If you're constantly switching languages when typing on your computer or mobile device, you're probably a bit tired of constantly fiddling with settings. The good news is that current systems allow you to... Add additional languages to your keyboard and switch between them very easily., without having to enter menus every now and then or give up autocorrection or accents.
In this article we will see, step by step and in detail, how to take advantage of these functions in Windows, iOS, Android, and Chromebook, plus some advanced tricks with accents and special charactersThe idea is that you can write in Spanish, English, Catalan, Basque, Hindi, or any language you need, without setting up a circus of physical keyboards or complicating things unnecessarily.
Activate and display the language icon in the Windows taskbar
In Windows, the fastest way to change keyboard layout is through the input language icon that appears in the system tray, next to the clock. That small indicator (ES, EN, etc.) lets you switch between all the keyboards you have configured with a click.
This icon usually comes from the factory. enabled and visible in the taskbarIf you see it, you can easily change the language. But if it has disappeared or never appeared, you can reactivate it from the toolbar's customization options.
To make the language indicator reappear, the first step is to go to the taskbar settings within the system itself. In recent versions of Windows, you can open this menu by selecting Start> Settings> Personalization> Taskbar, where all visual options related to icons and notification areas are grouped.
Within the taskbar settings, there is a section dedicated to Notification area, where the link to enable or disable system icons appearsClicking on that link opens a list with the different icons that Windows can display next to the clock, including the input indicator.
In that "Turn system icons on or off" window, you should check that the input indicator is in the Activated positionIf it was disabled, enabling it should make the language icon reappear in the taskbar and allow you to switch distributions normally again.
It can happen that, even with the input indicator activated, the icon still doesn't appear. In those cases, the problem is often that Windows has the legacy language bar enabled, an older feature that came from previous versions of the system and replaces the modern taskbar icon.
Disable the legacy language bar in Windows to use the modern icon
The legacy language bar is a floating window that was used in earlier versions of Windows for switch between different input methods and keyboard layoutsAlthough it still exists as an option, when active it usually hides the standard language icon in the taskbar and can be a bit more inconvenient.
To revert to the current operation and enable the modern indicator to be displayed, you must Disable that old language bar from the advanced keyboard settingsEverything is done from the system's device and write options panel.
The starting point is to open the Settings app and go to the section related to input devices. On Windows, this is done by going to Home > Settings > Devices > Writing, where keyboard preferences, correction, suggestions, and input methods are concentrated.
Once inside “Typing”, in the “More keyboard settings” section you will find the option Advanced keyboard settingswhich leads to a more specific panel where input methods and how they are changed are controlled.
In the advanced settings window there is a section called “Change input methods” where the checkbox appears Use the desktop language bar when availableIf that box is checked, Windows prioritizes the legacy toolbar, and therefore the new input language icon in the taskbar is hidden.
The trick is in Uncheck that option to disable the old language barThe moment you disable it, the system reverts to using the modern taskbar indicator, which blends better with the other icons in the notification area and makes it easier to quickly switch between keyboards.
Multilingual keyboard on iPhone and iPad with iOS 18
On Apple devices, iOS 18 has taken an interesting leap forward in terms of Write in multiple languages at once without having to constantly switch keyboards.The system allows you to configure a multilingual keyboard that supports three languages simultaneously, ideal if you mix English with Indian languages or other languages in your daily life.
With this function you can, for example, Write in English and up to two additional Indian languages such as Hindi or Marathi without changing keyboardsIn other words, the system itself adapts and understands that you are alternating, maintaining reasonable suggestions and corrections within that set of active languages.
To add a new language to the keyboard, the process begins in the device's Settings app. Within Settings, you need to navigate to the following path: General > Keyboard > Add New Keyboard, where the complete list of languages supported by the system appears.
In that list you'll find different options and all you have to do is Select the language you want to add to the keyboardwhether it's one of the supported Indian languages or other languages. In some cases, the system will ask you to link it to a base English keyboard, for example by selecting "Add to English (US) keyboard" and confirming with OK to finish the setup.
The languages supported for this particular multilingual keyboard include English, Bangla, Gujarati, Hindi, Marathi, Punjabi, Tamil and TeluguYou can combine up to three of them at once and the system will let you type quite smoothly in any of the selected ones.
