The standard Arabic keyboard layout is officially defined as ISO/IEC 9995-3 and is the layout used on physical Arabic keyboards sold throughout the Arab world. If you’re learning to type Arabic efficiently, memorising this layout will dramatically increase your speed.
The Standard Arabic–QWERTY Mapping
Here is the full letter-by-letter mapping for the main keyboard rows:
Top Row (Q–P)
| Latin Key | Arabic Letter | Name |
|---|---|---|
| Q | ض | Dad |
| W | ص | Sad |
| E | ث | Tha |
| R | ق | Qaf |
| T | ف | Fa |
| Y | غ | Ghayn |
| U | ع | Ayn |
| I | ه | Ha |
| O | خ | Kha |
| P | ح | Ha (heavy) |
Middle Row (A–L)
| Latin Key | Arabic Letter | Name |
|---|---|---|
| A | ش | Shin |
| S | س | Sin |
| D | ي | Ya |
| F | ب | Ba |
| G | ل | Lam |
| H | ا | Alef |
| J | ت | Ta |
| K | ن | Nun |
| L | م | Mim |
Bottom Row (Z–/)
| Latin Key | Arabic Letter | Name |
|---|---|---|
| Z | ئ | Ya with hamza above |
| X | ء | Hamza |
| C | ؤ | Waw with hamza |
| V | ر | Ra |
| B | لا | Lam-Alef (ligature) |
| N | ى | Alef maqsura |
| M | ة | Ta marbuta |
Shift Key Characters
Holding Shift activates a second set of characters. Key examples: Shift+Z gives the Arabic semicolon (؛), Shift+X gives the Arabic question mark (؟), Shift+C gives the Arabic comma (،), and Shift+V gives alef with madda (آ).
Practise with Our Interactive Keyboard
The best way to learn the layout is hands-on practice. Open the keyboard-arabic.org virtual keyboard and try typing common Arabic words. Each virtual key displays both the Arabic character and its Latin equivalent, so you can build muscle memory gradually.