What's The BEST Keyboard Layout? 8 Alternatives To QWERTY 

Sorry to hear about the injury, but I'm happy you've learned a new layout through it and that you're happy with it now! 🥰

The main reason I'm happy to have switched to Dvorak is not that it's necessarily the best keyboard layout; rather, it opened my eyes to the importance of keyboard ergonomics and alternative layout possibilities. I'm very excited to use the thumb keys even more in my future keyboard layouts.

Nice! Thank you for commenting and sharing your experience! 🙆‍♂️

Sometimes you gotta try new things just for the sake of it. Thinking and acting the same way every day makes you soft 💪 A rolling stone gathers no moss.

@@advikdeshmukh805 You make some good points, and it certainly is advantageous to have a single, consistent keyboard standard. However, due to the variety of global languages and keyboard layouts, Qwerty is neither a single standard nor a consistent one. Therefore, alternative layouts have a place in many people's lives--although, as you point out, they also have numerous drawbacks. It is true that I cannot easily use a Qwerty keyboard ever since I switched to Dvorak, but that isn't really a problem, since I only rarely use any devices other than my own. As far as others using my keyboard, I simply switch the keyboard to Qwerty before they use it (it's a programmable keyboard, but I could also simply switch the operating system's keyboard). So an alternative layout works well for me, but perhaps will not much help others. Regardless of the keyboard layout, however, almost everyone will benefit from the ergonomics of a split and tented keyboard. I hope that ergonomic keyboards become more mainstream in the future, even if people stick with Qwerty.

@@advikdeshmukh805 I couldn't help but notice a number of logical inconsistencies in your comment, thus casting your statements into doubt. You state that you have been using Dvorak in addition to Qwerty for five years, and determined that it's not worth it. If it's not worth it, why are you still using Dvorak? In addition, you state that using Dvorak can be confusing for people trying to fix things on your computer. However, any repairperson worth their salt knows how to change the operating system's default keyboard language, and even if they don't, you shouldn't have any problem doing it for them, since you can easily switch back and forth. You also complain that computers in public places usually only use Qwerty. How is this a problem, if you can easily switch between the different layouts? I suppose you are probably making these arguments for the sake of others, who may be unable to switch back and forth as easily as you. But keep in mind that the only people who would even be considering a switch in the first place are serious keyboard enthusiasts or typists. These people tend to spend long hours on their computers, and are unlikely to run into the hypothetical scenarios you doscribe. For example, I myself touch-type in Dvorak and can no longer touch type in Qwerty. The primary value which I derive from using Dvorak is neither efficiency nor ergonomics (those come from my split, tented, and programmabre keyboard, not the layout of the keys), but the confidence of knowing that I can unlearn old habits and teach myself new habits. I am now more willing to try new things! When I need to use someone else's computer, it is usually for only a brief period, perhaps to type something into a search bar. In that case, the hunt-and-peck method is perfectly fine. If I need to type for an extended period of time on a computer that is not my own (and if I did not bring my Dvorak-programmed keyboard to plug in), I simply take a few seconds to add Dvorak as an operating system language. When I am done typing in Dvorak, I switch the internal language back to Qwerty so the original user has no problems whatsoever. And I will point out that it only took me about a week to learn Dvorak, and about a month to become proficient. I am not faster than I was with Qwerty, but I like the logical arrangement of the keys, so I have stuck with it. I don't think alternative keyboard layouts like Dvorak are necessarily good enough to justify casual computer users unlearning Qwerty, but I will definitely recommend that new typists learn an alternative layout like Dvorak from the get-go. Of course, an ergonomic keyboard layout (a split keyboard, with tented halves) is far more beneficial and obviously useful than Dvorak will ever be.

