finnish]], [[German language|German]], [[Icelandic language|Icelandic]], [[Irish language|Irish]], [[Italian language|Italian]], [[Norwegian language|Norwegian]], [[Portuguese language|Portuguese]], [[Scots Gaelic]], [[Spanish language|Spanish]], and [[Swedish language|Swedish]]. It is not sufficient for [[French language|French]] because it lacks the grapheme “[[Œ|œ/Œ]]” (as does every keyboard layout provided by Windows except the [[CSA keyboard|Canadian multilingual standard keyboard]]). Some less common western and central European languages (such as [[Welsh language|Welsh]], [[Maltese language|Maltese]], [[Czech language|Czech]] and [[Hungarian language|Hungarian]]), are not fully supported. If the keyboard does not have an {{keypress|AltGr}} key, the right-hand {{keypress|Alt}} is used. If that key does not exist (which is true of many laptops) the combination {{keypress|Ctrl|Alt}} works as well.

This layout uses keys {{Key press|'}}, {{Key press|`}}, {{Key press|"}}, {{Key press|^}} and {{Key press|~}} as [[dead key]]s to generate characters with diacritics by pressing the appropriate key, then the letter on the keyboard. Only certain letters such as vowels and "n", work, otherwise the symbol is produced followed by the typed letter. To get only the symbol ', `, ", ^ and ~, press the {{Key press|Spacebar}} after the key.

* {{Key press|'}} + vowel → vowel with acute accent, e.g., {{Key press|'|e}} → é
* {{Key press|`}} + vowel → vowel with grave accent, e.g., {{Key press|`|e}} → è
* {{Key press|"}} + vowel → vowel with diaeresis (or umlaut), e.g., {{Key press|"|e}} → ë
* {{Key press|^}} + vowel → vowel with circumflex accent, e.g., {{Key press|^|e}} → ê
* {{Key press|~}} + {{Key press|a}}, {{Key press|n}} or {{Key press|o}} → letter with tilde, e.g. {{Key press|~|n}} → ñ, {{Key press|~|o}} → õ
* {{Key press|'}} + {{Key press|c}} → ç (Windows) or ć (X11)

The layout is not entirely transparent to users familiar with the conventional US layout as the dead keys act different (they don't appear immediately and produce accented letters depending on what letter is typed next). This could be disconcerting on a machine for shared or public use. There are alternatives, such as requiring {{keypress|AltGr}} to be held down to get the dead-key function.

====US-International in the Netherlands====
[[File:Acer SF114-32 keyboard closeup.jpg|thumb|right|Closeup of Dutch laptop keyboard with an engraved euro sign {{char|€}}]]
The [[#Dutch (Netherlands)|Dutch layout]] is historical, and keyboards with this layout are rarely used. Instead, the standard keyboard layout in the [[Netherlands]] is US-International, as the [[Dutch language]] heavily [[Dutch orthography#Diacritics|relies on diacritics]] and the US-International keyboard provides easy access to diacritics using [[dead keys]]. While many US keyboards do not have {{Key press|AltGr}} or extra US-International characters engraved on them, Dutch keyboards typically have the {{Key press|AltGr}} engraved at the location of the right {{Key press|Alt}} key, and have the [[euro sign]] {{char|€}} engraved next to the {{Key press|5}} key.
{{Clear}}

=== Apple International English Keyboard ===
[[File:KB Intl English Mac - Apple Keyboard (MC184Z).svg|thumb|upright 1.5|International English version of Apple keyboard]]
There are three kinds of [[Apple Keyboard]]s for English: the [[#United States|United States]], the [[#United Kingdom|United Kingdom]] and International English. The International English version features the same changes as the United Kingdom version, only without substituting {{key press|[[Number sign|#]]}} for the {{key press|[[£]]}} symbol on {{key press|shift|3}}, and as well lacking visual indication for the {{keypress|[[€]]}} symbol on {{keypress|option|2}} (although this shortcut is present with all Apple QWERTY layouts).

