Farsi on the Windows Persian layout, with the four letters Arabic lacks and the half-space Persian needs.
Persian words to try
Tap a word to put it in the box above, or type it yourself with the keys shown.
| Word | Meaning | Keys |
|---|---|---|
| Hello | S G H L | |
| Thanks | L L K , K | |
| Goodbye | O N H P H T Z | |
| Iran | H D V H K | |
| I want (with the half-space) | L D Shift+B O , H I L |
Which key types which Persian letter
Every key on an English (US) keyboard and what it types on this persian keyboard. The same table is printed on the caps above, in the corner of each key.
| Your key | Types | With Shift |
|---|---|---|
| Q | ض | ◌ْ |
| W | ص | ◌ٌ |
| E | ث | ◌ٍ |
| R | ق | ◌ً |
| T | ف | ◌ُ |
| Y | غ | ◌ِ |
| U | ع | ◌َ |
| I | ه | ◌ّ |
| O | خ | ] |
| P | ح | [ |
| [ | ج | } |
| ] | چ | { |
| \ | پ | | |
| A | ش | ؤ |
| S | س | ئ |
| D | ی | ي |
| F | ب | إ |
| G | ل | أ |
| H | ا | آ |
| J | ت | ة |
| K | ن | » |
| L | م | « |
| ; | ک | : |
| ' | گ | ؛ |
| Z | ظ | ك |
| X | ط | ◌ٓ |
| C | ز | ژ |
| V | ر | ◌ٰ |
| B | ذ | ZWNJ |
| N | د | ◌ٔ |
| M | ئ | ء |
| , | و | < |
Persian is not Arabic with four extra letters
Persian (Farsi) is written in a script adapted from Arabic, and the two share most letter shapes. But Persian adds four letters for sounds Arabic lacks, and it writes two common letters differently. A keyboard set to Arabic will produce text that looks almost right and breaks searches, sorting and spell-checkers.
| Persian | Sound or role | Key here | Arabic counterpart |
|---|---|---|---|
| پ | p | \ | none (Arabic uses ب) |
| چ | ch | ] | none |
| ژ | zh, as in "measure" | Shift + C | none |
| گ | hard g | ' | none |
| ی | ye, no dots at the end of a word | D | ي (Arabic yeh, dotted) |
| ک | k | ; | ك (Arabic kaf) |
Persian ی and ک look almost identical to Arabic ي and ك but are different characters. Text typed with the Arabic ones will not match a Persian search.
The half-space (ZWNJ)
Persian often needs to stop two letters from joining without putting a full space between them. The plural suffix ها, the verb prefix می and many compound words are written this way: میروم (I go), کتابها (books), صفحهکلید (keyboard). The invisible character that does it is the zero-width non-joiner, called نیمفاصله (half-space) in Persian.
On this keyboard it is Shift+B, or the key labelled ZWNJ on the Shift layer. Using a normal space instead is common online but breaks the word in two for search and spell-checking; running the letters together joins them wrongly.
Persian digits
The number row types Persian digits: ۰ ۱ ۲ ۳ ۴ ۵ ۶ ۷ ۸ ۹. They differ from the Arabic-Indic digits used in Arab countries in three shapes (۴ ۵ ۶). Persian percent ٪ is Shift+5. Numbers run left to right inside Persian text, like Arabic.
Setting up Persian on your own device
- Windows: add Persian under Language and region. Windows offers "Persian", the layout this page follows, and "Persian (Standard)", the newer ISIRI 9147 layout, which moves several keys and puts the half-space on Shift+Space.
- Mac: System Settings, Keyboard, Input Sources, add "Persian - Standard" or "Persian - ISIRI 2901".
- Phone: add Persian (Farsi) in Gboard or the iPhone keyboard; both include the half-space.