Apple computers have specific settings for the Mac operating system. But when working from the first minutes, the user faces many problems. The keyboard layout on a MacBook is slightly different from the usual button layout on devices with the Windows operating system. Therefore, the algorithm for changing the language on a MacBook using the keyboard will be different.
Switch layout from menu bar
The right side of the macOS menu bar at the top of the screen plays a role similar to the system tray area in Windows. Here system information about time, date, network connection and the keyboard layout we need is displayed.
Language switching icon on the top menu bar
The current input language is indicated by the location country flag. The international keyboard, with the standard English QWERTY layout, is designated by the letter "A" by default. For convenience, it can be replaced with the flag of an English-speaking country. Clicking on the layout icon displays the pop-up menu shown in the screenshot, containing four sections:
- switch input language, the current one is indicated by a tick;
- display the on-screen keyboard or panel for typing emoticons and additional Unicode characters;
- highlighting the current layout; the name specified in the first paragraph will be displayed next to the flag in the menu bar;
- section of the operating system settings responsible for assigning keyboard parameters.
Input Sources Menu
By calling this menu, you can use the first section to change the input language from English to Russian and vice versa.
How to change language on MacOS
When you first start your Mac OS device, it detects your geographic location and then prompts you to select the appropriate option for your operating system. Most often, the American layout is installed by default.
Switch layout from menu bar
At the top of the screen there is a menu bar that acts as the system tray in Windows. Among the numerous icons there is a switch that allows you to change the layout and keyboards on the MacBook - the country flag. It is this that determines the selected package.
When you click on the icon, a menu pops up where you can change the language or perform other actions.
- The current layout is indicated by a check mark.
- Responsible for displaying a screen version of the input source and a built-in set of emoticons.
- Using the third item, you change the display of the icon on the screen. A designation of the current layout will appear next to the flag.
- When clicking on the last item, the user will be taken to the settings section.
When you click on the first section, the layout changes. The sequence of actions on how to switch the language on a MacBook is simple. A simple user can handle it.
Switching layouts using hotkeys
A faster and more convenient way to switch keyboard layout on Mac is to use hot combinations. This option is preferred by most modern users.
To change the language on a MacBook, you need to simultaneously press “Command-Space”.
In the latest version of MAC OS, due to the appearance of voice assistants, you need to use “Control” instead of “Command”. To understand how to change the keyboard language on a MacBook, you should check both.
Switching layouts using hotkeys
Using keyboard shortcuts is a faster and more convenient way to switch layouts. This option is used by most users. On all Mac computers running macOS Sierra or a newer version of the OS, you can use the keyboard shortcut Control + Space to switch the input language. In the screenshot they are indicated in red. In earlier versions of macOS released before 2016, the Command button was used instead of Control.
Keys used in macOS to change layouts
After checking these two standard keyboard shortcuts, we determine which option is used on our computer.
Using Punto Switcher to switch input sources
To switch the language on the keyboard, they use not only the standard tools that the OS offers. Third-party software, such as Pundo Swither, also helps you switch the layout.
On a note! It's designed to automatically change as you type words, but the app has other useful features.
Using simple tips for setting input source parameters, you can adjust your new Apple device to suit you, and quickly change the language on your MacBook if necessary.
Changing hotkey combinations
The change in standard keyboard shortcuts described above is caused by the appearance of the Siri voice assistant in macOS. To quickly call it, Cupertino engineers reserved the Command + Space combination in the system. This is where the force of habit comes into play. Some will agree with the keyboard shortcut proposed by Apple, while others will want to return everything to the way it was before. If you belong to the second category of users, go to the keyboard settings section. To do this, you can use the top line menu item described earlier or open general system settings:
- Select the section indicated by the frame in the screenshot.
Keyboard options in system settings - Having opened the keyboard settings parameters, in the top menu of the window, select the tab shown with the number “1”. On the left side we find the “Input Sources” section. On the right side of the window, select the item responsible for changing the input source. By clicking on the area indicated by the arrow, we activate the window with the keyboard shortcut. The screenshot shows how to change the standard system combination to the one previously used in macOS.
