Frequently asked questions

The recommended option is the Microsoft Store app: no admin rights, automatic updates, built-in virtual keyboard and character search. If the Store is blocked (for example on a company computer), a signed MSIX package allows a direct installation. A classic EXE installer is also available for PCs without the Store.

→ Go to the download page

No, not with the Microsoft Store app — it installs without admin rights and without any SmartScreen warning. Only the classic EXE installer requires admin rights.

Yes! AZERTY Global is available on Windows, macOS (10.12+) and Linux (Ubuntu, Debian, Fedora, Arch...).

→ Download for your platform

Microsoft Store app

Right-click the AG icon in the taskbar → Launch at Windows startup.

EXE installer

If Windows switches back to your old layout after a restart, remove the keyboard layouts you no longer need (Settings → Time & language → Language & region → French (⋯) → Language options → Keyboards), or set AZERTY Global as the default input method in Settings → Typing → Advanced keyboard settings.

macOS and Linux

Once added, AZERTY Global stays available after a restart. Remove the layouts you no longer use so it remains the active one.

Yes. A keyboard layout is independent from the display language of your system: you can use AZERTY Global on a Windows, macOS or Linux system set to English or any other language.

Yes for ZQSD movement. The physical keys do not move, so your controls stay in place. The Microsoft Store app can pause itself on some anti-cheat protected games to avoid any ban risk.

→ Known cases and solutions on the compatibility page

Yes. A keyboard layout works system-wide: browsers, office suites, code editors, chat apps... Everything that accepts text input uses your active layout.

Only 5 things — and each one makes typing easier:

• Smart Caps Lock — É, È, Ç, À in one key press
• Direct period access — period and semicolon swapped
• @ and # on the top-left key, where ² usually is
• Programming symbols on the home row — { } [ ] | \ with AltGr
• International accents on the ù key — acute ´, grave ` and tilde ~

All the letters and numbers stay where they are: 99% of your habits preserved.

→ Learn the 5 changes in 2 minutes

Most users are comfortable within a few hours. The 5 changes are quick to memorize; the reflexes settle in after a few days of use.

Less than 1% of your keystrokes will be different! The letters and numbers do not move.

When you press a key, your keyboard sends a key number to the computer, not a letter. The layout — a software setting of your system — decides which letter or symbol appears. "AZERTY" is simply the layout used in France, named after the first six letters of its top row.

Because it is all software, it can be improved without changing your keyboard: AZERTY Global replaces your computer's AZERTY while keeping your letters and most symbols in place — only a few characters become easier to reach.

No. AZERTY Global is purely software: your current keyboard works perfectly. The letters (A-Z) and numbers do not move. Stickers can help during the first days but are not required — printable PDF files are included in the download.

Turn Caps Lock on and press the é, è, à or ç key. With AZERTY Global, Caps Lock only affects letters — so it produces É, È, À, Ç in one key press instead of numbers.

Capital accented letters are required in proper French ("État", "À bientôt", "Ça va") — schools and style guides agree on this.

AltGr + W for « and AltGr + X for ».

French typography also uses a narrow non-breaking space before ? ! : ; and inside quotation marks: it is on AltGr + Space (regular non-breaking space: AltGr + Shift + Space).

œ (as in "cœur"): AltGr + O — æ: AltGr + A.

En dash –: AltGr + T — em dash —: AltGr + Shift + T.

Well over one hundred Latin-script languages, including:

• 🇪🇸 Spanish: ñ, ¿, ¡
• 🇩🇪 German: ä, ö, ü, ß
• 🇵🇹 Portuguese: ã, õ, ç
• 🇮🇹 Italian: à, è, ì, ò, ù
• 🇩🇰🇸🇪 Nordic languages: þ, ø, å
• 🌍 African languages: over 75 characters for Wolof, Bambara, Yoruba, Hausa, Ewe and more (ɛ, ɔ, ŋ, ɲ…)
• 🇵🇱🇨🇿🇭🇺🇷🇴🇹🇷 And many more...

A dead key types an accent first, then applies it to the next letter you press. Example: ´ then A → á.

• Acute ´: key right of M → á, í, ó, ú
• Grave `: Shift + key right of M → ì, ò, ù
• Tilde ~: AltGr + key right of M → ñ, ã, õ
• Diaeresis ¨ and circumflex ^: unchanged from the traditional AZERTY → ä, ö, ü, â, ê…

→ Full list in the quick guide

At any time — your original layout is never modified.

Microsoft Store app

Press Ctrl + Shift + Caps Lock to turn AZERTY Global off instantly, or right-click the AG tray icon. To remove it: Win + I → Apps → Installed apps → "AZERTY Global" → Uninstall.

EXE installer

Press Win + Space to switch layouts, or remove AZERTY Global in Settings → Time & language → Language & region → French (⋯) → Language options.

macOS and Linux

Select your previous layout again in your system settings and remove AZERTY Global from your input sources.

Yes and yes. AZERTY Global is free and open source, licensed under EUPL 1.2 (a European free software license). The source code is available on GitHub. No account, no telemetry, no hidden cost.

AZERTY Global never logs, stores or transmits your keystrokes. The Microsoft Store app has no telemetry, requires no account, and its usage statistics are 100% local to your device — nothing is ever transmitted.

The whole project is open source: you (or your IT department) can audit it on GitHub.

AZERTY Global was created by Antoine Olivier, president of the AMCF (Association pour la Modernisation du Clavier Français), a French nonprofit association. The project has been developed as free software since 2017.

→ Questions or feedback? [email protected] or Discord