Setting Up Your Greek Keyboard
By the end of this lesson, you will have Greek input working on your device and you will be able to find any Greek letter on the keyboard without looking at a reference chart.
Before you can type Greek you’ll need to set up your device to use a Greek keyboard.
Which layout to choose
When you add Greek input, you may see two options: Greek and Greek Polytonic. Always choose the one labelled Greek.
Greek Polytonic is an older system used for Ancient Greek texts, with multiple accent marks above vowels. Modern Greek dropped it in 1982. If you pick Polytonic by mistake, the keyboard will behave unexpectedly. This course uses Modern Greek throughout, so the standard Greek layout is the right one.
Setting up on Mac
- Open System Settings → Keyboard → click Edit… next to Input Sources.
- Click +, search for Greek, and select Greek (not Greek Polytonic).
- Click Add.
To switch between Greek and English: press Ctrl + Space (check System Settings → Keyboard → Keyboard Shortcuts → Input Sources if it is assigned elsewhere).
Setting up on Windows
- Open Settings → Time & language → Language & region.
- Click Add a language, search for Greek, and install it.
- Click the three dots next to Greek → Language options → Add a keyboard → Greek.
To switch: Windows key + Space cycles through keyboards. Alt + Shift flips directly between your last two.
Setting up on iPhone
- Settings → General → Keyboard → Keyboards → Add New Keyboard.
- Select Greek.
To switch: tap the globe icon on the keyboard, or swipe the space bar left or right.
Setting up on Android (Gboard)
- Settings → General management → Language and input → On-screen keyboard → Gboard → Languages → Add keyboard.
- Search for Greek and save.
To switch: tap the globe icon on the Gboard bar, or hold the space bar.
The Greek keyboard layout
The Greek keyboard does not follow QWERTY. Each key produces a Greek letter and the positions are standardised and used across all devices in Greece. The diagram below shows which key maps to which letter.
Highlighted keys are special — hover for details
A few things worth noticing:
- The q key produces the Greek question mark (
;), called the erotimatiko. It looks identical to a Latin semicolon. - The w key produces ς — the special form of sigma used only at the end of a word.
- The ; (semicolon) key types the tonos (
΄), the accent mark placed over the stressed vowel. - Some keys will feel surprisingly logical: a → α, e → ε, i → ι, o → ο, m → μ. Others will not.
You do not need to memorise the layout right now. Muscle memory builds through use, and the drill below will start that process.
Drill: type the letters
Switch your keyboard to Greek, then work through the letters below. Each one appears with a key hint showing which physical key to press. You are not expected to recognise these letters yet, the goal is to find the right key and type it.
Keyboard drill
Each Greek letter is shown with the key to press. You do not need to know these letters yet — just follow the hint and build muscle memory.
Drill: the tricky ones
A handful of Greek letters look like familiar Latin shapes but live on completely different keys.
Keyboard drill
These letters look like familiar Latin shapes but live on unexpected keys. Drill them until the mapping feels automatic.
Cultural note: In Greece, people type on their phones in Greek script, not in Latin letters. Sending a message in transliterated Greek (writing Greek words with Latin letters, sometimes called greeklish) is considered informal and a little old-fashioned, associated with the days before phones had proper Greek keyboard support. Learning to type in Greek script puts you in step with how Greeks actually communicate.