Differences from the US layout are:

# The {{key press|{{su|b=[[`]]|p=[[~]]}}}} key is located on the left of the {{key press|Z}} key, and the {{key press|{{su|b=[[\]]|p={{!}}}}}} key is located on the right of the {{key press|{{su|b='|p=[["]]}}}} key.
# The {{key press|{{su|b=§|p=±}}}} key is added on the left of the {{key press|{{su|b=1|p=[[!]]}}}} key.
# The left {{keypress|Shift}} key is shortened and the {{keypress|Return}} key has the shape of inverted L.
{{Clear}}

===Canadian Multilingual Standard===
{{main|CSA keyboard}}
{{See also|Languages of Canada}}
[[File:KB Canadian Multilingual Standard.svg|thumb|upright 1.5|Canadian Multilingual Standard keyboard layout]]
The Canadian Multilingual Standard keyboard layout is used by some Canadians. Though the [[caret]] (^) is missing, it is easily inserted by typing the circumflex accent followed by a space.
{{Clear}}

===<span id="Finnish multilingual keyboard"></span>Finnish multilingual===
[[File:KB Finnish Multilingual.svg|thumb|upright 1.5|[[Languages of Finland|Finnish multilingual]] keyboard layout]]
The visual layout used in [[Finland]] is basically the same as the [[#Swedish|Swedish layout]]. This is practical, as [[Finnish language|Finnish]] and [[Swedish language|Swedish]] share the special characters [[Ä|Ä/ä]] and [[Ö|Ö/ö]], and while the Swedish [[Å|Å/å]] is unnecessary for writing Finnish, it is needed by [[Swedish-speaking Finns]] and to write Swedish family names which are common.

As of 2008, there is a new standard for the Finnish multilingual keyboard layout, developed as part of a [[Internationalization and localization|localization]] project by [[CSC – IT Center for Science|CSC]]. All the engravings of the traditional Finnish–Swedish visual layout have been retained, so there is no need to change the hardware, but the functionality has been extended considerably, as additional characters (e.g., [[Æ|Æ/æ]], [[Ə|Ə/ə]], [[Ʒ|Ʒ/ʒ]]) are available through the {{Key press|[[AltGr key|AltGr]]}} key, as well as [[dead key]]s, which allow typing a wide variety of letters with [[diacritic]]s (e.g., [[Ç|Ç/ç]], [[Ǥ|Ǥ/ǥ]], [[Ǯ|Ǯ/ǯ]]).<ref>{{Citation | url = http://sales.sfs.fi/sfs/servlets/ProductServlet?action=showproduct&productid=210467 | title = SFS 5966 | format = keyboard layout | publisher = Finnish Standards Association SFS | date = 3 November 2008 | access-date = 19 April 2015 | archive-date = 5 December 2014 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20141205212152/http://sales.sfs.fi/sfs/servlets/ProductServlet?action=showproduct&productid=210467 | url-status = live }}. Finnish-Swedish multilingual keyboard setting.</ref><ref>{{Citation | last = Kotoistus | url = http://kotoistus.fi/nappaimisto_htm | title = Uusi näppäinasettelu | trans-title = Status of the new Keyboard Layout | language = fi, en | format = presentation page collecting drafts of the Finnish Multilingual Keyboard | publisher = [[CSC – IT Center for Science Ltd.|CSC IT Center for Science]] | date = 12 December 2006 | access-date = 19 April 2015 | url-status = dead | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150427111436/http://kotoistus.fi/nappaimisto_htm | archive-date = 27 April 2015 | df = dmy-all }}</ref>

Based on the [[Latin script|Latin]] letter repertory included in the Multilingual European Subset No. 2 ([[MES-2]]) of the Unicode standard, the layout has three main objectives. First, it provides for easy entering of text in both Finnish and Swedish, the two official [[languages of Finland]], using the familiar keyboard layout but adding some advanced punctuation options, such as [[dash]]es, typographical [[Quotation mark, non-English usage|quotation marks]], and the [[non-breaking space]] (NBSP).

Second, it is designed to offer an indirect but intuitive way to enter the special letters and diacritics needed by the other three [[Nordic countries|Nordic]] national languages ([[Danish language|Danish]], [[Norwegian language|Norwegian]] and [[Icelandic language|Icelandic]]) as well as the regional and minority languages ([[Northern Sámi]], [[Southern Sámi]], [[Lule Sámi]], [[Inari Sámi language|Inari Sámi]], [[Skolt Sami language|Skolt Sámi]], [[Romani language]] as spoken in Finland, [[Faroese language|Faroese]], [[Greenlandic language|Kalaallisut]] also known as Greenlandic, and [[German language|German]]).

