The ʻokina and kahakō can be produced on any Mac, but the Hawaiian letters and symbols are much easier to type with the proper keyboard. Find out here how to add a Hawaiian keyboard layout to your Mac.
First, Where Would I Find Enough Cleaning Fluid?
You have, for sure, come across Śāntideva’s memorable mataphor of putting on shoes instead of trying to cover the world in leathery cushions. What happens when you return from your adventures with those leathered boots, though? You carry all the earth and soil that is so wonderful outside—inside, where it isn’t.
Now, one could follow those soily steps all around the house with a broom and shovel to carry the pieces and particles of dirt back out one by one—or do what people in Hawaii (and famously in Japan, of course) practice and instead take off the shoes outside.
Speaking of the islands, how about putting on a Hawaiian glove for writing instead of cleaning up after a non-native keyboard?
How to Add the Hawaiian Keyboard Layout on a Mac
Time needed: 3 minutes
To enable the Hawaiian English keyboard layout for macOS on a Mac:
- Open System Settings (or System Preferences) on the Mac.
Here’s how: Select System Settings… from the Apple logo menu, for instance.
- Open the Keyboard category.
- Select Edit… for Input Sources (under Text Input).
Monterey and earlier: On macOS Monterey 12 and earlier, go to the Text Input tab.
- Click the plus sign (+) at the bottom.
- Highlight Hawaiian in the list.
Search: You can type
Hawaiianin the Search field, of course, to collapse the lengthy list of keyboard layouts to the Hawaiian. - Click Add.
- Optional: Remove all other input sources to use Hawaiian as the default and only layout.
Here’s how: Highlight the other configured input sources one after the other, then click the minus sign –.
- Click Done.
Switch to the Hawaiian Keyboard
To switch a Mac to the Hawaiian keyboard once it is one of the options:
- Press Control Space and keep the Control key pressed.
- Now press Space until Hawaiian highlights in the on-screen menu.
- Release the Control key.
Shortcut: There are shortcuts for the shortcut, too. Press Control Space to switch to the next keyboard layout and Control Option Space to select the previous keyboard layout in the list without ever bringing up the list.
Using the Input Sources Menu
You can also use the menu bar to switch to the Hawaiian keyboard layout, of course:
- Click the current input language and keyboard layout in the menu bar.
Here’s where: The menu item shows a flag or other representation for the language or language variant, optionally together with the input source name.
No input sources menu: If you do not see the input sources menu at all, open Input Sources in System Settings (see above) and turn on Show Input menu in menu bar for All Input Sources.
- Select Hawaiian from the menu.
How to Add the Hawaiian Keyboard Layout to a Mac: FAQ
What are the differences between the U.S-English and the Hawaiian keyboard?
The Hawaiian keyboard layout provides easy access to a few oft-used characters.
The okina replaces the single quote, and shortcuts for letters with the kahako mostly replace prefix keys (for accents and the tilde for the eñe, for instance).
| U.S.-English Keyboard | Hawaiian Keyboard |
|---|---|
| å | ā (a with kahakō, Option A) |
| ´ | ē (e with kahakō, Option E) |
| ˆ | ī (i with kahakō, Option I) |
| ø | ō (o with kahakō, Option O) |
| ¨ | ū (u with kahakō, Option U) |
| ‘ | ʻ (ʻokina) |
| æ | ‘ (single quotation mark, Option ') |
How can I enter the single quote character with the Hawaiian layout?
To type a single (straight) quote with the Hawaiian keyboard on a Mac:
- press Option ʻ (ʻokina).
(How to add the Hawaiian keyboard layout to a Mac tested with macOS Sonoma 14.3 and Ventura 13.3; updated April 2024)