Comparison
US vs UK Keyboard Layouts: Symbols, Key Shapes and Switching
Compare the punctuation and physical keys that distinguish two otherwise familiar QWERTY layouts.
On this page
US and UK keyboards share the same QWERTY letter positions. The differences you usually notice are @, double quotes, £, # and backslash, along with the shape of Enter and the length of the left Shift key. Identifying the letter family alone will not tell you which one is active.
This comparison uses the standard US and Windows United Kingdom PC layouts. Apple British input sources have their own symbol combinations, so check Keyboard Viewer on a Mac instead of applying every Windows shortcut below.[1]
US vs UK: the symbol differences
| Character or key | US | UK |
|---|---|---|
| @ | Shift + 2 | Shift + the apostrophe key |
| Double quote (") | Shift + the apostrophe key | Shift + 2 |
| Shift + 3 | # | £ |
| # | Shift + 3 | Dedicated key beside Enter |
| Backslash (\) | Key above Enter on a typical ANSI keyboard | Extra key beside the left Shift on a typical ISO keyboard |
| Enter key shape | Usually a wide, single-row rectangle (ANSI) | Usually a tall, stepped key (ISO) |
| Left Shift | Usually longer | Usually shorter, making room for an extra key |
The Enter and Shift differences describe common physical keyboards. ANSI and ISO are physical arrangements; US and UK are input mappings. You can select UK input on an ANSI keyboard, but the missing or differently placed physical keys can make some symbols less convenient.
Compare the character positions
US QWERTY
UK QWERTY
The letters are unchanged. Compare the upper legends on 2 and 3, then look beside Enter and left Shift. These diagrams show character positions rather than the exact outline of a particular laptop or desktop keyboard.
For a desk reference, use the printable US QWERTY chart. The downloadable pack is explicitly US-based; it is not a UK symbol chart.
How to tell which layout is active
- Open a blank document, away from a password or sensitive form.
- Press Shift + 2. On standard US it types @; on Windows UK it types a double quote.
- Press Shift + 3. Standard US produces #; Windows UK produces £.
- Check the input indicator and exact layout name to confirm the result.
This distinguishes these two standard mappings; it is not a universal layout detector. Custom remapping, Apple layouts and other English-language variants can produce different results. Printed symbols tell you what the hardware was labeled for, while this check tells you what the active software mapping produces.
Fix swapped @ and double quotes
In Windows 11, press Windows + Space and select the intended layout. If it is missing, open Settings → Time & language → Language & region → Language options → Add a keyboard under the relevant language. Choose US or United Kingdom, then test the symbols again.[2]
On a Mac, open System Settings → Keyboard → Text Input → Edit, choose the appropriate source, and use Show Keyboard Viewer from the Input menu. The Option and Shift layers can differ from a PC mapping even when the language is the same.[3]
You do not need to change the system’s display language just to change where @ appears. Keep the previous input source until the replacement works, especially if you use remote desktops or share the computer.
Which layout should you use?
Choose the mapping that matches your keycaps and the computers you regularly use, unless you have a specific reason to learn a different one. Neither arrangement changes the QWERTY alphabet positions, and there is no automatic typing-speed advantage from choosing US over UK.
If your real goal is typing accented letters on US QWERTY, read about US International and its dead keys. If the mismatch extends beyond these symbols, use the wrong-character checklist.