View source for QWERTZ

{{Short description|Keyboard layout}}
[[File:Latin keyboard layouts by country in Europe map.PNG|thumb|270px|Geographic distribution of keyboards in Europe: <br />
{{Legend|MediumSeaGreen|[[QWERTY]]}}
{{Legend|DarkOrange|QWERTZ}}
{{Legend|CornFlowerBlue|[[AZERTY]]}}
{{Legend|Yellow|National layout (Turkey FGĞIOD, Latvia ŪGJRMV, Lithuania ĄŽERTY)}}
{{Legend|#B3B3B3|Non-Latin alphabet}}]]
The '''QWERTZ''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|k|w|ɜːr|t|s}} {{respell|KWURTS}}) '''QWERTZU''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|k|w|ɜːr|t|s|u:}} {{respell|KWURT|soo}}), or '''QWERTZUIOP'''  [[Alphanumeric keyboard|keyboard]] is a [[typewriter]] and [[keyboard layout]] widely used in [[Central Europe|Central]] and [[Southeast Europe]]. The name comes from the first six letters at the top left of the keyboard: ({{keypress|[[Q]]}} {{keypress|[[W]]}} {{keypress|[[E]]}} {{keypress|[[R]]}} {{keypress|[[T]]}} {{keypress|[[Z]]}}).

== Overview ==
[[File:QWERTZ swiss.jpg|thumb|QWERTZ keyboard of old Swiss typewriter]]
The main difference between QWERTZ and [[QWERTY]] is that the positions of the {{Key press|Z}} and {{Key press|Y}} keys are switched (hence the nickname "'''kezboard'''"{{cn|date=April 2022}}). This change possibly was made for three major reasons:{{citation needed |date=November 2023 |reason=In fact, the reason for this change is not documented. Another (also uncodumented) story says that simply a change had to me made to circumvent patent issues.}}
*{{keypress|[[Z]]}} is a much more common letter than {{keypress|[[Y]]}} in German; the latter appears only in [[loanword]]s (mainly from [[Ancient Greek]]) and in proper names such as [[Meyer (surname)|Meyer]] (alongside [[Meier (surname)|Meier]] and various other variants).
* {{keypress|[[T]]}} and {{keypress|[[Z]]}} often appear next to each other in the [[German orthography]], and typewriter jamming would be reduced by placing the two keys so they could be typed with separate hands.
* {{keypress|[[Z]]}} and {{keypress|[[U]]}} are also next to each other. {{lang|de|Zu}}, meaning "to" in German, and also a very common prefix can also be written very easily.

Similar to many other non-English keyboards:
* Part of the keyboard is adapted to include language-specific characters, e.g. [[Umlaut (diacritic)|umlauted vowels]] (''ä'', ''ö'', ''ü'') in German, Austrian, and Swiss (German) keyboards; and frequently used [[Diacritic|accented letters]] (é, è, à) in Swiss (French) keyboards. 
* QWERTZ keyboards usually change the right {{Key press|Alt}} key into an {{Key press|Alt Gr}} key to access a third level of key assignments. This is necessary because the language-specific characters leave no room to have all the special symbols of [[ASCII]], needed by programmers among others, available on the first or second (shifted) levels without unduly increasing the size of the keyboard.
* The placements of some special symbols are changed when compared to the English (UK and US) versions of QWERTY.

Some of the special key inscriptions are often changed from an abbreviation to a graphical symbol (for example {{Key press|Caps Lock}} becomes a hollow arrow pointing up, {{Key press|Backspace}} becomes a left-pointing arrow). In German and Austrian keyboards, most of the other abbreviated labels are in German: {{Key press|Ctrl}} (control) is [[Calque|translated]] to its German equivalent "Strg" for ''{{lang|de|{{linktext|Steuerung}}}}'', and {{Key press|Delete}} is abbreviated "Entf" (''{{lang|de|{{linktext|entfernen}}}}''). {{Key press|Esc}} and {{Key press|Enter}} on the [[numeric keypad]] are not translated, however. (See: [[German keyboard layout|Key labels]])

==Variants==
The QWERTZ layout is widely used in German-speaking Europe as well as other [[Central Europe]]an and [[Balkans|Balkan]] countries that use the [[Latin script]]. While the core German-speaking countries use QWERTZ more or less exclusively, the situation among German-speakers in [[German-speaking Community of Belgium|East Belgium]], [[Luxembourg]], and [[South Tyrol]] is more varied. The other countries using QWERTZ were historically parts of [[Austria-Hungary]] and/or had strong German technological, economic and cultural influences, which caused them to use German typewriters with the QWERTZ layout.

