QWERTZ vs QWERTY: The German Keyboard Explained

The Short Answer

Details here are as of October 2026.

What QWERTZ Is

QWERTZ is a keyboard layout named after the first six letters on its top row: Q, W, E, R, T, Z.

According to Wikipedia's QWERTZ article, it's widely used in Central and Southeast Europe.

It started on typewriters and carried over to computer keyboards.

The most visible change from QWERTY is a single swap: Z and Y trade places. That's why some people jokingly call it the kezboard.

I read the article in full before writing this, because the regional versions differ more than most people expect.

Why Z and Y Swapped

Wikipedia gives three likely reasons, all tied to German.

1. 1Z is far more common than Y in German. Y appears mainly in loanwords and names like Meyer.
2. 2T and Z often appear next to each other in German. Putting them under different hands reduced typewriter jams.
3. 3Z and U sit side by side, which makes zu, meaning to, easy to type. Zu is also a very common prefix.

So the swap wasn't random. It put a frequent German letter in an easier spot.

For English, the logic reverses, since Y is the more common letter.

The Key Differences

I compared the German layout with US QWERTY, using the article's descriptions.

Most letters stay put. But symbols move a lot, and that's where QWERTY users struggle most.

The AltGr Key

QWERTZ keyboards usually turn the right Alt key into AltGr.

AltGr opens a third level of characters on each key.

Wikipedia explains why it's needed. The umlauts and other language specific characters take up space, so there's no room for every ASCII symbol on the first two levels.

On German keyboards, AltGr gives characters like [, ], @, the euro sign and the micro sign µ.

That's fine for writing letters. For heavy symbol use, it adds a key press to each one.

Coding on QWERTZ

This is the main complaint from programmers.

Code uses brackets, braces, slashes and other symbols constantly.

On German QWERTZ, many of these need AltGr. A curly brace becomes a two key chord instead of one Shift press.

Over a day of coding, those extra key presses add up.

That's why some German speaking developers switch to a US layout for coding, even on a German keyboard. Others learn the AltGr chords and stay with QWERTZ.

Our roundup of code typing practice sites helps either way.

Germany and Austria

In Germany and Austria, the standard PC layout comes from the German standard DIN 2137.

Wikipedia says the common layout is based on a 1988 edition. Since the 2012 edition, it's officially called T1, short for keyboard layout 1.

T1 uses dead keys for accents like é, and AltGr for third level characters.

A newer extended layout, E1, first appeared in the 2018 edition and was revised in 2023. It adds access to special and foreign characters, like the long s and Æ.

Most everyday keyboards still use T1.

Switzerland

Switzerland also uses QWERTZ, with its own twist.

Swiss keyboards serve both German and French speakers.

So alongside umlauts, they include frequently used French accented letters like é, è and à.

Wikipedia's article even shows a QWERTZ keyboard on an old Swiss typewriter.

That makes the Swiss layout a practical compromise for a country with several national languages.

If you move between Germany and Switzerland, expect the letters to match but some accent and symbol keys to differ.

Central and Eastern Europe

QWERTZ spread well beyond German speaking countries.

Wikipedia says many of the other countries using it were once part of Austria Hungary, or had strong German technical and cultural ties. They adopted German typewriters with the QWERTZ layout.

In Hungary, QWERTZ is the official layout, and virtually everyone uses it day to day. Its zero sits left of the 1.

In Poland, a QWERTZ variant existed, but QWERTY has dominated since the early 1990s.

QWERTZ is also the default for Albanian on Windows.

The Czech Split

The Czech Republic shows how close the two layouts can be.

QWERTZ is common there, but QWERTY is an unofficial option.

Wikipedia notes that QWERTZ is only about 4% more efficient than QWERTY for Czech, because Z is just slightly more common than Y.

Users are split. An internet poll in 2013 found 56% used QWERTZ and 44% QWERTY. By 2020, it was 57% QWERTY and 43% QWERTZ.

That swing shows how small the speed difference really is. Habit and convenience decide.

Is QWERTZ Faster?

For the same person, no layout is faster by itself.

Your fastest layout is the one your fingers know best.

The language matters more. German typists benefit from Z on the top row and umlauts on their own keys. English typists benefit from Y on the top row.

The Czech figure gives a sense of scale. Even where the swap helps, the gain is only a few percent.

Practice and accuracy matter far more than the layout.

Our post on typing speed records by country shows fast typists on many layouts.

Typing Tests on QWERTZ

Online typing tests work on QWERTZ, because they read the characters you type.

If your system is set to German, the test sees the right letters.

Two things can lower your score on English tests. Y sits in an awkward spot, and punctuation keys are in different places.

Tests with lots of symbols will be slower too, since many need AltGr.

For fair progress tracking, compare only with your own past results on the same layout and language.

Our practice mode lets you repeat texts on any layout.

Switching Between Layouts

Many people in Central Europe keep both layouts installed.

On Windows 10 and 11, you add a layout in language settings and switch with the Windows key plus Space.

On a Mac, you add input sources in Keyboard settings and switch from the menu bar.

The printed keys don't change, so you'll type the other layout from memory.

A common mistake: switching by accident and suddenly typing Y where you meant Z. If that happens, check the layout indicator first.

QWERTZ vs AZERTY

QWERTZ and AZERTY are both European versions of QWERTY.

QWERTZ makes one letter swap, Z and Y, and adds umlauts.

AZERTY changes more: it swaps A with Q and Z with W, moves M, and puts digits behind Shift.

So a QWERTY typist adapts to QWERTZ more easily than to AZERTY.

Our AZERTY vs QWERTY comparison covers the French layout in detail.

Both layouts follow the same idea: fit the keyboard to the language people type every day.

Our Verdict

Use QWERTZ if you mostly type German or another Central European language. The Z position and umlaut keys fit those languages.

Use QWERTY if you mostly type English or write a lot of code. Symbols are easier to reach.

Don't switch just for speed. The difference is a few percent at most, and switching costs weeks.

If you split your time, install both and switch as needed. Many typists in Europe do exactly that.