Add the English International Keyboard in Windows 10/11

Add the Windows US-International Keyboard

by | Jan 7, 2025 | Windows Tips and Resources

Looking for a straightforward way to type accented characters, umlauts, and other special characters? Find out here how to enable the US-English International keyboard layout in Windows 10 and Windows 11.

First, a Cool Coolship

Yeast is added, of course, to ferment the boiled wort to make beer—except, of course, when it is not.

For lambic beer, that boiling wort (a malt infusion), simply sits atop a building in a coolship. In that vessel that allows for a large liquid surface area, the wort cools over days and hours. During that time, local yeast fungi naturally infest and make the beer for a unique and local flavor.

Now, to easily type one of those beers’ names—Tilquin Oude Mûre à l’Ancienne—on your keyboard with Windows, let’s add the U.S.-International keyboard:

How to Add the US-English International Keyboard Layout in Windows

In Windows 11

Time needed: 3 minutes

To enable the United States-International keyboard layout—which comes with Windows keyboard shortcuts for umlaut characters—for Windows 11:

  1. Open the Start menu.

  2. Select Settings.

    Windows keyboard shortcut: You can open Windows settings by pressing Windows I.

  3. Go to the Time & Language category.

  4. Now open Language & region.

  5. Under Language, click the three dots next to English (United States).

    Non-U.S.: If you use a different variant of English (or a different language altogether), do use the three-dots menu for that language, of course; you can still choose between your local keyboard layout and U.S.-international.

  6. Click Language options.

    Choose “Language options” in Windows settings

  7. Now click Add a keyboard under Keyboards.

  8. Find and click United States-International in the menu that has appeared.

    Select “United States-International” to add the US-International keyboard layout to Windows

In Windows 10

To add the US International keyboard layout to Windows 10:

  1. Select Settings from the Windows Start menu.
  2. Go to Time & Language.
  3. Open Language.
  4. Click your current Windows language under Preferred languages.
  5. Click Options.
    Open language settings in Windows 10 to add a keyboard layout
  6. Under Keyboards, click Add a keyboard.
  7. Select United States-International.
    Add the United States-International keybaord layout to Windows

Using Linux? How to Change the Keyboard Layout on Linux

Switch to the US-English International Keyboard

To make use of the US-International keyboard once you have added it to Windows:

  1. Use the Windows keyboard layout shortcut to cycle through available keyboard and language combinations.
  2. Let go when United States-International appears in the second line of the highlighted language and key layout combination.

How to Enable the US-English International Keyboard Layout in Windows: FAQ

Why would I enable the United States-International keyboard layout?

The U.S.-International keyboard layout is very similar to the standard U.S. keyboard, but comes with a few additions that make it easier to type characters in a few international languages:

What does the US-English International keyboard layout look like?

Find here downloadable United States Internaltional keyboard layout PDF:

United States-International Keyboard Layout for Windows

(How to enable the US-English International keyboard tested with Windows 11 Version 22H2–24H2 and Windows 10 Version 21H1; first published September 2021, last updated January 2025)

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