Alternatively called a QWERTZU, the QWERTZ keyboard is a keyboard layout used in Central Europe (e.g., Austria and Germany).

QWERTZ and QWERTY differences

Below are some differences you may notice when comparing a QWERTZ with a QWERTY keyboard.

This keyboard layout may also be called a German keyboard layout or German layout.

  • The QWERTZ keyboard can be identified by looking at the first six letters: Q, W, E, R, T, and Z (not Y, like the QWERTY keyboard).
  • The left and right Ctrl keys are replaced by the Strg, German for Steuerung. Unlike Ctrl, which is called ‘control’, Strg is known as S-T-R-G, not Steuerung.
  • The QWERTZ keyboard replaces the right Alt with the Alt Gr to help access keys with three or four characters.
  • Some keys have umlauted vowels (Ä, Ö, Ü).
  • The control keys all have German labels. For example, Bild, Druck/S-Abf, Einfg, Ende, Entf, Pause/Untbr, Pos 1, and Rollen. See our control keys page for further information about them and their English equivalents.

Azerty, Dvorak, Keyboard terms, QWERTY

  • How to get computer keyboard drivers and layouts.
  • Keyboard help and support.