However, this feature is not available for all older devices, since iOS 18 requires recent hardware to enable the tri-language keyboardSpecifically, it requires an iPhone 12 or later, or a fourth-generation or newer iPad Air, a third-generation or later 11-inch iPad Pro, a fifth-generation 12,9-inch iPad Pro, or a sixth-generation iPad mini.
In addition to the multilingual keyboard, iOS 18 introduces a special layout alphabetical for 11 supported Indian languagesThis distribution is available for Bangla, Gujarati, Hindi, Kannada, Malayalam, Marathi, Odia, Punjabi, Tamil, Telugu, and Urdu, and offers a more convenient way to write using characters specific to those languages.
If you already use one of those languages on your iPhone or iPad, you can change the layout to the alphabetic version from the keyboard settings. To do this, go back to Settings and follow this path. General > Keyboard, where the keyboards installed on the system are displayed.
Within the list of keyboards, you'll see the one corresponding to the language you want to change. Tapping it opens its specific options, including the possibility of select the “Alphabetical” layoutOnce this option is selected, the keyboard will display that new layout when you type in that specific language.
Configure multiple keyboard languages on Android: Gboard, SwiftKey, Swype, and Fleksy
On Android, it's very common to have to write in more than one language, especially in countries with co-official languages such as Spain or bilingual environments where Spanish, Catalan, Basque, English and other languages are mixedModern keyboards allow you to do this without having to change the system language every time or carry around a thousand keyboards installed without control.
Many users don't know that the most popular keyboards offer contextual suggestions based on multiple languages at onceThis means you can type in Spanish and switch to English or Catalan, and the keyboard itself will adjust the suggested words and autocorrect as it detects what you are typing.
Gboard: Google's keyboard with smart multilingual support
Gboard is, on many Android phones, the pre-installed keyboard and one of the most complete in terms of features and language supportIts multilingual system is especially powerful because it detects the language of what you write without you having to manually change it each time.
To write in multiple languages with Gboard, the first step is for the system itself to recognize those languages and download the necessary data. This is configured in the general Android settings, under the section Settings > Language & input > Language > Add languagewhere you can incorporate all the languages you usually use.
Once the languages are downloaded, you need to tell Gboard which ones you want active on the keyboard. This is done again from the text input section, in the path Language and Introduction > Gboard > Languageswhere you can select the languages you want to use regularly so that the keyboard takes them into account.
With the languages selected, Gboard is now ready to work in multilingual mode, but there are a couple of settings that you should activate to to make the transition from one language to another easierOne of them is the "Show language change key" option, which adds a globe-shaped icon next to the space bar.
By enabling that option in the Gboard preferences section, you will be able to quickly switch between languages simply by tapping that iconAlthough Gboard already tries to automatically detect the language you're writing in, having a manual language switch key is great when you want to force a specific language for autocorrect or terminology reasons.
Another key setting is the function of multilingual suggestionsThis feature is found in Gboard's "Text Correction" menu. When enabled, the keyboard analyzes what you type and adapts word suggestions to any of your configured languages almost instantly.
When this option is enabled, Gboard can display Press the space bar to select available languages and change the suggestions as you switch languages.In practice, after a couple of words the keyboard already knows if you are typing in Spanish, English or Catalan, for example, and corrects accordingly.
SwiftKey: Automatic detection and switching with the space bar
SwiftKey is another one of the It features some of the most popular keyboards in the Android ecosystem and also offers a highly polished multilingual system.It works similarly to Gboard in terms of automatic detection, allowing you to type in more than one language without constantly switching keyboards.
The first step with SwiftKey is, as always, Download the languages you want to use from their own internal menu.To do this, go to your system's text input settings and enter the SwiftKey Keyboard section; there you will see a "Languages" section and within it the "All languages" option to see the complete list and download the necessary packages.
Once you have downloaded the languages you are interested in, from that same "Languages" menu you can Activate the ones you want to have in use simultaneously.SwiftKey lets you keep multiple languages enabled at the same time and changes the suggestions based on what you type.
When typing, the keyboard analyzes the phrase and It automatically detects the language to provide accurate predictions and corrections.This allows you to write a sentence in Spanish, another in English, and then switch to Catalan without changing anything, and still receive reasonably accurate suggestions in each case.
If you prefer to have a little more manual control, SwiftKey also lets you change the language. Press and hold the space bar to select the keyboard languageAlthough the detection usually works very well, this long press option on the bar comes in handy when you need to set a specific language for a long text.
