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“Keyboard layout” means two completely different things, and most confusion about the subject comes from mixing them up. It can mean which letters sit where, as in QWERTY or Dvorak. Or it can mean the physical shape of the keys, as in ANSI or ISO. You can change one without touching the other, and the answer you need depends entirely on which you meant.
⚡ Quick answer: Character layouts decide which letter each key types (QWERTY, AZERTY, QWERTZ, Dvorak, Colemak). Physical layouts decide the shape and count of the keys (ANSI, ISO, JIS). Size layouts decide how many keys there are at all (full-size, TKL, 75%, 65%, 60%). Most people asking about “keyboard layouts” want the first; most people buying keycaps need the second.
Part 1: character layouts
This is the arrangement of letters. It is software, not hardware: you can switch your operating system to Dvorak right now and your QWERTY keyboard will start typing Dvorak, with the printed legends simply becoming wrong.
QWERTY, and the myth about it
QWERTY comes from Christopher Latham Sholes’ typewriter work in the 1870s, commercialised by Remington. It is named for the first six letters on the top row.
The popular story is that QWERTY was designed to slow typists down so the machine would not jam. That is not quite right, and the distinction matters. Early typewriters used metal typebars that swung up to strike the paper, and bars for letters frequently typed together would clash if they sat adjacent. The arrangement separates common letter pairs so their typebars approach from different angles. The goal was avoiding mechanical collisions, not reducing speed. Speed was a side effect at worst, and the layout was also shaped by the needs of telegraph operators transcribing Morse.
The practical consequence is that a constraint from 1870s mechanical linkages is still governing where your fingers go, on hardware that has no typebars and cannot jam.
The national variants
| Layout | Used in | What changes |
|---|---|---|
| QWERTY | UK, US, most of the world | The baseline |
| AZERTY | France, Belgium | A and Q swap, Z and W swap, M moves beside L, accented characters get direct access |
| QWERTZ | Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Central Europe | Y and Z swap, because Z is far more common in German than Y. Umlauts get dedicated keys |
| Others | Turkey, Nordics, Arabic-speaking countries and more | Local characters take priority, sometimes dual-script legends |
The pattern behind all of these is simple: each variant moves the letters that particular language uses most into easier positions, and finds room for characters English does not need. That is why a French keyboard is not a QWERTY keyboard with a few keys shuffled for fun, and why importing a keyboard from another country is genuinely inconvenient rather than a novelty.
The alternative layouts: Dvorak, Colemak, Workman
Dvorak (August Dvorak, 1936) puts all the vowels on the home row under the left hand and the most common consonants under the right, so ordinary English words alternate hands and stay near the resting position.
Colemak (2006) is the pragmatic option. It changes only 17 keys from QWERTY and deliberately leaves Z, X, C and V in place so copy and paste shortcuts still work with one hand. That makes the transition far less painful than Dvorak.
Workman (2010) optimises for finger travel rather than pure home-row frequency, on the argument that not all home-row positions are equally comfortable to reach.
⚠️ Do they actually make you faster? Be sceptical of the claims. The most-cited evidence for Dvorak’s superiority came from studies conducted by Dvorak himself, and independent attempts to reproduce large gains have generally failed. What alternative layouts do reliably deliver is less finger travel, which many people find more comfortable over long sessions. Comfort is a legitimate reason to switch. A promise of dramatic speed gains is not.
The honest cost: expect several weeks at reduced speed, and expect to be slower on every other keyboard you touch, including your phone’s on-screen one if you switch that too. For most people that trade is not worth it. For someone typing all day with hand discomfort, it can be.
Why alphabetical layouts are not used
An ABCDEF arrangement sounds intuitive and performs badly. Common English letter pairs end up scattered arbitrarily, so finger travel increases and hand alternation disappears. It only helps one specific group: people who hunt and peck and have never learned any layout, who can find letters faster by alphabet than by memory.
That is the reasoning behind the occasional exam question about which layout suits a non-touch-typist doing data entry from a document. If the user must look at the keyboard anyway, findability beats efficiency. For anyone who touch-types, it is the worst of both worlds.
Part 2: physical layouts, ANSI vs ISO vs JIS
This is the part that affects what you can buy. Physical layout is about the shape and number of keys, and it is fixed in the hardware.
ANSI · US standard, 104 keys
Wide horizontal Enter. Backslash sits above it as a single key. Left shift is full width. This is what most enthusiast keycap sets are made for.
ISO · UK and European, 105 keys
Tall inverted-L Enter spanning two rows. An extra key appears beside the left shift, which is therefore shorter. Backslash moves next to Enter.
JIS is the Japanese standard. It adds keys around the spacebar for switching input methods, which makes the spacebar noticeably shorter, and it carries additional legends for kana input.
💡 The practical impact is keycaps. An ANSI keycap set will not fit an ISO board: there is no tall Enter, no short left shift, and no extra key. Enthusiast sets are overwhelmingly ANSI-first, and ISO support is often a paid add-on kit or missing entirely. If you are in the UK or Europe and plan to buy keycaps, check for an ISO kit before you buy anything.
Part 3: size layouts
The third meaning is how many keys the board has at all. This is independent of both the above: you can have an ISO 65% board typing Dvorak.
| Size | Keys | What it drops |
|---|---|---|
| Full-size | 104 | Nothing |
| TKL | 87 | Number pad |
| 75% | ~84 | Number pad, plus the gaps between key groups |
| 65% | ~68 | Also the function row |
| 60% | ~61 | Also the arrow keys, which move to a layer |
Our keyboard sizes guide covers the trade-offs in detail.
Which should you use?
- Character layout: stay on whatever you already know unless you have a specific reason. Discomfort during long typing sessions is a good reason; a promised speed boost is not. If you do switch, Colemak costs the least to learn.
- Physical layout: use whatever your region sells, and check keycap availability before committing. ANSI has far more choice.
- Size: this is where you actually get a meaningful ergonomic gain. Dropping the number pad brings your mouse closer to your body, which matters more over a working day than letter arrangement does.
Frequently asked questions
What is the standard keyboard layout?
There are two answers. For letters, QWERTY is the global default. For physical shape, ANSI is standard in the US and ISO in the UK and most of Europe. A US keyboard is ANSI QWERTY; a British one is ISO QWERTY with a different Enter key and an extra key beside the left shift.
How many keyboard layouts are there?
Dozens of character layouts exist, but only a handful see real use: QWERTY, AZERTY, QWERTZ, Dvorak, Colemak and Workman cover almost everyone. Physical layouts are effectively three: ANSI, ISO and JIS. Size layouts add another five common options.
Why do keyboards in other countries look different?
Because each language needs different characters within easy reach. German needs umlauts and uses Z heavily, so QWERTZ swaps Y and Z. French needs accented vowels, so AZERTY rearranges more substantially. The physical shape often changes too, since European boards use the ISO Enter and an extra key.
Was QWERTY really designed to slow typists down?
Not exactly. It was designed to stop typebars clashing by separating letters commonly typed together. Slowing the typist was not the objective, though the arrangement is certainly not optimised for speed by modern standards. It survives because retraining the world is harder than living with it.
Can I change my keyboard layout without buying a new keyboard?
Yes, for character layouts. It is an operating system setting on Windows, macOS and Linux, and the physical keys keep their printed legends while typing something else. Physical layout cannot be changed this way, because the key shapes are fixed in hardware.
Will an ANSI keycap set fit an ISO keyboard?
No. ISO needs a tall inverted-L Enter, a shorter left shift, and one extra key that ANSI sets simply do not include. Look for a set that explicitly offers an ISO kit. Our keycap guide covers what else to check before buying.