Thank you for your kind words! It's really a team effort to make a visually nice video with lots of useful information in it 😊

Awesome! Can you switch between that and QWERTY normally, or do you struggle when you have to go back? 🤔

@@DygmaLab I have no problem going back! Funny thing is that for qwerty I intuitively know where each letter is, so I can use it on the phone or with one hand. I learned Colemak DH with strict touch typing so I only know where the letters are when I use all fingers. This is a plus for me as it ensures I always use good form (used to have wrist problems before which was the reason I started looking into ergonomic keyboards, split keyboards and alternative keyboard layouts).

That's awesome, so many different layouts tried! 🥰

Cool! I guess working on IT adds a bit of difficult, specially if you have to work in different keyboards throughout the day 😅

I'm thinking maybe I'll stick with QWERTY for staggered keyboards, and learn a different layout for ortholinear keyboards. Then hopefully my muscle-memory will automatically learn separate sets of actions for the differently shaped objects.

@@andybrice2711 as long as you practice both regularly, I don’t think it’d be an issue, but I haven’t had a chance to switch yet

You're using a QMK/VIA keyboard right? Just make your Colemak variant a layer and switch with a shared hotkey.

@@jimmified The reason is because sculpted keycaps (which seems like it's 75% of all keycap profiles, and 90% of the sets you can find) won't let you switch letters between rows. 4eg Colemack variants usually move R from row 3 column 5, to row 2 column 3. In a keycap profile like OEM or Cherry, R would stick out above the rest of the row, making moving between keys difficult and your keyboard look janky. I ran into this problem personally when I tried to move to RSTLNE Modified with my custom GMMK2 96%. So I've been using it as a blind layer under QWERTY with a dedicated key to change layouts and a color profile to remind me which layout I'm using. I haven't gotten around to ordering a DSA or TEX format keycap set to flip that around yet...

Almost had it! "AMOUS" New mystery device is a mouse?! who could have seen this coming!!

@@Zivhayr Now it makes sense!

@@Zivhayr the DygMouse!

There might have been a small typo 😅 but @zivhayr got it 💪😊

@@DygmaLab Not one typo ;) If you're really making a mouse, will you also make version for left-handers? :)

Thank you!!

That's good advice. Check for what language the layout was first designed for and the thought process behind it 🤔

@@DygmaLab Not only language. Ppl have different preferences on what they want their typing style to be. For example whether you wanna "drum" your left and right hands like in dvorak or roll all over the place like colemak/others.

@@janmagtoasthey, could you elaborate on what "drumming" means? Or point me out to a source.

@@thedog5k when you compare colemak and dvorak for example you either have a very "drumming" or "rolling" focused typing style. for drumming you usually hit one letter per hand before switching to the next hand which ends up feeling like you're drumming on your keyboard when you go fast (very common in dvorak since bigrams are usually split on two hands due to vowels being grouped on one hand) and on colemak you usually "roll" more often. like you hit a few keys on one hand and then move over to the next hand. obviously you have all kinds of motions on your keyboards while typing but some layouts favor rolling more than drumming. and also some people enjoy drumming more, some enjoy rolling more.

@@janmagtoast but, it's very hard to know what you prefer before learning a few (2-3) alt layouts, and if didn't pick optimal style for you, you will get quickly used to new style. some layouts are created with really extreme philosophy (like semimak with lowering sfb&dsfb >> anything else, so it has huge right pinky load). canary was created to be well enough for everyone, just like colemak, and it made pinky usage very low because a lot of qwerty typists don't use pinky. regarding roll/alt philosophy, dvorak actually has quite a lot of rolls, and in akl community roll is classified as 2 keys on one hand and switch to another hand, and 3 keys on one hand and then switching is consider slightly negative stat. overall, it's a bad idea to compare stats and it's ALSO bad to just read philosophies and trying to decide for yourself -- just pick colemak if you want more compatibility, or any of the modern layouts if you want best layout - you won't know the difference and you will get used to new style anyway. there is a lot of info on discord and here bit.ly/keyboard-layouts-doc ps: dvorak is VERY BAD layout, qwerty with good enough style is better than dvorak, no one should learn dvorak in 2023, you might not agree, but it's a fact. and i'm a very fast dvorak typist myself.