===Albanian===
{{Main|Albanian keyboard layout}}
QWERTZ is the default keyboard layout for the [[Albanian language]] in [[Microsoft Windows]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Microsoft's implementation of the Albanian layout. |url=https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/globalization/keyboards/kbdal.html |website=microsoft.com |publisher=Microsoft |access-date=2020-08-09 |archive-date=2021-04-14 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210414133411/https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/globalization/keyboards/kbdal.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

===Austria and Germany===
{{Main|German keyboard layout}}
[[File:German-Keyboard-Layout-T2-Version1-large.png|thumb|420px|German keyboard layout “T2” according to DIN 2137:2012-06.<br />The characters shown in black are present in the traditional “T1” layout also.]]
The PC keyboard layout commonly used in [[Germany]] and [[Austria]] is based on one defined in a former edition (October 1988) of the German standard [[DIN]] 2137-2. The current edition DIN 2137:2012-06 standardizes it as the first (basic) one of three layouts, calling it “T1” (''{{lang|de|Tastaturbelegung 1}}'', or “keyboard layout 1”).

It employs [[dead key]]s to type accented characters like {{char|é}}, and the {{Key press|[[AltGr key|AltGr]]}} [[AltGr key|key]] to access characters in the [[ISO/IEC 9995#Levels and groups|third level]] (e.g. {{char|[}}, {{char|]}}, {{char|@}}, the [[euro sign]] {{char|€}}, or the micro- {{char|µ}}). The “T2” layout as specified in the 2012 edition of the German standard also uses the [[ISO/IEC 9995#Level and group selection|group selection]] to access special characters like the [[long s]], or foreign characters like “[[Æ]]” or  “[[Ə]]”.

====Sorbian====
[[Sorbian languages|Sorbian]] QWERTZ is practically identical to the German layout, but the additional [[Sorbian alphabet|Sorbian characters]] can be entered with dead keys; it has three different layouts: Standard, Legacy, and Extended. All are supported by Microsoft Windows (Windows 7 and later only).<ref>{{cite web|title=Microsoft Keyboard Layouts|url=https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/globalization/mt644793.aspx|publisher=Microsoft|access-date=26 May 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170713161234/https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/globalization/mt644793.aspx|archive-date=13 July 2017|url-status=dead}}</ref>
{{Clear}}

===Czech <span id="Czech (QWERTZ)"></span>===
[[File:Keyboard layout Czech.svg|thumb|420px|[[Czech language|Czech]] QWERTZ keyboard layout]]
The QWERTZ keyboard layout is commonly used in the [[Czech Republic]], but the [[QWERTY#Czech|QWERTY]] variant is an unofficial option. The characters from the [[American keyboard]] (@#$&\|[]{}<>^`~*) and some other characters and [[diacritic|diacritic signs]] (÷×¤€ßĐđŁł°˘˝·˛¸) that are missing on the Czech mechanical typewriter keyboard can be accessed with the AltGr key. The layout on the picture is supported by Microsoft Windows. The QWERTZ layout is more efficient for Czech, as the letter Z is slightly more common than the letter Y, but only 4% more efficient than QWERTY.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Je výhodnější rozložení kláves QWERTZ nebo QWERTY? |url=http://www.psani-vsemi-deseti.cz/2045/psani-na-stroji.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071214181948/http://www.psani-vsemi-deseti.cz/2045/psani-na-stroji.html |archive-date=14 Dec 2007 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

