Add a Korean keyboard
iPhone and iPad
- Open Settings, then General, then Keyboard.
- Tap Keyboards, then Add New Keyboard.
- Choose Korean, then Standard.
- To switch, tap the globe key.
Android
- Open Gboard settings: tap the gear on the keyboard.
- Tap Languages, then Add keyboard.
- Choose Korean, then 2-Bulsik, then Done.
- To switch, tap the globe key.
On a Samsung keyboard: Settings, then General management, then Samsung Keyboard settings, then Languages and types, then Manage input languages. Turn on Korean (한국어).
Mac
- Open System Settings, then Keyboard.
- Under Text Input, click Edit, then the + button.
- Choose Korean, then 2-Set Korean, then Add.
- To switch, press Control + Space or the globe key.
Windows
- Open Settings, then Time & language, then Language & region.
- Click Add a language, choose Korean, then install it.
- To switch keyboards, press Windows + Space.
- Press Right Alt to flip between English and Korean letters.
The layout: consonants left, vowels right
The standard Korean keyboard is called 2-set (두벌식): consonants sit under your left hand and vowels under your right. Hold Shift for the double consonants, and for ㅒ and ㅖ.
- Q ㅂ with Shift: ㅃ
- W ㅈ with Shift: ㅉ
- E ㄷ with Shift: ㄸ
- R ㄱ with Shift: ㄲ
- T ㅅ with Shift: ㅆ
- Y ㅛ
- U ㅕ
- I ㅑ
- O ㅐ with Shift: ㅒ
- P ㅔ with Shift: ㅖ
- A ㅁ
- S ㄴ
- D ㅇ
- F ㄹ
- G ㅎ
- H ㅗ
- J ㅓ
- K ㅏ
- L ㅣ
- Z ㅋ
- X ㅌ
- C ㅊ
- V ㅍ
- B ㅠ
- N ㅜ
- M ㅡ
Type the letters in order
Type each letter in the order you'd read it. The keyboard stacks them into blocks for you.
| Letters | Keys | You get |
|---|---|---|
| ㅎ ㅏ ㄴ ㄱ ㅜ ㄱ | GKSRNR | 한국 |
| ㄱ ㅣ ㅁ ㅊ ㅣ | RLACL | 김치 |
| ㅅ ㅏ ㄹ ㅏ ㅇ | TKFKD | 사랑 |
- Double consonants: hold Shift. Shift + R gives ㄲ.
- Double vowels: type both parts. ㅗ then ㅏ (H, then K) gives ㅘ.
- ㅐ and ㅔ have their own keys, O and P. With Shift they give ㅒ and ㅖ.
Standard or 10-key on a phone?
Phones also offer a 10-key layout called 천지인 (Cheonjiin), built from a dot and two lines. Many Koreans use it. Start with Standard (2-Bulsik) anyway: it matches the computer keyboard, so you learn one layout instead of two.