Thank you! We've got a great video team 😊

That's awesome! Tell us how it goes when you try it on your computer 😍

Aw, I just watched that video recently, such an interesting layout. Did not try it yet, but definitely worth it. We discussed the layout together on our Discord Channel too 🤔

Nah I like Dvorak.

the metric used is kinda useless a long way with a dominant finger is more desireable than a click with the pinky

Great suggestion, we really want to have that in the near future! The problem is that the units we have are not final, but prototypes and this may change the sound of it. We are going to have the final units soon and we will make sound tests 🥰

That's awesome! Keep going and tell us how it goes 🙌

Thanks for sharing! We included Bepo in our software for those who want to customize it 😊

@@DygmaLab Ooooh! I like your ortho split keyboard, I like that you offer blank keycaps and my very favorite switches kailh box white ! I have the Xbows but rarely use it because of the keys columns being too far apart, I have to strech my fingers too much and even if they are quite long, it fatigues me.

Nice! Thank you for sharing that with us 🙆‍♂️

Thank you very much for sharing your story! I'm delighted that you've found the layout that meets your needs. I completely agree with you; each of us should strive to discover the ideal layout for ourselves. Though it may take time, the reward is unquestionably worth it! 😊

Cool! Bring Your Own Urself? 🥰

I think Engram is interesting for a split ortho layout but I can't get behind why the C key is where it is. Do you have any reasoning for that?

@@Z.DeAllen The layout tries to maximize finger rolling, but that does result in higher pinky finger usage. 'C' being where it is means you get to type words like "science", "cease", "count" (and so on) by rolling your fingers going from pinky to index finger.

Are you try mtgap?

How do you feel about Engram? Are you still a fan? I'm pretty convinced that I will be swapping to it now I've got a glove80 keyboard.

Thank you ❤️

Thanks for the comment! Good for you, not only for adopting the layout that works better for you in English but also for taking the extra step and adapting to your day-to-day tasks! My guess here is that you'll keep on modifying the layout as time goes by and that's great. Keep innovating, and, who knows, maybe the next layout we discuss is the MysticCat 😉

Some people claim that they are able to keep their qwerty muscle memory while learning other layouts. Specially if the type of keyboard is different. Like use qwerty on staggered keyboards and colemak on split columnar.

Dvorak layout is available out of the box in every major OS, including android and iOS... Also the best is to keep qwerty hardware while using software mapping for any of your changes as low level hardware is easier in qwerty. The good thing is that I don't need to type at 150wpm in my bios...

Cool! If that works for you, and you're happy with it, there's nothing against it! 🤤

what modifications did you make? I just used the punctuation layer to add ß, ü, ö and ä so I didn't change the colemak dh layer at all (just replaced the ; key with an underscore as I am programming Ruby which has much more underscores than semicolons)

Totally agree with that! I'm happy that you don't have pain anymore 🫶

Oh, yeah! It would be amazing if we could learn about all these options before having QWERTY printed on our brains. I think it would be much easier to get used to the new layouts if we were presented to them way sooner 🤔

Thank you! There's a world to explore regarding layouts 🗺️😊

That is a good idea. That way switching to a normal keyboard would be like using a completely different set of muscle memory.

Congratulations! A colleague at the office also customized Colemak to include a more reachable ñ for Spanish. We call it ColeÑak 😅

There's different ways. You can do manually assign each key or install that layout as your input language on the computer. Here's a video that explains it 😊 ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-HnBLoZGkPgc.html

Glad you found a layout you liked! We'll check out the one you suggest :-)

Nice! Sounds like a great layout 🥰

@@DygmaLab Thanks. I also have a variant for Spanish and English that kicks asses. Ask me if you are interested to know more.

