How to type Nepali on Windows, Mac, Android, iPhone and in MS Word

The first four are built in or, on Android, part of Google's keyboard; the last needs only a browser. All of them type Unicode, so the text works in Word, Gmail, Facebook and online forms.

These are the Windows 11 steps from Microsoft's own help. On Windows 10 the same settings are under Settings, Time & Language, Language.

1. 1Open Settings, then Time & language, then Language & region.
2. 2Select Add a language next to Preferred languages.
3. 3Type Nepali, choose it and select Next. If Windows offers Set as my Windows display language, leave it unticked unless you want Windows itself in Nepali. Select Install.
4. 4Windows adds its Nepali keyboard with the language. To check, select the three dots next to Nepali, then Language options, and look under Keyboards.
5. 5Press Windows key + Space to switch between English and Nepali, or choose from the language icon on the taskbar.
6. 6Type. Most keys are where Preeti has them: s is क, f is ा, k is प and g is न, so g ] k f n types नेपाल.

1. 1Open System Settings and choose Keyboard.
2. 2Go to Text Input, click Edit, then click the + button.
3. 3Search for Nepali, choose Nepali – Remington or Nepali – InScript, and click Add.
4. 4Switch with Control + Space or from the Input menu in the menu bar. In Keyboard settings you can also set the Globe (fn) key to change the input source.
5. 5Type. On Remington the home row is Preeti's (a is ब, s is क, d is म, f is ा), but most letters on the bottom row sit one key to the left of where Preeti has them: z is ह, b is ल, and श is on the ` key.

Android phones type Nepali through Gboard, Google's keyboard, which is already the keyboard on many phones. If yours uses another, install Gboard from Google Play first.

1. 1Open any app you can type in, such as Messages or Gmail, and tap where you type.
2. 2At the top of the keyboard, tap Settings, then Languages, then Add keyboard.
3. 3Choose Nepali (Nepal) for Nepali keys. To type by sound, choose Nepali (India) and its Transliteration layout: Google lists transliteration only under Nepali (India), and the letters it types are the same Unicode Nepali.
4. 4Tap Done.
5. 5Touch and hold the space bar to switch between English and Nepali.
6. 6With transliteration, spell each word by sound in English letters, such as namaste, and Gboard writes it in Nepali.

The iPhone has a Nepali keyboard built in. Apple lists Nepali among the keyboard languages of iOS 27.

1. 1Open Settings, tap General, then Keyboard.
2. 2Tap Keyboards, then Add New Keyboard, and choose Nepali.
3. 3While typing, touch and hold the globe or emoji key and tap Nepali.
4. 4To see whether Apple offers another layout for it, tap Nepali in the Keyboards list.

Word has no Nepali keyboard of its own: it types with whatever keyboard Windows or the Mac is set to. Set the keyboard up first, as above, then choose a Unicode font.

1. 1Open Word and switch the keyboard to Nepali: Windows key + Space on Windows, Control + Space on a Mac.
2. 2Choose a Unicode font from the font list, such as Nirmala UI, Mangal or, if it is installed, Kalimati. Do not choose Preeti for new work.
3. 3Type. The Nepali appears as you type, and nothing needs converting.
4. 4For an old document in Preeti, select its text, copy it into Preeti to Unicode, paste the result back into Word and set a Unicode font.
5. 5If a press or an office asks for Preeti, write in Unicode and convert the finished text with Unicode to Preeti.

A romanised layout puts each letter on the English key for its sound: k is क, s is स, n is न. A traditional layout follows Preeti and Kantipur: s is क, k is प, g is न. Language Technology Kendra describes its traditional layout as made for people who typed in those fonts.

Both are layouts: one key, one character. Neither turns namaste into नमस्ते. On Madan Puraskar Pustakalaya's romanised layout those seven keys type नामासते, because a is ा. Typing whole words by sound is transliteration, which Gboard and Nepali Unicode typing do.

In the table, capitals mean Shift. On the romanised layout / is the halant (्); on Windows' Nepali keyboard Shift + Q is ो. If you know Nepali Unicode typing, most consonants are on the same keys in the romanised layout (k, g, j, t, d, n, p, b, m, y, r, l, v, s, h), and so are N for ण, M for ं and the vowel signs i, I, u, U, e and o. The difference is a, which is ा there, and S, D and T, which are श, ध and थ.

• Learn traditional if you type for an office or an exam, or already know Preeti. It is built into Windows, so it works on any office computer once Nepali is added.
• Learn romanised if you already touch-type English and want letters where their sounds are. On Windows it has to be installed, so it may not be there on someone else's computer.
• For a few lines now, type by sound and copy: Nepali Unicode typing needs nothing installed.

Type in Unicode. Every keyboard above types Unicode, which stores the Nepali letters themselves, so the text reads the same on any phone or computer and can be searched.

Preeti stores English letters. नेपाल is saved as g]kfn and looks like Nepali only where the Preeti font is installed. On another computer, or pasted into Gmail or a form, it shows the English letters. That is why an old Preeti file turns to gibberish.

Some printing presses and offices still work in Preeti and may ask for it. We could not find a current rule from the Public Service Commission or the government that requires either Preeti or Unicode in typing tests, so read the notice for your exam.

Already type Preeti? Windows' Nepali keyboard puts 79 of its 94 keys where Preeti does, going by Microsoft's own layout. These habits change:

• ि goes after its letter, not before: s then l is कि (in Preeti, l then s). Unicode stores letters in the order they are spoken.
• र् goes before the letter it sits on: Shift + [ then o is र्य, so s f { o f n o is कार्यालय (in Preeti, s f o { f n o).
• ो is Shift + Q. f then ] gives ा and े, two signs that can look like ो but are different characters, so a search for the word may not find it.
• ्र and ् swap keys: \ is ्र (k \ ] d is प्रेम) and Shift + \ is the halant ्. Preeti has them the other way round.

Speaking can be quicker than typing, where it works. Google's tools list Nepali speech; Windows' and Apple's do not.