Suppose you have purchased a MacBook with a U.S. keyboard layout, but are used to typing with AZERTY rather than QWERTY? Fortunately it is very easy to change your MacBook’s input so that the keyboard will be mapped to AZERTY rather than QWERTY.
A quick look at your new mac keyboard and a quick tip tutorial for best use. A quick look at your new mac keyboard and a quick tip tutorial for best use. Mac keyboard layout installation procedure for earlier versions of OS X. On any of the keyboard download pages on this site, download the keyboard you want to use by finding “Mac Keyboard” in the download table. Mac keyboard layouts are subtly different from PC keyboard layouts. On a typical PC keyboard, the bottom-left corner of the keyboard contains keys in this order: Ctrl, Windows, Alt. On a Mac keyboard, you’ll see the following layout: Control, Option, Command.
Simply go to the System Preferences, go to the Keyboard section and select the Input Sources tab:
2 However, this will not automatically redefine keys for you. Mac keyboards have both Control (Ctrl) and Cmd (Command) keys. 'Cmd' is equivalent to the 'Windows' key on modern PC keyboards, or what very old-timers call the 'Super' key. On a Mac running Ubuntu, or an Ubuntu PC with a Mac keyboard, Ctrl-C is still Ctrl-C. This is going to be useful if you’re using a non-Apple keyboard, such as the off-the-shelf standard 102-key variety, where the key layouts are different from Apple’s. The Keyboard settings also have a “Text” tab, which is great if you use shorthand for certain oft-used phrases.
Now click the plus symbol to add a national keyboard layout. Select France or Belgium accordingly to get the AZERTY layout:
Ensure the “display at login” box is ticked so you can type in AZERTY on the login screen too:
Now you can go to the menu bar and switch to your French/Belgium AZERTY layout:
If you can touch type, then it probably won’t be much of a problem to have the letters on the keyboard mismatching with what they actually type when you press them. However if you’d like them to match up, keyboard covers or stickers with the AZERTY layout can be purchased cheaply on Amazon:
French AZERTY keyboard stickers for Mac – red with transparent background$7.99USD
✔ French keyboard stickers of superb quality from a recognized European brand.
✔ New orange color and large lettering improves visibility on back-lit keyboards.
BUY NOW VIA AMAZON French AZERTY keyboard stickers for Mac – white or black with solid background$6.99USD
✔ Stickers are made of high-quality non-transparent – matt vinyl, thickness – 80mkn, typographical method.
✔ Available in either black or white colours.
Of course another option for having the keys match up is to try and pry them off your MacBook’s keyboard and rearrange them — however this is risky as you could easily break the mechasisms under the keys when trying to get them off. A keyboard cover is the safer option, and will also protect your MacBook from spilled food/drinks.
In the days before computers, typing French accents may have required the user to purchase a typewriter with the AZERTY layout rather than the QWERTY layout used throughtout the English speaking world. And if you’d like to use a keyboard the same way they do in France (to this day), an AZERTY keyboard cover can be purchased for your MacBook and the layout changed to AZERTY.
How to type French accents using normal QWERTY keyboard with English layout
If however you’d like to simply use the normal QWERTY layout but be able to type French accents when needed, this can be done using your Mac’s “option” modifier key. This is how it works:
No software needs to be installed or settings changed. Simply hold down the “option” key, press the key that corrolates with the accent you wish to type, then let go of the keys and press the letter you want to type. It can sound confusing when trying to explain it, but once you understand it is quite simple.
For example, if you wanted to type ” é ” then you’d press ” ` ” while holding down “option”, let go of all keys, then press “e”.
Here is how the different accents are typed:
Acute Accent ( é ): Press “e” while holding the “option” key, release both keys then press “e” again.
Grave Accent ( à, è, ù ): Press ” ` ” while holding down the “option” key, then press either “a”, “e” or “u” to insert a Grave accent above the appropriate letter.
Cedilla ( ç ): Press “c” while holding down the “option” key.
Circumflex ( â, ê, î, ô, ü ): Press “i” while holding down “option”, then press either “a”, “e”, “i”, “o” or “u”.
Tréma ( ë, ï, ü ): Press “u” while holding down “option”, then press either “e”, “i” or “u”.
OE Ligature ( œ ): Press “q” while holding down the “option” key.
To type a captial letter with the accent, hold down the shift key while typing the final letter.
Other French symbols you might find useful can be typed as follows:
Euro symbol (€): Press “option”, “shift” and “2”.
Quote marks ( » ): Press “option” and ” “ to type of the opening quote mark, and press “option”, “shift” and ” “ to type the closing quote mark.
Macbook Pro Keyboard Layout Picture
Looking to type French using an authentic AZERTY keyboard?
It’s easy to change your Mac’s keyboard layout to AZERTY in order to type French that way. However it may be confusing if the keys physically have the QWERTY layout printed on them. A great solution to this is to get AZERTY keyboard stickers which can be applied to your QWERTY keyboard — the stickers can be purchased cheaply via Amazon below:
French AZERTY keyboard stickers for Mac – red with transparent background$7.99USD
✔ French keyboard stickers of superb quality from a recognized European brand.
✔ New orange color and large lettering improves visibility on back-lit keyboards.