Nice choice! Enjoy the journey!

did you learn it? i also started using it 2 days ago and im typing this with dvorak too :D

The representation would be a little bit different, but the heat map itself wouldn't change, as it reflects the number % of times a letter is being pressed. Colemak or any other layout stays the same on columnar. That said, it would be interesting to see that representation, we'll give it a go 😊

🤯🤯

That makes super sense! Who know,s maybe AI will create a new layout that we're all going to use and love in the near future 🥰

there is a bunch of layout that AI generated: halmak, mtgap... Nothing new from your comment

Dvorak puts vowels under right hand, I type in syllables. Qwerty makes no sense.

So many people like that layout, one of the best, for sure!💪

Thank you, those are some great insights! 🙏🧐

And even though it might not be ideal, QWERTY works All the layouts are valid, but it's always nice knowing the alternatives, even if you don't adopt the whole layout, you can always make some small changes 😊

Try to find one or two you think that fits you better and try them. Don't be scared of failing! If you find that layout is not for you, change and try till you find the one 😜

So did you get used to use the right hand mouse even being left handed? Is not worth it to you now to change to a left handed mouse?

​@@DygmaLab I had little choice, I had to make do with a MS 2.0 serial port mouse shaped for RH use. The asymmetrical shape made it too awkward to use LH. That was 30 years ago, then I learnt to touch type in 2000. So it's no use changing to a LH mouse configuration. The advantage of it, is that I can use a mouse with my RH and write with my LH.

We don't have, unfortunately. We have a typing channel on our Discord where people discuss how to get better at typing and all that. Maybe you could check it out.

That's something that happens to many people that game a lot (or gamed in the past). The left hand is more keyboard-dexterous than the right.

@@DygmaLab😂 I have hardly ever gamed in my life. Just typed a lot. Is there an insight of why this is so?

@@PierreJohnsonOnline si tu étudies la position des mains "by the book" sur un clavier tu verras que la main droite a bien plus de touches et d'espace à couvrir en général. Ce qu'il faut chercher à optimiser c'est le chemin parcouru par tes doigts en fonction du type de contenu que tu produis. Perso je programme et écris beaucoup en français/anglais/portugais donc j'ai un dovrak+adaptations internationales. Dans tous les cas, AZERTY n'est vraiment pas un bon layout.

However I did use a full keyboard with a number pad on the right.

Effectivement@@loicjeannin6233 et AZERTY n'es pas le meilleure disposition pour qui travaille en français et en anglais. Ce W à gauche en anglais et ce Z aussi sur QWERTY. Il faut que j'essaie d'autres dispositions. Mais c'est difficile aussi de changer. J'ai MINIMAK et OPTIMOT dans ma liste.

Thank you! We'll check it out!

Hi! Great to hear you found your prefered layout 😊 That's a pretty annoying downside, and is also great to know those little personal stories, thanks a lot for sharing!

Nah, we only do keyboard videos 😇

Step by step! I'm sure that if you practice you'll achieve 80wpm soon 💪 And I encourage you to also try Norman, as it is such a great layout

You should call it the FATED layout. Sounds amazing, there's a video of a guy that did the same thing but thinking in his language and usage, a cool looking video: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-dGfTFkSdm1s.html

FATED HJKL FATED VIM Looks like your layout isnt capable of exiting Vim !

We're trying to "develop" a Spanish variation. We call it ColeÑak 😅

@@DygmaLab Haha

@@DygmaLab jajaja me encanta!

That's the Dygma Defy (dygma.com/defy)

It's also important to understand that the most common bigrams are different on each language. So a layout can be great for English and terrible for Spanish. It's a try and fail process, but every try is a pain 😅

Hi, what keyboard layout are you using now?

And how is it going? Do you like Dvorak?

​@@DygmaLab it is a pity I could not swap [Ctrl] Z to [Ctrl] Q (- [Ctrl] undo -) and the rest of the [Ctrl] cut (X), copy (C), paste (V). I only been 4 days on it, but then that would mess up other [Ctrl] functions. So then temporary stickers would be the answer until you get used of it.

