Typing Tibetan on a Mac

Nothing to install: the Tibetan keyboard is part of macOS.

How to Type Tibetan on a Mac – Built-in Wylie Keyboard + Tibetan Fonts - watch on YouTube

1. Open System Settings, then Keyboard. Under Text Input, choose Input Sources, then Edit.
2. Press +, search for Tibetan, choose Tibetan – Wylie and press Add.
3. Switch keyboards with the globe key, bottom left of your keyboard, or from the keyboard menu at the top of the screen.
4. Type: sangs rgyas becomes སངས་རྒྱས། Switch back before you answer an email!

• Lost? From the keyboard menu, choose Show Keyboard Viewer: it shows which key gives which letter.
• Stacks that are not standard Tibetan, as in Sanskrit, need the stacking key between the letters: hold Shift and press the key just left of Delete, whatever is printed on it (on an English keyboard it is the + key). For instance: pad, then the stacking key, then ma gives པདྨ

On a French (AZERTY) keyboard

The Mac's Tibetan keyboard follows the English key positions, not the letters printed on your keys.

Tibetan – Wylie (AZERTY)The simplest: install this free keyboard. It is Apple's Tibetan – Wylie with every key following the letters printed on a French keyboard, so nothing below applies.Download and install guide (in French)

Or keep Apple's keyboard, and remember that a few keys differ:

To type	press the key marked
a	Q
q	A
z	W
w	Z
m	,
'	ù
.	:
/	!

Every other letter is where you expect it. In doubt, Show Keyboard Viewer in the keyboard menu shows each key. The Windows keyboard follows the active layout, AZERTY included.

Guide and videos by Frère Jérémy, from the classical Tibetan course organised by Padmakara and led by Wulstan Fletcher.