How to Install an Urdu Keyboard on Windows 11 and 10

Windows has built-in Urdu support — you do not need to download anything. Adding it takes about a minute, and once installed you can switch between English and Urdu with a single shortcut.

If you only need Urdu occasionally, you can skip all of this and use the online Urdu keyboard instead, which requires no installation at all.

Windows 11

1. Open Settings (Windows key + I).
2. Go to Time & language → Language & region.
3. Click Add a language.
4. Search for Urdu. Choose Urdu (Pakistan) or Urdu (India).
5. Click Next, then Install.

Windows downloads the language pack and adds Urdu to your language list.

Windows 10

1. Open Settings (Windows key + I).
2. Go to Time & Language → Language.
3. Under Preferred languages, click Add a language.
4. Search for and select Urdu.
5. Click Next, then Install.

Switching between English and Urdu

Once installed, you have three ways to switch:

• Windows key + Space — cycles through installed keyboards. This is the fastest.
• Alt + Shift — the classic shortcut, works in most setups.
• Click the language indicator in the taskbar, near the clock, and pick from the list.

The taskbar shows ENG or URD so you always know which layout is active.

Which Urdu layout should you choose?

Windows may offer more than one Urdu keyboard layout. The difference matters.

Urdu (Phonetic)

Each Urdu letter sits on the English key that sounds like it — s gives س, k gives ک, b gives ب.

Choose this if you already type in English and want to start immediately. Almost everyone should pick this.

Urdu (Standard) / UZT

The official Pakistani standard layout, arranged for touch-typing efficiency rather than English correspondence. Letter positions bear no relation to the English keys.

Choose this if you are learning Urdu typing formally, plan to type Urdu professionally, or need compatibility with an office that standardised on it. It is faster once mastered, but the learning curve is real.

To change which layout an installed language uses: Settings → Time & language → Language & region → click the three dots next to Urdu → Language options → under Keyboards, add or remove layouts.

Getting the fonts right

Windows ships with Urdu font support, but the default is usually a Naskh-style face rather than Nastaliq. Urdu set in Naskh is readable but looks wrong to native readers.

For proper Nastaliq:

1. Download Noto Nastaliq Urdu from Google Fonts (free, open licence).
2. Extract the archive.
3. Right-click the .ttf file and choose Install for all users.

The font is then available in Word, PowerPoint and most applications. Select it explicitly for Urdu text — applications will not switch to it automatically.

Typing Urdu in Microsoft Word

Two extra steps make Word behave properly with Urdu:

Enable right-to-left editing. Word usually detects this automatically when you type Urdu, but you can force it with the paragraph direction buttons on the Home tab, or with Ctrl + Right Shift for right-to-left and Ctrl + Left Shift for left-to-right.

Set the complex script font. In the Font dialog, Urdu uses the Complex scripts font setting, not the main one. Set that to Noto Nastaliq Urdu, or your Urdu will silently render in the fallback face.

Troubleshooting

Urdu letters appear as boxes. The font in use has no Urdu glyphs. Select a font that does — Noto Nastaliq Urdu, or Segoe UI as a fallback.

Letters do not join together. Usually a font problem rather than a keyboard problem. Some fonts contain Urdu characters but lack the shaping tables that join them. Switch to a proper Urdu font.

Text runs the wrong direction. Turn on right-to-left paragraph direction in your application. In Word, use the toolbar buttons or Ctrl + Right Shift.

The keyboard shortcut does nothing. Check that more than one keyboard is actually installed under Language & region. If only one is present, there is nothing to switch to.

Wrong letters appear. You are probably on the Standard layout expecting Phonetic. Check which layout is installed under Language options.

When the online keyboard is the better choice

Installing a system keyboard is worth it if you type Urdu regularly on your own machine. It is not worth it if you:

• type Urdu occasionally
• are on a shared, work or public computer where you cannot install anything
• do not want to learn any layout at all
• need Roman-to-Urdu conversion rather than direct Urdu typing

For all of those, the browser-based Urdu keyboard does the job with nothing to install — and it includes transliteration, which no system keyboard offers.