Albanian Keyboard Online – Free Virtual Shqip Keyboard
Free Online Albanian Keyboard – Type Shqip with ë and ç on a QWERTZ Layout
Welcome to the Albanian keyboard online (tastiera shqip). It is a full QWERTZ layout carrying every letter you need for written Albanian, with nothing to install. Click the keys on screen, or type on your own physical keyboard and watch the matching Albanian character appear in the text box above.
How the layout works. Albanian uses QWERTZ, so Y and Z swap places compared with the American QWERTY arrangement — as across much of central and southeastern Europe. The two letters that give Albanian its look sit on the home row: ë takes the key immediately right of L, and ç the key beside it. Hold Shift for Ë and Ç.
An alphabet fixed by a congress. The modern Albanian alphabet was settled at the Congress of Monastir in November 1908, in what is now Bitola, North Macedonia. Delegates agreed on a single Latin-based orthography in place of the competing Arabic, Greek and Cyrillic conventions then in use. The result has 36 letters and has stayed remarkably stable ever since.
Nine of those letters are digraphs. The letters dh, gj, ll, nj, rr, sh, th, xh and zh each count as one letter of the alphabet and are alphabetised as one, but you type them with two keystrokes, exactly as on a physical Albanian keyboard. There is no special key to hunt for: press d then h and you have written dh.
ë does the heavy lifting. The vowel ë is the most frequent letter in written Albanian, appearing in endings, in definite forms and in everyday words such as përshëndetje. Any tool that cannot produce it leaves Albanian text looking wrong, which is why it gets a dedicated key here.
A branch of its own. Albanian is Indo-European, but it forms an isolate branch with no close living relatives — not Slavic, not Greek, not Romance. Around seven million people speak it, in Albania, Kosovo, North Macedonia, Montenegro and Greece, alongside long-established communities in Italy, Switzerland, Germany, the United Kingdom and North America.
Related keyboards: if you also write in neighbouring languages, open the Greek keyboard, the Macedonian keyboard or the Italian keyboard from the Layout dropdown above.
Your privacy is guaranteed — all typing happens locally in your browser. Nothing you write is sent to a server, stored or logged. When you are finished, the Copy button places the whole text on your clipboard, ready to paste anywhere.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I type ë on this Albanian keyboard?
Click the key immediately to the right of L, or press the semicolon key on your physical keyboard. That produces lowercase ë. Hold Shift, or switch on Caps, for the capital Ë. The key beside it carries ç and Ç, so both Albanian letters sit together on the home row.
Why are the Y and Z keys swapped?
Because Albanian uses a QWERTZ layout rather than QWERTY, like German, Hungarian, Czech and several other central and southeastern European languages. On this keyboard the key labelled KeyY on your hardware types z, and the key labelled KeyZ types y. Everything else stays where you expect it.
How is this different from the official Albanian keyboard layout?
The letters match: QWERTZ ordering with ë and ç on the two keys right of L, exactly as on an Albanian keyboard. The difference is punctuation. A physical Albanian ISO keyboard puts several symbols in different places and adds an AltGr layer, while this on-screen layout uses a US-style symbol arrangement and has no AltGr. For writing Albanian words the result is identical.
How do I type the digraphs dh, gj, ll, nj, rr, sh, th, xh and zh?
As two ordinary keystrokes each. Although Albanian counts these nine digraphs as single letters of the alphabet, they are written with two characters, so you simply press the two keys in order. Typing r then r gives rr, and typing x then h gives xh. No dedicated digraph keys exist on any Albanian keyboard.
Will my Albanian text paste correctly into Word, Gmail or Instagram?
Yes. The keyboard produces standard Unicode characters, so ë and ç survive copying into word processors, email, messaging apps, social media and code editors without turning into question marks or boxes. Click Copy, then paste as normal. Any modern font covers the Albanian alphabet.
How many letters does the Albanian alphabet have?
Thirty-six. The alphabet agreed at the 1908 Congress of Monastir includes 27 single letters plus the nine digraphs dh, gj, ll, nj, rr, sh, th, xh and zh, each of which counts as one letter for alphabetical order. Albanian dictionaries file words accordingly, so dh follows d rather than sitting inside it.
Is this Albanian keyboard free to use?
Completely free. There is no cost, no registration, no account and no limit on how much you type. The site is supported by advertising, which is what keeps the keyboard free for everyone who needs to write Albanian on a device that has no Albanian layout installed.
Does it work on phones and tablets?
Yes. The layout is responsive and works on Android and iOS phones, tablets, Chromebooks, Windows and macOS. On a touchscreen you tap the keys directly, which makes it a practical way to write Albanian on a borrowed or shared device without changing its system settings.
Is my Albanian typing private?
Completely private. All processing happens locally in your browser using JavaScript. Your text is never transmitted to a server, never stored and never logged, so the keyboard is safe to use for personal messages, work documents and anything else you would rather keep to yourself.
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