Swype and Fleksy: combinations and more limited multilingual support
Swype, the keyboard that became famous for allowing to write by sliding your finger across the letters instead of tapping them one by oneIt also added support for multiple languages at one time, although its approach is a bit more rigid than that of Gboard or SwiftKey.
In Swype, instead of offering seamless detection with three or more languages at once, the app allows use a single language or a combination of two languages simultaneouslyIf you have downloaded, for example, Spanish, English and Catalan, you can create pairs like Spanish/Catalan or Spanish/English, but you cannot use all three at the same time with automatic detection.
To add and manage languages in Swype, you need to go into the text input settings and follow this path Language and Introduction > Swype + Dragon > Side Menu > LanguagesFrom there you can download new languages, select the main keyboard language, and choose the additional languages you want to use for combinations.
When you're typing with Swype, switching between languages can be done Press and hold the space bar to toggle between selected optionsAlthough it's not as automatic as in Gboard or SwiftKey, it's still quite practical if you always work with two very specific languages.
In the case of Fleksy, multilingual support exists, but compared to other keyboards, it's somewhat less refined. To manage languages, you also need to go to the system's text input settings, following this path: Language and Introduction > Fleksy > Side Menu > Languageswhere you can download and enable the options you need.
Some of the languages in Fleksy are in beta, but The most commonly used ones tend to work stablyThe language change during typing is done by sliding the space bar sideways, which alternates the active languages.
In addition to the gesture on the bar, Fleksy offers another way to change the language, which consists of Press and hold the emoji icon to access the language selection menuHowever, this method is somewhat slower and less intuitive than the swipe gesture, so it's usually only used as a backup. You can read about the Fleksy keyboard update with new languages to see what improvements it brings.
Chromebook: keyboard languages, input methods, and accents
On Chromebooks, the operating system also allows you to configure more than one login method. to write in different languages, add special symbols and use accents or characters from other alphabetsThis is essential if you work with multiple languages or need to use symbols like ñ, ç, or different currencies.
To begin, you need to set the keyboard languages you'll be using. From the bottom right of the screen, where the time is displayed, you can Open the quick panel and go to SettingsWithin that menu, you will find a section called “Device”.
In the device section, you must select the option Keyboard and then “Change text input settings”This is where you control which input methods are available. In the "Input methods" section, you can see the languages you have active and add new ones.
To add other languages or layouts, simply tap the option Add and incorporate the keyboards you want to useOnce added, a text indicating "Enabled" will appear below the keyboard in use, helping you identify which language is active at any given time.
If you want to set another language as the primary writing language, simply Place the cursor over the language in question and select it from the list.From that moment on, that will be the base keyboard that will be used until you change it again or alternate with another method.
When you've added more than one keyboard language, it's very useful to be able to switch between them from the so-called "shelf" (the area at the bottom where the time and other icons are displayed). To do this, you need to go back to the keyboard settings and activate the “Show input options on the shelf” option within “Text input methods and keyboards.
By checking that box, the system will display a language code next to the time on the shelfsuch as “ES” or “US”. Clicking on that code opens a box called “Input Methods” from which you can click on the language you want to switch to at that moment.
In addition to the mouse, you can also switch languages using keyboard shortcuts. On Chromebooks, the combination Ctrl + Shift + Spacebar switches to the next language in the list until you reach the one you're interested in. If you want to return to the previous language, simply press Ctrl + space bar, which greatly facilitates rapid switching.
How to type accents and special characters on a Chromebook
For many users, the real headache isn't so much changing the entire language, but to be able to write accents, diacritics, tildes and certain symbols without losing your mindChromebooks offer several ways to do this, especially if you use the US international keyboard or a Spanish keyboard from Spain.
Accents with the US international keyboard on Chromebook
If you are using an English (US) keyboard with international layout, you have the following options available various types of accents: acute, grave, tilde, circumflex and diaeresisAll of them are achieved by combining an accent key and then the letter you want to accent.
For example, for the acute accent, one uses the key ' followed by the letter you are going to accentThe grave accent is obtained by pressing the ` key and then the letter. The tilde (~) is obtained by holding down Shift and the ` key, and then typing the corresponding letter.
In the case of the circumflex accent, it is generated Pressing Shift + 6 and then the letter you want to markThe diaeresis is achieved with the combination Shift + ' followed by the letter. For the cedilla (¸), on the US international keyboard, the combination Shift + Alt Gr + 5 is used, followed by the corresponding letter, although in the international variant for PC, ' followed by the letter can also be used in some cases.
