How to Add a Keyboard Language or Layout on Mac

Typing in a second language on a Mac doesn't need new software — every layout macOS supports is already installed, waiting behind one + button. Adding an input source takes a minute; the more interesting decisions are which layout variant to pick and how you'll switch. Here's the whole flow for macOS 13 Ventura, 14 Sonoma, and 15 Sequoia.

Add an input source

1. Open System Settings → Keyboard.
2. Under Text Input, click Edit… next to Input Sources.
3. Click the + button at the bottom left of the sheet.
4. Pick the language in the left column, then a specific layout or input method on the right — the preview shows you exactly where each key lands.
5. Click Add.

The moment a second source exists, macOS turns on the Input menu in your menu bar automatically — the small flag or glyph that shows the active layout and switches between them. Adding more sources repeats the same steps; there's no practical limit.

Layout vs. language: what to pick in the right column

For many languages you'll see several candidates, and the differences matter:

• Regional layouts (German, French — AZERTY, Spanish) rearrange keys the way physical keyboards in that country are printed. Right if you learned to type there.
• ABC-based variants (like ABC – QWERTY variants for some languages) keep Latin keys where a US keyboard has them and add the language's extras via Option combinations. Right if you type the language occasionally on US hardware.
• Input methods (Pinyin for Chinese, Romaji for Japanese, Korean 2-Set) are more than layouts — they convert what you type into characters, with candidate windows. These add their own item and settings to the Input menu.

Not sure? Add both candidates — sources are free to add and remove — and try each in a text field with the Keyboard Viewer open.

Switch between your layouts

• Ctrl+Space — jump to the previous input source; the fast toggle between your main two.
• Ctrl+Option+Space — cycle through all sources in order, for three or more.
• The Input menu — click the flag/glyph in the menu bar and pick any source directly; slower, but visual.
• The Globe key — set Press 🌐 key to in Keyboard settings to Change Input Source and each tap cycles layouts.

Both shortcuts are reassignable under Keyboard → Keyboard Shortcuts → Input Sources if they collide with an app you use.

Remove a layout (and the flag with it)

Undoing everything is the same sheet in reverse: System Settings → Keyboard → Edit…, select the source you no longer want, click −. With only one source left, the Input menu disappears from the menu bar unless you keep Show Input menu in menu bar switched on deliberately. If your typing ever starts producing the wrong characters out of nowhere, check that menu bar icon first — an accidental Ctrl+Space is the usual culprit, and one more press puts you back.

Two quality-of-life settings live in the same Edit sheet and are worth flipping while it's open. Automatically switch to a document's input source makes macOS remember which layout each document was using and restore it when you click back — the difference between fluent bilingual work and retyping the first three words of every reply. And for setups that pair ABC with a non-Latin input method, Use the Caps Lock key to switch to and from ABC turns the least-used key on the board into a one-tap language flip. Both are single checkboxes, both undo by unchecking, and both only make sense once this guide's main step — a second input source — is in place.

Make switching automatic

Once two languages are in play, let macOS remember which one belongs to each document — the per-app input source guide covers the single checkbox that does it.