British and American keyboards

Lore & Background

The UK variant of the Enhanced keyboard commonly used with Microsoft Windows has one more key than the US layout, added next to the Enter key to accommodate # (number sign) and ~ (tilde). The UK layout replaces the right Alt key with an AltGr key, moves the £ symbol to the 3 key, and swaps the positions of @ and " (double quote). The \ key is moved to the left of Z, and the Enter key spans two rows, narrower to fit the extra key. Some UK keyboards do not label Backspace, Enter, Tab, and Shift in words. In early versions of Microsoft Windows, input language defaults were coupled directly to physical keyboard layouts. Selecting 'English (United Kingdom)' automatically assigned the UK physical layout, which mapped characters differently from the US layout used in many Commonwealth jurisdictions such as Australia, Canada, India, and South Africa. Users in those regions who had US-layout hardware often chose 'English (United States)' as their system locale, causing word processing software to default to US English spellchecking and flag British spellings like 'colour' and 'centre' as errors. Subsequent editions of Windows decoupled regional language settings from physical keyboard layouts, allowing users to pair any regional language variety independently with a US physical keyboard layout. Apple Macintosh keyboards for British typists use an Apple-custom layout that differs significantly from the British Standard BS 4822 layout. Differences include the € symbol assigned to ⌥ Option+@2 rather than ⌥ Option+$4, the # symbol assigned to ⌥ Option+£3, and the absence of dedicated ¬ and ¦ keys. The US layout follows the ANSI convention with an enter key in the third row, while the UK layout follows ISO with a stepped double-height key spanning the second and third rows.

Reader's Guide

The distinction between British and American keyboards is significant because it affects typing efficiency and software behavior for users in different English-speaking regions. The UK layout provides direct access to the £ and € symbols needed in the United Kingdom and Ireland, while the US layout omits these. The extra key on UK keyboards for # and ~, and the repositioning of \ and other symbols, reflect different historical conventions. In early Windows versions, the coupling of keyboard layout to regional language settings caused unintended consequences for users in Commonwealth countries who used US hardware but wanted British English spellchecking. The subsequent decoupling of these settings allowed greater flexibility. For users needing diacritics, the US International layout and UK Extended layout offer dead-key and AltGr-based input methods. On macOS, the default US layout provides direct access to the MacRoman character set, while the UK Mac layout uses a custom arrangement. These differences underscore how keyboard design is shaped by linguistic and regional requirements, and how operating system support has evolved to accommodate diverse user needs.

Did You Know?

• The UK keyboard has one more key than the US keyboard (62 vs 61 on typewriter keys, 102 vs 101 including function and other keys).
• On UK keyboards, the £ symbol is on the 3 key, and € is produced by AltGr+4.
• In early Windows versions, selecting 'English (United Kingdom)' automatically assigned the UK physical keyboard layout, causing spellchecking issues for users in Commonwealth countries with US hardware.
• Apple Macintosh UK keyboards use a custom layout that differs from the British Standard BS 4822 layout, with different key assignments for €, #, ¬, and ¦.