How can I add custom keyboard layouts on MacBook Pro?

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How can I add custom keyboard layouts on MacBook Pro?

Hi, I would like to add a custom keyboard layout to my mac, primarily for typing in the IPA, as well as some other linguistic applications. In particular, because I will have a lot of characters I want to add to the keyboard, I want to make use of the hold down and press a number feature, and customise this so that I can add custom symbols and combinations of diacritics and symbols.

[Re-Titled by Moderator]

Original Title: Add custom keyboard layouts for advanced characters

MacBook Pro 13″, macOS 10.15

Posted on Jun 3, 2025 2:00 PM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

Tom Gewecke

Level 10

122,022 points

Jun 4, 2025 2:20 AM in response to MaynardVesely

I think customizing press and hold may not be possible any more. But doing what you want via option key shortcuts is pretty easy with Ukelele.

There are also existing IPA keyboards at

https://scripts.sil.org/cms/scripts/page.php?id=uniipakeyboard&site_id=nrsi#79dbd88a

Are you really using MacOS 10.15 from 2019?

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Answer 2

Tom Gewecke

Level 10

122,022 points

Jun 4, 2025 5:52 PM in response to MaynardVesely

With such an old MacOS, customizing press and hold may still be possible, you can check this page:

https://apple.stackexchange.com/questions/20505/how-to-add-characters-to-the-press-and-hold-character-picker-in-os-x-lion?noredirect=1&lq=1

In Ukelele, you just make "dead keys". The normal US layout already has a bunch of them: If you type option e, for example, then various letters you type next will have an acute accent on them. Here is a chart of what the input source called ABC Extended provided by Apple can do:

https://sites.psu.edu/symbolcodes/mac/codemacext/

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Answer 3

Jun 4, 2025 4:20 PM in response to Tom Gewecke

Oh, with ukelele, if you can't press and hold, what is the best way to have a large set of letters tied to one key, as part of the problem I am having is finding a way to type one of many in letters in lots of different languages or alphabets without having to switch keyboards constantly, I can have a look at how the IPA keys work.

Haha yes I am, my main laptop is a 13 inch Mac Book Pro from 2012 and I don't think it's possible to run a later version of MacOS on it.

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How can I add custom keyboard layouts on MacBook Pro?

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