As a third objective, it allows for relatively easy entering of particularly names (of persons, places or products) in a variety of European languages using a more or less extended Latin alphabet, such as the official [[languages of the European Union]] (excluding [[Bulgarian language|Bulgarian]] and [[Modern Greek|Greek]]). Some letters, like [[Ł|Ł/ł]] needed for Slavic languages, are accessed by a special "overstrike" key combination acting like a dead key.<ref>{{cite web |publisher=Kotoistus |title=Precomposed characters in the new Finnish keyboard layout specification |url=http://kotoistus.fi/kbpcse.pdf |pages=10 |date=29 June 2006 |access-date=19 April 2015 |language=en |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304105405/http://kotoistus.fi/kbpcse.pdf |archive-date=4 March 2016 |df=dmy-all }}</ref>
Initially the [[Romanian language|Romanian]] letters [[Ș|Ș/ș]] and [[Ț|Ț/ț]] (S/s and T/t with [[comma below]]) were not supported (the presumption was that [[Ş|Ş/ş]] and [[Ţ|Ţ/ţ]] (with [[cedilla]]) would suffice as surrogates), however the layout was updated in 2019 to include the letters with the commas as well.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Korpela |first1=Jukka |title=Suomalainen monikielinen näppäimistö |trans-title=Finnish multilingual keyboard |url=https://jkorpela.fi/uusinappis.html#uusi |access-date=11 January 2023 |language=Finnish |archive-date=11 January 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230111090633/https://jkorpela.fi/uusinappis.html#uusi |url-status=live }}</ref>
{{Clear}}

===EurKEY===
{{Main|EurKEY}}
[[File:KB EurKEY.svg|thumb|upright 1.5|EurKEY keyboard layout]]
'''EurKEY''', a [[Multilingualism|multilingual]] keyboard layout intended for Europeans, programmers and translators which uses the US-standard QWERTY layout as base and adds a third and fourth layer available through the {{Key press|[[AltGr key|AltGr]]}} key and {{Key press|AltGr}}+{{Key press|Shift}}. These additional layers provide support for many [[Western Europe]]an languages, special characters, the Greek alphabet (via [[dead key]]s), and many common mathematical symbols.

Unlike most of the other QWERTY layouts, which are formal standards for a country or region, EurKEY is not an EU, EFTA or any national standard.

To address the ergonomics issue of QWERTY, [[EurKEY#EurKEY Colemak-DH|EurKEY Colemak-DH]] was also developed as a [[Colemak#Variants|Colmak-DH]] version with the EurKEY design principles.
{{Clear}}

==Alternatives==
{{See also|Latin-script non-QWERTY keyboards}}
Several alternatives to QWERTY have been developed over the years, claimed by their designers and users to be more efficient, intuitive, and ergonomic. Nevertheless, none have seen widespread adoption, partly due to the sheer dominance of available keyboards and training.<ref>{{multiref|1={{Cite periodical|last1=Gould|first1= Stephen Jay |year=1987|url=https://archive.org/details/bullyforbrontosa00step/page/59|title=The Panda's Thumb of Technology|work=[[Natural History (magazine)|Natural History]]|volume=96 |number=1|pages=14-23}}|2=Reprinted in ''[[Bully for Brontosaurus]]''. New York: W.W. Norton. 1992, pp. 59-75.}}</ref> Although some studies have suggested that some of these may allow for faster typing speeds,<ref>{{Cite periodical|first1=Paul |last1=David|title=Understanding the economics of QWERTY: the necessity of history|work=[[Economic]] history and the modern economist|year=1986}}</ref> many other studies have failed to do so, and many of the studies claiming improved typing speeds were severely methodologically flawed or deliberately biased, such as the studies administered by [[August Dvorak]] himself before and after [[World War II]].{{citation needed|date=December 2014}} Economists Stan Liebowitz and Stephen Margolis have noted that rigorous studies are inconclusive as to whether they actually offer any real benefits,<ref name="fable" >{{citation |journal=Journal of Law and Economics |last1=Liebowitz |first1=Stan |last2=Margolis |first2=Stephen E. |title=The Fable of the Keys |year=1990 |volume=33 |issue=1 |pages=1–26 |doi=10.1086/467198 |citeseerx=10.1.1.167.110 |s2cid=14262869 }}</ref> and some studies on keyboard layout have suggested that, for a skilled typist, layout is largely irrelevant{{Snd}}even randomized and alphabetical keyboards allow for similar typing speeds to QWERTY and Dvorak keyboards{{Snd}}and that [[switching costs]] always outweigh the benefits of further training with a keyboard layout a person has already learned.{{Citation needed|date=May 2021}}

