How to Setup Arabic Keyboard on macOS: A Fast & Easy Guide

macOS has excellent built-in support for Arabic typing. Whether you have a MacBook Air, MacBook Pro, iMac, or Mac Mini, adding the Arabic keyboard takes less than a minute and allows you to type Arabic in any app — from Pages and Numbers to Safari, Mail, and Messages. This guide covers the complete setup process, key layouts, and pro tips for Arabic typing on Mac.

Adding Arabic Keyboard to macOS

Step 1: Open System Settings

Click the Apple menu () in the top-left corner, then select System Settings (macOS Ventura and later) or System Preferences (earlier versions).

Step 2: Go to Keyboard Settings

Click Keyboard in the sidebar. Then click Edit... next to "Input Sources" (or "Text Input" depending on your macOS version).

Step 3: Add Arabic

Click the + button in the bottom-left of the Input Sources list. In the search bar, type "Arabic". You will see several options:

• Arabic: Standard Arabic keyboard (recommended)
• Arabic — PC: Mirrors the Windows Arabic (101) layout
• Arabic — QWERTY: English QWERTY positions with Arabic equivalents

Select Arabic and click Add.

Step 4: Enable Input Menu in Menu Bar

Check "Show Input menu in menu bar" so you can easily see and switch your current input language from the menu bar.

Switching Between Arabic and English on Mac

Method	Action
Keyboard shortcut	Control + Space (default) or Cmd + Space
Menu bar	Click the flag/language icon in the top-right of the menu bar
Input Source app	Use the macOS Input Sources panel from System Settings

macOS Arabic Keyboard Layout

The standard Mac Arabic keyboard uses the same layout as Windows Arabic (101). You can view the layout using the built-in Keyboard Viewer:

1. Go to System Settings → Keyboard
2. Enable "Show Keyboard Viewer in menu bar"
3. Switch to Arabic, then click the keyboard icon in the menu bar and select "Show Keyboard Viewer"
4. A floating visual keyboard shows you all Arabic key mappings

Key Arabic Letter Mappings (same as Windows Arabic 101)

Mac Key	Arabic	Mac Key	Arabic
Q	ض	A	ش
W	ص	S	س
E	ث	D	ي
R	ق	F	ب
T	ف	G	ل
Y	غ	H	ا
U	ع	J	ت
I	ه	K	ن
O	خ	L	م
P	ح	;	ك

Typing Arabic in macOS Apps

In Pages (Apple's Word Processor)

Pages has excellent RTL support. When you switch to Arabic and start typing, Pages automatically:

• Changes text direction to right-to-left
• Right-aligns the paragraph
• Uses an Arabic-compatible system font

You can also manually set text direction in Pages: Format → Text → More → Paragraph Direction: Right to Left.

In Mail

Switch to Arabic before composing. Mail will automatically create an RTL message. The subject line may need to be manually set to RTL using Format → Right to Left.

In Safari and Chrome

Switch input language first, then click on any text field and type. The browser handles RTL input automatically for Arabic.

Using the Dictation Feature (Voice to Arabic Text)

macOS Dictation supports Arabic input on most Macs (Intel and Apple Silicon). To enable:

1. Go to System Settings → Keyboard → Dictation
2. Enable Dictation and set language to "Arabic"
3. Press the microphone key or Fn+Fn (double-tap Function key) to activate
4. Speak in Arabic — macOS will transcribe it in real-time

Alternative: Use Our Online Arabic Keyboard

For maximum flexibility, use our free Arabic Typing Keyboard in your Mac browser. It offers diacritics, Tajweed symbols, and export functionality that the system keyboard does not provide.