Changing the keyboard shortcut
The language does not switch the first time, what should I do?
The latest Mac OS update has caused a lot of complaints from users that the switching does not happen with a single press of hot shortcuts. Changing the language on a macbook occurs only after the second time. It’s worth figuring out how to quickly change the language in this case.
Important! The main reason for this situation is that there is a combination conflict.
The main innovation of the OS is the addition of the Siri voice assistant; it is called by default by pressing the Command + “space” hotkeys. A new software product causes conflict situations.
They solve the problem in two ways: you will need to change the language and keyboard layout on the MacBook or the voice assistant. How to change the language and hot combinations was described above.
Eliminating combination conflicts in settings
In order to find the problematic combination and understand how to switch the language on a MacBook, the OS developers came up with an alert system. On the left side of the window, you should pay attention to the presence of exclamation marks next to the desired command. They are the ones who indicate the problem. In this case, repeating combinations will be listed in the right window.
In order to switch the language quickly, you need to select a combination that is not used for other commands.
Changing Siri call settings
After adding the Siri voice assistant, the developer assigned it the “Command-Space” combination. The OS uses the same key combination to change the language, so a conflict occurs.
If you do not plan to use this application, then the easiest way is to disable it altogether in the settings.
- Find Siri in system settings.
- On the right side there is a toggle for “Enable Siri.” If you remove the icon, the application will not work at all.
- Here they also change the set of buttons that call the voice assistant. The new value is set opposite the “Keyboard shortcut” line.
If you do not plan to use Siri on an ongoing basis, then you should be prompted to assign any other combination.
Using Caps Lock to change layout
The macOS operating system provides another option for changing the layout. Some may find it even more convenient than the standard methods discussed above.
In the keyboard settings, switch to the “Input Sources” section. The arrow indicates a menu item that activates switching by pressing the Caps Lock key. By checking the box, you can select the desired language with one key.
Activating Caps Lock to switch input language
Switching to uppercase characters will not go away. A simple press of the key once will change the layout, and pressing and holding allows you to enter in capital letters. Working in uppercase, as usual, will be indicated by the green indicator built into the Caps Lock button.
Vlad Gorokhovsky
Editor. I write about software and gadgets that interest me. I'm making a KeyKey keyboard trainer for Mac.
Vlad Gorokhovsky
macOS has a strange feature - by default, the system does not assign a shortcut to changing the keyboard layout, which makes many beginners literally tear their hair out! Luckily, changing your keyboard layout on a Mac is very easy.
Changing the layout occurs using the keyboard shortcut Cmd Space, but often this shortcut is assigned to calling the Spotlight search bar. To fix the situation, disable two shortcuts for Spotlight:
▸ System Preferences ▸ Keyboard ▸ Keyboard Shortcuts
Turn off keyboard shortcuts for Spotlight, or replace them with others
Now go to the Keyboards and Input menu, and change the shortcut to change the input language from Option Spacebar to Cmd Spacebar.
Specify the correct shortcut to change the layout.
Note the difference between selecting the previous input source and the next one. If you press Cmd Spacebar, then the Mac layout will change to the previous one, Cmd Spacebar again and it will again become what it was before. This way you will only switch between two languages.
Those who have more than two languages will have to use the combination Option Cmd Space. Therefore, I advise you to swap these key combinations if you often use three or more languages.
Adding an additional language pack
In some cases, two languages installed in the operating system may not be enough. For example, you need to write a letter in Spanish. Some of the letters of its alphabet contain additional diacritics that are not found in the standard Latin layout.
- Open the keyboard settings. Go to the “Input Sources” section. Use the “+” symbol indicated by the arrow to open the dialog for adding keyboard layouts to the system.
Adding a new language - The left side of the pop-up window lists the language packs available for installation. We find the one we need among them. Having selected it, we see the layout on the right side. Indicated by the number “2” is standard for Apple computers. We mark it and complete the action by clicking the “Add” button.
