Once you’ve typed your Arabic text using an online keyboard, the next step is getting it into your word processing documents looking correct. Both Microsoft Word and Google Docs support Arabic fully, but a few settings make the experience much smoother.
Copying Arabic Text Into Word or Google Docs
Type your Arabic text at keyboard-arabic.org, then click Copy Text. In your Word or Google Doc, place your cursor where you want the text and press Ctrl+V (or Cmd+V on Mac). The Arabic text will paste correctly with Unicode encoding preserved.
Microsoft Word: Setting Right-to-Left Direction
By default, a Word paragraph is left-to-right. When you paste Arabic text, Word should auto-detect the language and switch direction, but if it doesn’t, you can set it manually. Select the Arabic text, then click the Right-to-Left paragraph direction button on the Home tab (it looks like a reversed ¶ symbol). Alternatively, use Ctrl+Shift+R as a shortcut.
For a whole document, go to Layout → Text Direction or set the document language to Arabic via Review → Language → Set Proofing Language.
Microsoft Word: Arabic Fonts
Most Arabic fonts that come with Windows work well in Word. Recommended options are Times New Roman (which has surprisingly good Arabic coverage for a mixed-script font), Arial, Tahoma, or for a more authentic Arabic feel, Traditional Arabic or Simplified Arabic (both included in Windows). For professional documents, consider downloading Noto Naskh Arabic or Amiri from Google Fonts.
Google Docs: Arabic Support
Google Docs handles Arabic automatically. When you paste Arabic text, it detects the RTL direction and displays it correctly. However, for the full document to be in Arabic layout (including paragraph alignment), go to Format → Paragraph styles → Normal text → Update ‘Normal text’ to match after right-aligning your text, or set the page direction via Format → Text → Right-to-left.
Font Size for Arabic in Documents
Arabic fonts tend to be optically smaller than Latin fonts at the same point size, partly because of the proportion of letters with ascenders/descenders. A common rule of thumb: if your body text is 12pt Latin, use 14pt for Arabic to achieve a similar visual size. Adjust based on the specific font you’re using.
Mixed Arabic and English Documents
When a document contains both Arabic and English text, Word and Google Docs handle bidirectional rendering automatically. Set the dominant language direction to match the majority of your content. Use text direction controls at the paragraph level for individual paragraphs that differ from the document’s default direction.
Printing Arabic Documents
Arabic documents print correctly on any standard printer as long as the font is embedded in the document. In Word, when saving as PDF, use File → Save As → PDF → Options → ISO 19005-1 compliant (PDF/A) to ensure fonts are embedded for maximum compatibility.