Thank you, we're going to add it! 🤤

It's a slightly modified layout, but still, they are flipped, sorry about that 🙏

Thanks to layers, you can try that with a programmable keyboard like the Raise or the Defy 😊

@@DygmaLab good idea, i think ill try that

That's a lot of languages!! And yes until we have something that directly reads our minds, we're gonna need keyboards for while 😊

Standardized keyboards can have their perks 😊

AK...Alternative Keyboard?

We don't know that one, actually. HalMak, for example, is a combination of Hal-9000 because it's AI generated and somewhat an homage to Dvorak. Maybe all of them use the -mak ending as homage, because the guy who invented colemak, for example, is named Coleman 😅

That would be amazing indeed, thank you for the suggestion❤️

Thank you for your comment and your experience on the matter, Duncan! You're totally right, people should focus on the comfort and not the speed when considering new layouts!

The open ended question in this video, of putting letters on a thumb key, expands layout composition quite significantly. For those serious about exploring this concept, I'd recommend the most frequent letter in your language's alphabet (for English that would be e) is set to a thumb key that is located on the half, of the keyboard, opposite to the thumb used for space (character).

muahhahaha 😈 No but actually, let us know how it goes!

@@DygmaLab My fingers are a bit sore from the effort of trying to force them to the right spot. I'm not exactly sure if this was worse than when I switched to Dvorak on a lark, but I will complain about GBoard's version of Colemak not having quote marks on the first layer.

Wow I hope sore from the workout and not from poor ergonomics 😳

@@DygmaLab Nah, same keyboard, I'm probably just too tense. Part of it is also the multiple corrections from my fingers wanting to go one way, but then having to reverse course to where the actual letter is.

Changing layouts can be a ball-ache. You really have to commit when you do so, and have a good reason to! If not, you'll just get frustrated and end up switching back, like what you did. But it's good to have these options :)

That is true. Fast is a byproduct.

Dvorak is such a good layout, and as always, the difficult part is to get used to it, but when you are already there it's just practice, practice and practice! 💪

Not that we know of. Dominique stars, co-hosts and even make special appearances. All in the same video 😲

To be honest this is the first time I hear about this one. The idea is very good "What is the minimum change that I can make in order to bring the most benefits". Changing P to a semicolon is something that should be standard 😂😂 I'll give it a try, thank you for sharing!

I could say that a lot of folks convert to Colemak or Colemak-DH and create layers to suit their needs with symbols and all that. You could also do that with other different layouts 😉 Maybe you can get some insights from this video here, we have some programmers commenting on how they use their Raise: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-hsQONFusqgk.html

Programmer Dvorak

You're right, Qwerty is prevalent, which correlates to more people using them in writing challenges, but our point is that if Dvorak was clearly faster, they would switch to it to have an edge.

Hello! It is unclear, but the more supported hypothesis is the one about the keyboard being made for telegraphers. The first big customer for the inventors was the Telegraphists School of Chicago, where Thomas Edison scoffed at the invention 😅 Then, the other hypothesis, like the jamming prevention and the fact that you can "typewritter" with the top row which made the invention easy to sell became popular. Thought the claims might have been made at some point, the other hyopthesis seems more cohesive.

There's a post on reddit that can help you with that 💪 www.reddit.com/r/KeyboardLayouts/comments/i2ubvb/best_keyboard_layout_for_german_english/

I know right? Help us get more views, please! 🙏

Maybe you can try a layout I found on Reddit called Colemary, it is a mix of Colemak and Canary 🤔

@@DygmaLab Fascinating! I didn't know that existed! Thanks!

@@DygmaLab Where is it? I can't find it, sorry!

Don't worry, I saw it here www.reddit.com/r/Colemak/comments/15d4vwi/thoughts_on_my_colemary_layout_context_in_the/

We'll need to make a part 2 of this video 💪

The most difficult part of this is getting used to it, after that, everything are advantages 😜

Good for you! Did it took you very long to get used to it? Some have been trying here, but it has some problem when adapting it to Spanish and we're still figuring out 😅

@@DygmaLab Relatable, I had to adapt it to Icelandic by changing the Þ and Ð locations. I think the reason why I adapted to within a couple of months was because I never knew how to touch type on qwerty and the left hand location there felt flimsy. Many years later I type 70 wpm (I doubt I will ever go above that). If you're good at typing on qwerty it's probably going to be harder to learn any new keyboard layout.