An internet poll in 2013 stated that 56% of Czech users used QWERTZ and 44% used QWERTY,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.zive.cz/clanky/bitva-o-klavesnici-qwerty-qwertz-i-naprosta-exotika/sc-3-a-170708/default.aspx|title=Bitva o klávesnici: QWERTY, QWERTZ i naprostá exotika|access-date=2020-07-22|archive-date=2020-07-22|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200722113203/https://www.zive.cz/clanky/bitva-o-klavesnici-qwerty-qwertz-i-naprosta-exotika/sc-3-a-170708/default.aspx|url-status=live}}</ref> but in 2020 57% of Czech users used QWERTY and 43% used QWERTZ.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.cnews.cz/klavesnice-qwerty-samsung-smartphony/|title=Používáte na mobilu rozložení qwerty? Samsung vás konečně přestal ignorovat|language=cs|date=18 February 2020|access-date=22 July 2020|archive-date=23 July 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200723070718/https://www.cnews.cz/klavesnice-qwerty-samsung-smartphony/|url-status=live}}</ref>
{{Clear}}

===Hungary===
[[File:HunWinKB.png|thumb|420px|[[Hungarian language|Hungarian]] keyboard layout]]
[[File:HunWinKB BAE.png|thumb|420px|Alternative [[Hungarian language|Hungarian]] keyboard layout]]
On some keyboards, the "{{Key press|[[ű]]}}" key is located to the left of the Enter key, while on others it is placed to the left of the backspace key (see the two pictures on the right).

An unusual feature of this Hungarian keyboard layout is the position of the 0 (zero): it is located to the left of the 1, so that most of the accented characters can be together on the right side of the keyboard.

The official layout is of type QWERTZ, which is therefore the most widely used keyboard layout in the country. [[QWERTY]] used to be widespread due to there not being a dedicated Hungarian layout commonly available for older computers, but since this is no longer an issue, virtually everyone uses QWERTZ in everyday computing.

On "[[Keyboard layout#Physical, visual, and functional layouts|ISO]]" keyboards (as in the first picture) and "BAE" keyboards (as in the second), the {{Key press|[[Í]]}} key is positioned on the key to the right of the left {{Key press|Shift}} key. To adapt to 101/104-key (ANSI) keyboards which do not have that key, the MS Windows QWERTY layout has put the Í on the usual key for the 0 (zero) while the 0 has been moved to that key's tertiary ({{Key press|AltGr}}) layer; on Macintosh computers, both layouts (QWERTY and QWERTZ) have this adaptation.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/globalization/mt644793 |title=Microsoft keyboard layouts |access-date=2017-01-16 |archive-date=2017-02-17 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170217142224/https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/globalization/mt644793 |url-status=live }}</ref>
{{Clear}}

===Poland===
[[File:KB Polish QWERTZ PN87 commons.svg|thumb|420px|Polish keyboard for typewriters according to PN-87]] 
[[File:KB Polish QWERTZ PN87 Mac svg.png|thumb|420px|Polish QWERTZ keyboard used on Macintosh]]
[[File:Klawiatura Polski 214.jpg|thumb|420px|Layout PL-214 used in MS-DOS, Windows and Linux]]
A variant of the QWERTZ keyboard has been used in [[Poland]], but [[QWERTY]] keyboards have been dominant since the early 1990s.
{{Clear}}

=== Romanian ===
{{main|Romanian keyboard layout}}
[[File:KB Romanian text.svg|thumb|420px|The Romanian (default) keyboard from Windows 3.1 CE to XP/2003]]
The standard keyboard layout as established by the standard SR 13392:2004 is QWERTY. However, a Romanian QWERTZ keyboard (corresponding to older standards) was set up on Windows 3.1 and renamed "Romanian (Legacy)" on all versions since Windows Vista, because of the introduction of the two standard QWERTY layouts with the correct diacritics. Since it was devised before the disunification of "Ș" ([[S-comma]]) and "Ț" ([[T-comma]]) with "Ş" (S-[[cedilla]]; used in Turkic languages) and "Ţ" (T cedilla), the characters with cedilla were used in the layout (and these are still used in the default [[Windows-1250|1250 encoding]]). In 2012, a version with commas was made and it is available as a custom layout to be installed by the interested end-user.<ref>{{cite web|author=Cristian Adam|url=http://cristianadam.blogspot.ro/2012/11/aranjamente-de-tastatura-romaneasca.html|language=ro|title=The Română (Moștenit) keyboard|date=27 November 2012|access-date=27 November 2012|archive-date=28 August 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150828022635/http://cristianadam.blogspot.ro/2012/11/aranjamente-de-tastatura-romaneasca.html|url-status=live}}</ref>
{{Clear}}

