How to fix text typed with the wrong keyboard layout
You type a whole message, look up, and see hgsghl ugd;l where «السلام عليكم» should be. Or you type an English sentence with the Arabic layout still active and get a run of meaningless Arabic letters. Nothing is lost. Every character on screen came from a specific key, and this tool knows what that key types in the other layout, so it rebuilds your text without retyping.
It helps with emails, chat messages and quick notes, and with data you entered into a form or spreadsheet before you noticed the layout. It follows the key positions of the Windows Arabic (101) layout and the US QWERTY layout, and the conversion runs in your browser.
How to use it
- Paste the garbled text into Original text. To see how it works first, press Try an example.
- Choose a Mapping direction: English QWERTY → Arabic 101 when you wanted Arabic and got Latin letters, or Arabic 101 → English QWERTY when you wanted English and got Arabic.
- Leave Protect detected links & email ticked. Links and email addresses stay exactly as they are; only the text around them changes.
- Tick Explicitly include Shift layer only if you typed characters with Shift, such as vowel marks or أ إ آ. Without it, uppercase English letters stay unchanged.
- Check the Remapped preview and the Mapped key positions count. To see what each key produces, open Actual mapping table.
- Press Copy or Download .txt. If you change an option accidentally, press Undo.
Worked examples from the tool
hgsghl ugd;l ,vplm hggi ,fv;hji
السلام عليكم ورحمة الله وبركاته
Settings: Mapping direction: English QWERTY → Arabic 101 · link protection on
سثث غخع فخةخققخص
see you tomorrow
Settings: Mapping direction: Arabic 101 → English QWERTY
lQvXpQfWh
مَرْحَبًا
Settings: English QWERTY → Arabic 101 · Explicitly include Shift layer ticked
When to turn on the Shift layer
On Arabic 101 the basic letters need no Shift, but the vowel marks and several letters do: Shift + Q types a fatha, Shift + H types أ, and Shift + N types آ. If you typed a vowelled word with the English layout active, you will see capitals scattered between lowercase letters, like lQvXpQfWh. That is the case this option is for.
Do not turn it on when the capitals came from Caps Lock. The tool would read every capital as a Shift press and give you hamzas and vowel marks you never meant to type.
Common pitfalls
- Converting mixed text in one go. The tool converts every lowercase Latin letter it finds. If part of the text is already correct, convert only the broken part. For example,
Meeting at hgshum 5becomes Mثثفهىل شف الساعة 5: the Arabic is fixed, the English is ruined. - Text typed with Caps Lock on. Capitals are left alone, because the tool cannot tell Shift from Caps Lock. Convert the text to lowercase in the Latin case tool first, then come back.
- Commas and full stops. On Arabic 101 the comma key types و and the full-stop key types ز. So every , in the garbled text turns into و, which is usually right: you were reaching for the waw.
- Expecting digits to change. Numbers stay as typed in both directions. To unify digit shapes, use World numerals.
For why this happens and how to avoid it next time, read the guide to typing with the wrong keyboard layout.
Limits
- The tool knows two layouts only: Arabic 101 and US QWERTY. If you use another Arabic layout or French AZERTY, some keys may sit elsewhere, so compare with the Actual mapping table before you trust the result.
- The Arabic لا sits on the b key, so every لا becomes b when you convert to English, even if you actually pressed g then h. The word ghost typed on the Arabic layout appears as «لاخسف» and comes back as bost.
- This is key-position mapping, not translation and not Arabizi. Typing salam will never give «سلام»; use the Transliterate tool for that.
- The Actual mapping table shows the base layer only, and the tool never guesses Caps Lock or AltGr.
- Input and output are limited to about 100,000 characters.
Frequently asked questions
Why did لا turn into the letter b?
Because the b key on Arabic 101 types لا in one press. When converting to English the tool cannot tell whether you pressed b or g followed by h, so it picks b. Check any words that contain that pair.
Does it translate my text into Arabic?
No. It returns the character the same key would have typed in the other layout. If you wrote Arabic words in Latin letters and digits, such as salam or 3adi, use the Transliterate tool.
I type on a Mac or another Arabic layout. Will it work?
The tool follows the Windows Arabic 101 positions. If your layout differs, compare a few keys with the Actual mapping table first. If the keys you used match, the result is reliable.
Why weren't the uppercase letters converted?
The Shift layer is off by default. Tick Explicitly include Shift layer if you typed vowel marks or hamzas with Shift. If the capitals came from Caps Lock, lowercase the text first.
Can I undo a conversion?
Yes. Undo steps back through up to 50 earlier states. Your text in Original text is never changed, because the result appears in a separate box.
Is my text sent to a server?
No. The conversion happens in your browser, and the text disappears when you reload the page, so copy the result before you leave. See the privacy page for details.