Latvian Keyboard Online – Free Virtual Latviešu Tastatūra
Free Online Latvian Keyboard – Macrons, Carons and Comma-Below Letters
Welcome to the Latvian keyboard online (latviešu tastatūra). Every one of Latvian's eleven diacritic letters has a key of its own, so you can write correct Latvian from any computer, tablet or phone with nothing to install. Click the keys on screen, or type on your physical keyboard.
How this layout is arranged. Six of the eleven letters take the spare keys around the main block: č, š and ž follow P on the top row, ē and ī follow L on the home row, and ā sits at the far left of the number row. The other five — ģ, ķ, ļ, ņ and ū — occupy the digit keys 1 to 5, so those digits move to Shift while 6 through 0 stay put.
Why not Latvia's own arrangement? Both official layouts reach these letters indirectly: the common Latvian (QWERTY) layout builds them with a modifier — the apostrophe used as a dead key, or AltGr with the base letter — while the ergonomic ŪGJRMV layout rearranges the alphabet outright. An on-screen keyboard has nothing to hold down, so every letter gets a key of its own here.
One honest limitation. On the five letters that share a digit key, Shift produces that digit rather than the capital, so Ģ, Ķ, Ļ, Ņ and Ū cannot be typed from this keyboard. Write them lowercase and capitalise in whatever app you paste into. The other capitals — Ā, Č, Ē, Ī, Š and Ž — work normally on Shift.
The macron vowels ā, ē, ī and ū mark length, and length distinguishes words: kazas is 'goats', kāzas is 'a wedding'. Latvian once wrote a long ō as well; standard orthography dropped it in the 1940s, though it survives in Latgalian writing.
The comma-below letters ģ, ķ, ļ and ņ mark palatalised consonants — roughly a y glide fused into the consonant. The mark is a comma, not a cedilla, and on lowercase ģ it is printed above the letter because the descender leaves nowhere to put it. Latvian also once used ŗ, retired alongside ō.
The carons š, č and ž supply the sounds English spells sh, ch and the s in 'measure': šodien 'today', četri 'four', žurnāls 'magazine'. The alphabet has 33 letters and officially no q, w, x or y. Around 1.5 million people speak Latvian, one of two surviving Baltic languages; the other is Lithuanian. Everything runs locally — nothing you type is sent to a server or logged.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I type ā and the other long vowels?
They sit in three places. Click ā at the far left of the number row, just before the 1; ē and ī on the home row immediately after L; and ū on the number row in the position you would read as 5. Shift gives the capitals Ā, Ē and Ī. On the ū key Shift types the digit 5 instead.
Where did the numbers go?
Only the first five moved. The letters ģ, ķ, ļ, ņ and ū took the keys 1 to 5, so those five digits are one Shift away — hold Shift, or click the Shift key once, and they come back. The digits 6, 7, 8, 9 and 0 were never displaced, and any numeric keypad you have works normally.
How does this differ from the official Latvian keyboard?
Latvia's standard layouts type these letters indirectly — the common Latvian (QWERTY) layout uses the apostrophe as a dead key or AltGr with the base letter, and the ergonomic ŪGJRMV layout reorders the alphabet entirely. Neither translates to an on-screen keyboard, where there is nothing to hold down. So all eleven letters get keys of their own here instead.
What is the mark under ģ, ķ, ļ and ņ?
A comma below, and it marks palatalisation — the consonant is pronounced with the tongue pushed up towards the palate. It is often mistaken for a cedilla, which is a different mark with a different history. On the lowercase ģ the comma is printed above the letter, because the descender of the g leaves nowhere to put it.
Does my Latvian text paste correctly into other apps?
Yes. Everything this keyboard produces is standard Unicode, so ā, č, ē, ģ, ī, ķ, ļ, ņ, š, ū and ž paste unchanged into Word, Google Docs, Gmail, Slack, spreadsheets, forms and databases. No special font is required at the other end; these are ordinary letters that modern systems have handled correctly for decades.
What is the difference between a and ā?
Length, and it changes meaning. The macron marks a long vowel, so kazas means 'goats' while kāzas means 'a wedding' — the only difference is how long you hold the first vowel. Dropping macrons is the most common error in foreign-written Latvian, and it can leave a sentence ambiguous or simply wrong.
How many letters are in the Latvian alphabet?
Thirty-three. The set is the Latin alphabet minus q, w, x and y, plus ā, č, ē, ģ, ī, ķ, ļ, ņ, š, ū and ž. The four excluded letters still appear in foreign names, so this keyboard keeps them in their usual QWERTY positions rather than removing them.
Is Latvian the same as Lithuanian?
No. They are the only two surviving Baltic languages and are each other's closest relatives, but they are not mutually intelligible — a Latvian speaker cannot simply read Lithuanian. Their alphabets differ too: Latvian marks long vowels with macrons, while Lithuanian uses the ogonek hook and the separate letter ė.
Is this Latvian keyboard free, and does it work on mobile?
Completely free, with no sign-up, no download and no limit on how much you type. The layout is responsive and works on iPhone, iPad and Android phones and tablets as well as on desktop. Advertising keeps it free for everyone. A typing speed test with Latvian sentences is available too.
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