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

1. Open System Settings → Keyboard → click Edit… next to Input Sources.
2. Click +, search for Greek, and select Greek (not Greek Polytonic).
3. Click Add.

To switch between Greek and English: press Ctrl + Space (check System Settings → Keyboard → Keyboard Shortcuts → Input Sources if it is assigned elsewhere).

If your Mac has a Globe (fn) key, you can switch with that instead: in System Settings → Keyboard, set Press 🌐 key to to Change Input Source.

Setting up on Windows

1. Open Settings → Time & language → Language & region.
2. Click Add a language, search for Greek, and install it.
3. If Greek is not already listed under Keyboards, click the three dots next to Greek → Language options → Add a keyboard → Greek.

To switch: Windows key + Space cycles through keyboards. Left Alt + Shift also moves to the next input language.

Setting up on iPhone

1. Settings → General → Keyboard → Keyboards → Add New Keyboard.
2. Select Greek.

To switch: tap the globe to cycle keyboards, or hold it to pick from a list.

Setting up on Android (Gboard)

1. Tap any text box to open the keyboard, then tap the Settings gear at the top of the keyboard.
2. Tap Languages → Add keyboard, search for Greek and save.

On a Samsung phone using Samsung Keyboard instead: Samsung Keyboard settings → Languages and types → Manage input languages, then turn on Greek.

To switch: hold the space bar, or tap the globe key if Gboard shows one.

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The Greek keyboard layout

Greek letters sit on QWERTY keys, mostly matched by sound. The positions are standardised and used across all devices in Greece. The diagram below shows which key maps to which letter.

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.

Typing accents

The ; key is a dead key: it types nothing on its own and adds an accent to the next letter.

• Press ;, then a → ά. The same works for every vowel: έ, ή, ί, ό, ύ, ώ.
• Press Shift + ;, then i or y → ϊ or ϋ. This is the diaeresis (two dots).
• On Windows, Shift + w or AltGr + ;, then i or y, gives both marks at once: ΐ or ΰ. You will rarely need these.

On a phone, touch and hold a vowel and slide to the accented version. This works on iPhone and on Gboard.

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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.

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Drill: the tricky ones

A handful of Greek letters look like familiar Latin shapes but live on completely different keys.

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Cultural note: Greek can also be typed with Latin letters, a style called greeklish. This course uses Greek script throughout.