---
title: How To - Set up Your Computer for a Keyman Keyboard
---

Keyman will automatically set up your computer for best performance with
most Keyman keyboards. However, for best performance on some keyboards
you may need to manually associate your Keyman keyboard with a Windows
language and layout.

## Benefits of Association

Correctly associating your Keyman keyboard has three main benefits.

1.  When a Keyman keyboard and Windows language are correctly
    associated, turning one on will activate the other. You won't need
    to adjust both every time you want to use your Keyman keyboard.

2.  When a Windows layout and a Keyman keyboard are correctly
    associated, you can be sure you are using a Keyman keyboard as it
    was designed. This is especially helpful if you are using a
    non-English hardware keyboard as your Windows layout. For example,
    if you are using a Spanish, French, or German hardware keyboard.

3.  When a Windows language and a Keyman keyboard are correctly
    associated, your computer will know which language the keyboard is
    using. This is helpful for many reasons:

    -   Applications will know which typing direction to use,
        left-to-right or right-to-left. This is necessary for
        right-to-left languages like Arabic, Hebrew, and Farsi.

    -   Applications will know how characters and symbols should be
        rendered. This is partucularly necessary for many Indian
        languages.

    -   Applications will know which language tools to use when spell
        checking what you type.

## Association instructions

**Note:** Keyman allows you to associate multiple Windows languages to a keyboard.

1.  Click on the Keyman icon ![](../desktop_images/icon-keyman.png), on the
    Windows Taskbar near the clock.

2.  From the Keyman menu, select Configuration….

3.  Select the Keyboard Layouts tab.

    ![](../desktop_images/tab-keyboards.png)

4.  Click on the down arrow
    (![](../desktop_images/keyboards-downarrow.png)) beside the keyboard
    name.

5.  Click the Add language button on the left side under 'Languages:'

    ![](../desktop_images/tab-layout.png)

6.  From the pop up window, search for the Windows langauge you would
    like to use and click OK

    ![](../desktop_images/language-association.png)

7.  To remove an association, hover over the language name, and click
    the ![](../desktop_images/icon-uninstall.png) button that appears.

## Related Topics

-   [How To - Download and Install a Keyman Keyboard](download-and-install-keyboard)
-   [How To - Set up MS Office for a Keyman Keyboard](configure_office)
-   [How To - Find the Best Fonts for a Keyman Keyboard](font)
-   [How To - Type in Right-to-Left Languages](rtl)
-   [Keyboard Task - Turn on a Keyboard](../basic/select-keyboard)