=== Slovak <span id="Slovak (QWERTZ)"></span> ===
[[File:KB Slovak.svg|thumb|420px|[[Slovak language|Slovak]] QWERTZ keyboard layout]]
Typewriters in Slovakia have used the QWERTZ layout quite similar to the layout used on the Czech typewriters. Slovak QWERTZ layout differs from the [[#Czech (QWERTZ)|Czech one]] in using the letter {{Key press|ľ}} instead of the Czech {{Key press|ě}} on the same position, also the letter {{Key press|ť}} is on the position of Czech {{Key press|ř}} and the letter {{Key press|ô}} is on the position of Czech {{Key press|ů}}. There are 2 more keys that differ in these 2 languages: Slovak {{Key press|ä (}} key replaces the Czech {{Key press|( )}} key and Slovak {{Key press|ň )}} key replaces the Czech {{Key press|' ¨}} key. There are 17 characters from [[American keyboard]] (@#$&\|[]{}<>^`~*') that are missing on the Slovak keyboard because of the presence of the Slovak letters (ľščňťžôúáíýéä°´ˇ§). Users can access them with the {{Key press|AltGr}} key, however, the position of these characters varies between different operating systems. Besides the QWERTZ keyboard layout inherited from the typewriter era, QWERTY layout is also used by computer users in Slovakia. The only difference is that the {{Key press|Y}} and {{Key press|Z}} keys are swapped.
{{Clear}}

===South Slavic Latin===
[[File:KB Slovene.svg|thumb|420px|[[Serbo-Croatian Latin]] and [[Slovene language|Slovene]] keyboard layout]]
The [[Serbo-Croatian Latin]] and [[Slovene language|Slovene]] keyboard layout has five additional special characters Č, Ć, Ž, Š and Đ. This keyboard layout was standardized in the 1980s in [[Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia|Yugoslavia]]. Characters Ć and Đ are only part of [[Gaj's Latin alphabet]] but not part of the [[Slovene alphabet]], nevertheless they remain in Slovenian keyboards (for economic reasons, for historical reasons and for writing words in the closely related South Slavic languages). The Ž is on the right side of the Ć key on keyboards which have a longer [[backspace]] key, and the usual inverted L-shaped Enter key. The layout makes heavy use of the [[AltGr]] (right Alt) key for non-alphabetic characters and [[dead key]] combinations for adding diacritics to Latin characters. It is possible to type [[Albanian language|Albanian]], [[Czech language|Czech]], [[German language|German]], [[Hungarian language|Hungarian]], [[Italian language|Italian]], [[Polish language|Polish]], [[Romanian language|Romanian]], and [[Slovak language| Slovak]] using only the Serbo-Croatian keyboard layout.

There is a proposed variant of new Slovene keyboard layout, which would remove Ć and Đ from top layout and add @ instead. The command keys would also become translated into Slovene and some minor second level layout changes would be made.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.tbtvn.org/VBLienQuanTBT/QCKT%20nuoc%20ngoai/SVN82(slovene).pdf |title=SLOVENSKI STANDARD oSIST 1044| date=February 2009 |access-date=14 September 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141024170447/http://www.tbtvn.org/VBLienQuanTBT/QCKT%20nuoc%20ngoai/SVN82(slovene).pdf |archive-date=24 October 2014 }}</ref>

For Serbian, there is also a [[keyboard layout#Serbian (Cyrillic)|Cyrillic keyboard variant]], in which {{Key press|Q}} and {{Key press|W}} are replaced with Љ (Lj) and Њ (Nj) respectively.