In addition to these "composition" accents, you can directly type some specific international characters using combinations with the Alt Gr key and a letterThus, for example, Alt Gr + E produces é, Alt Gr + A gives á, Alt Gr + U generates ú and Alt Gr + I produces í.
Similarly, you can get the ñ with Alt Gr + NThe ü is written with Alt Gr + Y, the ö with Alt Gr + P, and the ä with Alt Gr + Q. The cedilla ç can also be written with Alt Gr + , (comma), which covers a large part of the characters used in European languages with the Latin alphabet.
Accents menu and shortcuts with the Alt key on Chromebook
In addition to the international keyboard, Chromebooks include additional options for insert diacritics using a popup menuThis system works with both physical keyboards and some digital keyboards, although it does not apply to all possible characters.
To use the accent menu, hold Press the key of the letter to which you want to add an accent markYou'll see a sort of floating menu open; at that point you can press Tab or the right arrow to move within the menu of available accents.
You can use the arrow keys to navigate between the different variations, and when you're ready... Highlight the accent you want, confirm with Enter or the space barYou also have the option of pressing the numeric key associated with that specific accent, or simply clicking on it with the mouse.
If at any time you want to disable the accented and special character function on your keyboard, you can do so by going back to Settings > Device > Keyboard > Change text input settingsWithin “Text input methods and keyboards” you will see the options for your language, for example “English (USA)”; by clicking on More within “Physical keyboard” you can disable the option for accents and special characters.
It is also possible to insert accents directly combinations of the Alt key with other keysAgain, they don't work with all characters, but they cover the most common ones: for example, Alt + i generates a circumflex (as in ô), Alt + e produces an acute accent (as in é) and Alt + u results in a diaeresis (as in ë).
For the tilde on the ñ, the combination is Alt+nFor the grave accent (as in è), use Alt + the backslash key (`). These combinations are useful for speeding up the typing of accents when you already have the shortcuts automated and don't want to use floating menus.
Using special characters on a Spanish (Spain) keyboard on a Chromebook
If you are working with a physical keyboard configured as Spanish (Spain), the system allows you to check if it is correctly identified and offers The entire range of typical Spanish characters, plus some additional symbols with Alt GrAgain, the key is knowing which combination corresponds to each character.
For vowels with an accent mark, the basic rule is to write first the key ' and then the corresponding letterSo, ' followed by a produces á, ' followed by e gives é, with the same logic for í, ó and ú. For capital letters, the same pattern is maintained but with Shift + letter, for example ' and then Shift + a to obtain Á.
The lowercase diaeresis over the u, so typical of words like penguin, is achieved with Shift + ' and then the letter uFor the uppercase version (Ü), press Shift + ' and then Shift + u. As for the letter ñ, both lowercase and uppercase, it is obtained with the specific ñ key and with Shift + ñ for Ñ, respectively.
The inverted question mark and exclamation mark also have their own specific combinations. The opening question mark (¿) is achieved with Shift + the ! keyThe closing question mark (?) is usually in its standard position. These shortcuts allow you to write correctly punctuated sentences in Spanish without any headaches.
In terms of additional symbols, the Spanish keyboard makes great use of the Alt Gr key. For example, you can type braces, brackets, slashes, and other symbols using it. combinations of Alt Gr with different numeric and symbol keysThus, Alt Gr + ' produces {, Alt Gr + ç produces }, Alt Gr + ` produces , Alt Gr + ° produces the backslash \ and Alt Gr + 1 gives the vertical bar symbol |.
Other commonly used shortcuts are Alt Gr + 2 for the at symbol @, Alt Gr + 3 for the # symbol, Alt Gr + 4 for the tilde ~, and Alt Gr + 6 for the ¬ symbol. These combinations cover both linguistic elements (accents, ñ, diaeresis) and technical elements (code symbols, email addresses, etc.).
Finally, on a Chromebook you can Activate or deactivate Caps Lock on the physical keyboard with a shortcutwithout relying on a traditional Caps Lock key. The system uses the combination Alt + search key or Alt + application menu key. On the virtual keyboard, it can be done by pressing the Shift key, as on other touch devices.
Having these settings and shortcuts under control on Windows, iOS, Android, and Chromebook makes things much easier. Add additional languages to your keyboard, take advantage of multilingual autocorrect, and type accents or special symbols without going crazyregardless of the device you usually work or communicate from. Share the information so that more users can learn about the topic.
