Arabic Typing Online on Mac: Browser Keyboard & Setup Guide
Type Arabic instantly in Safari, Chrome, or Firefox on your Mac — or set up the built-in macOS Arabic keyboard for system-wide Arabic typing.
Mac users have two excellent options for typing Arabic: our free browser-based Arabic keyboard that works instantly in Safari, Chrome, or Firefox without any setup, or the built-in macOS Arabic keyboard that integrates system-wide for fluent Arabic typing across all your Mac apps. This guide covers both approaches.
Option A: Online Arabic Keyboard in Mac Browser (Instant)
The simplest approach — works in Safari, Chrome, or Firefox on any Mac, with no setup:
- Open Safari, Chrome, or Firefox on your Mac
- Navigate to arabictypingkeyboard.com
- Type using click or your physical keyboard (after switching to Arabic mode)
- Use the Copy button to copy your text
- Paste anywhere with Cmd + V
Our keyboard includes harakat (diacritics), Tajweed marks, and export features — all accessible directly in your Mac browser.
Option B: macOS Built-In Arabic Keyboard
For frequent Arabic typists, adding the Arabic keyboard to macOS gives you Arabic anywhere:
macOS Ventura / Sonoma (13+)
- Click the Apple menu → System Settings
- Go to Keyboard
- Click Edit... next to "Input Sources"
- Click the + button
- Select Arabic from the language list
- Choose layout: Arabic (standard) or Arabic QWERTY
- Click Add
macOS Monterey and Earlier (12 and below)
- Apple menu → System Preferences → Keyboard
- Click the Input Sources tab
- Click the + button
- Select Arabic and click Add
Switching Between Arabic and English on Mac
| Method | Shortcut / Action |
|---|---|
| Standard switch | Control + Space |
| Show input menu | Click the flag/keyboard icon in menu bar |
| Select specific input | Cmd + Option + Space |
| Show keyboard viewer | Input menu → Show Keyboard Viewer |
Enable the keyboard menu bar icon: System Settings → Keyboard → Check "Show Input menu in menu bar"
Arabic in macOS Apps
Pages
Apple Pages has excellent Arabic support. When typing Arabic, Pages automatically sets the paragraph to RTL. For mixed documents, right-click any paragraph → Text Direction to set RTL/LTR independently. The "Traditional Arabic," "Geeza Pro," and "Baghdad" fonts (pre-installed on macOS) all render Arabic correctly.
macOS Mail supports Arabic email composition. Switch to Arabic keyboard, type, and Mail detects the language and sets RTL automatically. For best formatting, start your email with Arabic text before switching between languages.
Notes
Notes on Mac supports Arabic RTL text. Each paragraph independently sets its direction based on the first character typed. Mixed Arabic/English notes work well.
Safari and Chrome
Both browsers on Mac support Arabic text input in all form fields and content-editable areas. Arabic typed in any web form (Gmail, WhatsApp Web, Facebook) displays correctly RTL.
macOS Arabic Fonts (Pre-installed)
| Font Name | Style | Best For |
|---|---|---|
| Geeza Pro | Modern Naskh | UI text, general use |
| Al Bayan | Traditional | Formal documents |
| Baghdad | Bold display | Headings, display text |
| DecoType Naskh | Decorative | Calligraphic accents |
| Nadeem | Light, elegant | Reading, body text |
⌨ Type Arabic in Your Mac Browser Right Now
Free, instant, works in Safari and Chrome — no setup required.
Open Arabic KeyboardFrequently Asked Questions
Yes. macOS includes an Arabic spellcheck dictionary. When typing Arabic in Pages, Notes, or Mail with the Arabic input source active, macOS underlines spelling errors in red — same as English spellcheck. You can right-click underlined words to see suggestions. The spellcheck covers MSA vocabulary.
Yes. After adding Arabic input source in System Settings, your US keyboard keys take on Arabic values when Arabic is active. The Arabic 101 layout maps Arabic letters to English key positions — use macOS's Keyboard Viewer (Input menu → Show Keyboard Viewer) to see which Arabic letter is on each key while Arabic is active.
Some Mac applications do not automatically detect Arabic and switch to RTL. Look for a "Text Direction" option in the Format menu or right-click context menu. In Pages, right-click → Text Direction → Right to Left. In TextEdit, Format → Text Direction. Not all apps support RTL — if you need guaranteed RTL, use Pages or our web keyboard.