Very interesting point. It makes a lot of sense, the more engraved something is in your brain, the harder it is to change it. That's something worth some tests, thanks a lot for sharing the experience, it was very enlighting!

Absolutely, shortcuts on non-QWERTY keyboards can be a significant adjustment. It's a valid point that Coleman made an effort to maintain consistency with commonly used shortcuts, lessening the pain points of transition. Appreciate your perspective!

New layouts on tablets would be awesome too! 🙆‍♂️

It is true that qwerty is quite established, but who knows? everything can change 😜

It doesn't matter much. When you're programming you aren't typing a lot of text, you're using a lot of shortcuts like ctrl-space and other keys like arrows, tab, enter Remap those on a separate layer along with symbols you need and you'll be fine with whatever layout

As a programmer using Dvorak for 20+ years, I tend to be very biased :) that said, try those layouts yourself it's very much a personal preference at this point. Any one of them is MUCH better than qwerty.

@@NJ-wb1cz makes so much sense!! thanks

@@loicjeannin6233 very insightful thnx!!

@@NJ-wb1czsorry to disagree but layout still matters; most of your function/method/attributes names are English words. If you're copy pasting most of your code then you probably need the optimized stackoverflow keyboard.

Thank you for your feedback Liravin. We'll consider that information in the future 🙋‍♂️

Don't get us started on that 🤣

@@DygmaLab Pandemic was hard for all of us, don’t blame you 😂

Oops! 🙊

We really hope it takes a long time 😋

There are some myths regarding how qwerty came together. The jamming thing would need the opposite: avoiding keys that are close together. Another topic is the staggered layout: that was due to the keys being levers that you pushed. Columnar is much more ergonomic but you couldn't build a typewriter like that. The J would be on the way of the M lever.

@@DygmaLab Yes. Thats what I mean. I have used a mechanical typewriter and jamming is a thing. 😄

I'm the same but with a columnar keyboard 😅

Engram is such a great option if you write in english 💪

Kinda but yes 😂

Not everyone agrees, but that's what makes it great! There are different layouts to suit all preferences 💪

There is a hidden message and it is in Colemak 😋

Might be too specialized in German language. Although it had layers implemented even back in the day ^^

We missed some of the not so known layouts and tried to keep on the most used ones 😅

@@DygmaLab makes sense, it's just that you always look out for mentions of your niche things 😏

Our bad, W should be between M and V, and V and Z one column to the right 😅

👀

Hi, there! It's true in the sense that is easier for the hands. When it comes to typing, of course we tend to use the index, finger and ring way more than the pinkies, sorry for the congussion 😅

What do you mean? You don't like QWERTY or the invention of the new layouts? 🤔

Makes sense. Sometimes it's better to stick with what we're used to already 🤷‍♂️

Typing with Colemak DH since a year and it didn't impact my qwerty muscle memory yet. But your mileage may vary!

@@mike78at I had a lot of mistakes and it's make like 1-2week to go straight so I gave up because I want use QWERTY also (because its default layout so it's must) and don't enough time to bridging gap between the two.

As I remember qwerty memory persisted at least first five years since I've switched to Dvorak. It's been 15 years now and I've been surprised I actually lost it.

Maybe you didn't mean to write columnar but something else?

😂😂😂😂😂

I got lost on the second "Not sure how I'd deal with" 😂

Yes, Dominique is from the Philippines 😊

@@DygmaLab Fellow kababayan hehe 🇵🇭 🇵🇭 🇵🇭

With a programmable keyboard like the Dygma Raise or the Defy you can create your personalized layouts. For example, we have created our variation of Colemak that we call ColeÑak (Ñ is the most distinctive character of our language) 😅

What is your first language?

Have you tried the left-handed version of Dvorak? 🤔