The most widely used such alternative is the [[Dvorak keyboard layout]]; another alternative is [[Colemak]], which is based partly on QWERTY and is claimed to be easier for an existing QWERTY typist to learn while offering several supposed optimisations.<ref name="colemak-carpalx">{{cite web |url=http://mkweb.bcgsc.ca/carpalx/?colemak |title=Colemak – Popular Alternative |last=Krzywinski |first=Martin |work=Carpalx – keyboard layout optimizer |publisher=Canada's Michael Smith Genome Sciences Centre |access-date=2010-02-04 |archive-date=18 April 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190418212108/http://mkweb.bcgsc.ca/carpalx/?colemak |url-status=live}}</ref> Most modern computer operating systems support these and other alternative mappings with appropriate special mode settings, with some modern operating systems allowing the user to map their keyboard in any way they like, but few keyboards are made with keys labeled according to any other standard.

== Comparison to other keyboard input systems ==
{{Unreferenced section|date=December 2014}}
Comparisons have been made between Dvorak, Colemak, QWERTY, and other keyboard input systems, namely [[stenotype]] or its electronic implementations. However, [[stenotype]] is a fundamentally different system, which relies on [[phonetics]] and simultaneous key presses or [[Keyboard layout#Chorded keyboards and mobile devices|chords]]. Although [[Shorthand]] (or 'stenography') has long been known as a faster and more accurate typing system,{{citation needed|date=May 2021}} adoption has been limited, possibly due to the historically high cost of equipment, steeper initial learning curve, and low awareness of the benefits within primary education and in the general public.{{citation needed|date=May 2021}}

The first typed shorthand machines appeared around 1830, with English versions gaining popularity in the early 1900s.{{citation needed|date=May 2021}} Modern electronic [[stenotype]] machines or programs produce output in written language,{{citation needed|date=May 2021}} which provides an experience similar to other keyboard setups that immediately produce legible work.

==Half QWERTY==
{{multiple image|image1=Pearls 002.jpg|image2=Nokia E55 01.jpg|footer=The [[BlackBerry Pearl]] (2006) and [[Nokia E55]] (2009) are examples of devices that use a half or semi QWERTY keyboard}}
A half QWERTY keyboard is a combination of an alpha-numeric keypad and a QWERTY keypad, designed for [[mobile phones]].<ref name="gsmarena.com">{{cite web |url=http://www.gsmarena.com/glossary.php3?term=half-qwerty-keyboard |title=Half-QWERTY keyboard layout – Mobile terms glossary |publisher=GSMArena.com |access-date=2011-01-31 |archive-date=3 August 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100803173036/http://www.gsmarena.com/glossary.php3?term=half-qwerty-keyboard |url-status=live }}</ref> In a half QWERTY keyboard, two characters share the same key, which reduces the number of keys and increases the [[surface area]] of each key, useful for mobile phones that have little space for keys.<ref name="gsmarena.com"/> It means that 'Q' and 'W' share the same key and the user must press the key once to type 'Q' and twice to type 'W'.

==See also==
* {{anl|AZERTY}}
* {{anl|Colemak Keyboard}}
* {{anl|Dvorak keyboard layout}}
* {{anl|HCESAR}}
* {{anl|JCUKEN}}
* {{anl|Keyboard monument}}
* {{anl|Maltron keyboard}}
* {{anl|Path dependence}}
* {{anl|Repetitive strain injury}}
* {{anl|Text entry interface}}
* {{anl|Thumb keyboard}}
* {{anl|Touch typing}}
* {{anl|Velotype}}
* {{anl|Virtual keyboard}}

== Notes ==
{{Notelist}}

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|QWERTY keyboard layouts}}
{{Wiktionary|QWERTY}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20060113120201/http://www.eh.net/encyclopedia/article/puffert.path.dependence Article on QWERTY and Path Dependence from EH.NET's Encyclopedia]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20080527223912/http://www.ideafinder.com/history/inventions/qwerty.htm QWERTY Keyboard History]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20110708055946/http://www.bakwaash.com/2011/07/05/mobile-phone-termonologies/ QWERTY Keyboard in Mobiles]
* {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20160502220014/http://merelinc.com/art-and-design/qwerty-android-phones-amazing-buttons Android phones with QWERTY keyboards]}}

{{Typewriter}}
{{Latin script}}
{{Keyboard layouts}}
{{Keyboard keys}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Qwerty}}
<!-- [[Category:Typewriters]] removed, as article is already in sub-cat "Keyboard layouts" -->
[[Category:1873 introductions]]
[[Category:American inventions]]
[[Category:Computer keyboard types]]
[[Category:Latin-script keyboard layouts]]