However, the [[Apple keyboards]] for Croatian are QWERTY.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201794 |title=How to identify keyboard localizations - Apple Support |access-date=2018-11-24 |archive-date=2018-07-04 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180704213826/https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201794 |url-status=live }}</ref>

=== {{anchor|EU keyboard}} Swiss (German, French, Italian, Romansh), Liechtenstein, Luxembourg===
[[File:KB Swiss.svg|thumb|420px|Swiss keyboard layout]]
The layout of the Swiss keyboard is established by the national standard SN 074021:1999. It is designed to allow easy access to frequently used accents of the French, German and Italian languages and major currency signs. It was designed from the beginning for usage with multiple languages (not only those spoken in Switzerland) in mind.<ref>{{cite book |title=Informationstechnologie - Anordnung der alphanumerischen Tastenfelder für Geräte der Daten- und Textverarbeitung |trans-title=Information technology - Arrangement of alphanumeric keypads for data and word processing devices |date=1 Jan 1999 |volume=SN 074021:1999-01 |publisher=Schweizerische Normen-Vereinigung (SNV) |language=gsw |url=https://connect.snv.ch/en/sn-074021-1999 |access-date=28 December 2022 |archive-date=28 December 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221228131109/https://connect.snv.ch/en/sn-074021-1999 |url-status=live }}</ref> The difference between the Swiss German ({{sc|sg}}) and the Swiss French ({{sc|sf}}) layout is that the German variety has the German umlauts (ä, ö, ü) accessible in the unshifted state, while the French version has some French accented characters (é, à, è) accessible in the unshifted state. The actual keyboards have the keys engraved for both variations; the difference is only in the driver (software) settings. In the latest versions of Windows there are also separately listed driver settings for Swiss Italian and Swiss [[Romansh language|Romansh]], but they correspond to the Swiss French and Swiss German layout, respectively. In Mac OS X 10.6 and Linux, only Swiss French and Swiss German are available, and on iPadOS, the only layout for Switzerland is Swiss German.

As Swiss German does not make use of the [[ß|esszett]] (ß) [[typographical ligature|ligature]], on Windows its keyboard lacks the symbol in contrast to the German and Austrian QWERTZ layouts. Linux and macOS typically assign ß to {{Key press|Alt Gr|s}} and {{Key press|Option|s}} respectively. While the German keyboard uses [[German keyboard layout#Key labels|German labels for its keys]] (e.g. {{Keypress|Strg}} instead of {{Keypress|Ctrl}}), Swiss keyboards use the English abbreviations as a "neutral" solution to avoid favouring or excluding any of the national [[languages of Switzerland]].{{cn|reason=Is that the reason? Quotation marks require a quotation.|date=March 2025}}

Unlike the Windows keyboard layouts used in France and Belgium, the Swiss layout does not have a key dedicated to the accented letter “ù”. The MacOS layout typically assigns this letter to {{Key press|Option|u}}.

[[Luxembourg]] does not have a keyboard layout of its own. Public education and administration use the Swiss-French keyboard which also represents the Microsoft Windows standard keyboard layout for Luxembourg, while some in the private sector prefer the [[AZERTY#Belgian|Belgian AZERTY]] or American QWERTY layouts.{{Citation needed|date=February 2012}} [[Liechtenstein]] also use the Swiss German layout without an ß character.

==See also==
{{Commons category|QWERTZ keyboard layouts}}
*[[AZERTY]]
*[[QWERTY]]
*[[QZERTY]]
*[[German keyboard layout]]
*[[Blickensderfer typewriter]]
*[[Dvorak keyboard layout]]
*[[Neo (keyboard layout)|Neo]], an optimized German keyboard layout
*[[Enigma machine]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{Latin script}}
{{Keyboard layouts}}

[[Category:Computer keyboard types]]
[[Category:Latin-script keyboard layouts]]