How can I quickly change the keyboard language in macOS Sierra?

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Level 1

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How can I quickly change the keyboard language in macOS Sierra?

I would like to switch between keyboard languages quickly on my MacBook, such as a keystroke. On Windows computers you can switch between keyboard languages by pressing Ctrl + Shift or Alt + Shift. I haven't found such an option for macOS Sierra.

The only way I see to switch between keyboard languages is by clicking the flag at the top and clicking the other language. It may not take too much time, but it's a hassle when I want to switch in and out of another language quickly.

I've read that there was an option to switch keyboard languages in previous versions of macOS.

MacBook Air, macOS Sierra (10.12.2)

Posted on Dec 28, 2016 11:24 AM

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Answer 1

Best reply

raina_b22

Community Specialist

Dec 29, 2016 6:57 AM in response to cameronbeef

Hi cameronbeef,

I understand that you're looking to quickly switch between languages while typing on your Mac. I'd like to outline some other possible ways to do this aside from using the Input menu like you mentioned.

Take a look at the following information:

Switch between input sources

To switch between input sources, do any of the following:

Use the Input menu: Click the Input menu in the menu bar, then choose an input source. If an input source is dimmed, the current app doesn’t support it.

Use the Caps Lock key: Press the Caps Lock key to switch between a non-Latin input source (such as Chinese or Korean) and a Latin input source (such as French or English).

To use this method, you must select the “Use Caps Lock to switch to and from” option in the Input Sources pane. Choose Apple menu > System Preferences, click Keyboard, then click Input Sources.

Use keyboard shortcuts: Press Option-Control-Space bar to select the next input source in the Input menu, or Control-Space bar to select the previous input source.

macOS Sierra: Use input sources to type in other languages
Take care!

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Answer 2

Tom Gewecke

Level 10

115,836 points

Dec 29, 2016 7:14 AM in response to cameronbeef

cameronbeef wrote:

I've read that there was an option to switch keyboard languages in previous versions of macOS.

Before El Capitan, the standard shortcut for this was Command + Space. Depending on how you update to Sierra, you could still have this as your shortcut. But if you have a new install of Sierra, it should be Control + Space, as described in the info provided by becky_s22.

You can make it pretty much whatever you want in system preferences/keyboard/shortcuts.

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