Selecting a layout for a new language
Possible problems
If you can only change the language on your MacBook using hotkeys the second time, then you are faced with a problem with the latest operating system update. Switching layouts by double-clicking is extremely inconvenient. This is due to the fact that the new version of the OS has added the Siri assistant, which is called by the same combination of buttons. To solve the problem, you can change the key combination with which you can change the layout on the MacBook, or change the button combination for Siri itself. To do this, go to system settings and select the Siri section. In the “Keyboard shortcut” column, select the “Customize” line. Here you can completely disable the voice assistant, or reassign buttons for quick calls.
How to switch layout with three languages installed
After installing an additional layout into the system, the user may encounter an unpleasant surprise. Changing layouts using hotkeys is performed only between the last two languages. Switching must be done using the drop-down menu on the top line. However, before sinning on the imperfection of the OS, let's figure out what's going on.
Using the OSD Menu
The standard switching option will work, but slightly differently. If you hold down the Command key and then press the space bar, an additional menu will appear on the screen with a list of installed languages.
OSD menu for switching layouts
Each repeated press of the spacebar leads to a sequential search of layouts.
Advanced layout change option
Not everyone likes the option of switching using the on-screen menu. Meanwhile, macOS already provides a ready-made solution. There is a special combination for quickly changing layouts when installing three or more language packs:
- Open the OS settings and go to the keyboard settings section.
- We find the tab in which we changed the hot keys. The number “three” indicates a keyboard shortcut that allows you to change the input language without displaying an additional menu.
Input source selection menu
When using the combination indicated in the screenshot, a sequential transition between language packs is performed, accompanied by a change of flags in the top line of the system menu.
Setting up language change
- Find the apple icon at the top left and click on it. Select “System Settings” from the drop-down list.
- In the window that appears, we see the “Language and Region” shortcut, click.
- A window appears where in the “Preferred languages” item there is a list of options that can be switched using keyboard commands.
- If Russian (or other required) language is not there, you need to click on the “plus” and add it.
- If you set Russian as the default language, all Mac OS interface elements will be displayed in it. But in order for this function to take effect, you must restart the computer.
- We check whether the hot keys work: Cmd+space and Ctrl+space.
Select a layout from your preferred list or install a new one
Replacing the Russian Apple keyboard with a PC layout
A feature of the Apple keyboard that not all users can adapt to is the order in which punctuation marks are entered. The period and comma in the standard Russian layout are located in the number row. In the familiar PC keyboard used on Windows computers, these punctuation marks are entered from the bottom letter line.
We go to the keyboard settings and perform actions similar to adding an additional language pack. Having selected the Russian language, add the “Russian - PC” layout. The resulting changes are visible on the keyboard thumbnail. After the letter “u” we have a dot. When switching case, use the same key to enter a comma.
Replacing the Russian language layout
The only unpleasant moment is the displacement of the letter “е” from the middle letter row to the upper left corner of the keyboard. Considering how little it's used it won't be too much of a problem when typing.
How to switch language on MacBook (on Mac OS)
New users of Apple computers, after purchasing them and starting to use them, often encounter a number of problems - after all, the operating systems Mac OS and Windows (from which, basically, everyone switches to Mac) are not exactly the same, and in some ways they are even very different.
A common problem for a newbie to Mac OS that a user encounters almost immediately after starting to work on the computer is how to switch the language on your brand new MacBook?
Content.
Out of habit, when pressing Shift+Alt, the user realizes that nothing happens. And even Shift-Ctrl doesn't help. It is not surprising that the language does not switch, because Mac OS has slightly different function keys, as well as their combinations. For example, the main key on a Mac is command , also known as cmd , which is much more functional than the similar one in Windows. And it will also help us change the keyboard layout.
How to change key assignments on a Mac keyboard?
Go to the "Keyboard" section and expand the "Keyboard Shortcuts" menu. It is with the help of this menu that it is easiest to select new system actions for reassigned keys. The given button here will be shown by the new command you selected in the 4th step.
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