Two layouts on one keyboard, switched with a shortcut instead of a trip to Settings. The per-app behaviour is the part most people miss.
Add the second layout under **Language & region**, set a **key sequence** for switching, and decide per app whether the layout follows the window or the whole system.
Windows groups keyboard layouts under a language. Adding the layout without the language works, but the input indicator and the spell checker behave oddly.
Settings > Time & language > Language & region > Add a languageOne language can carry several layouts, for example a US and a German keyboard. Adding a second layout to the same language avoids a full language switch.
The advanced keyboard settings hold the input language hotkey. A left Alt plus Shift chord is the default and it collides with some games.
Settings > Time & language > Typing > Advanced keyboard settings > Input language hot keysThe same page has a checkbox that lets each app remember its own layout. For coding in one window and writing in another, that is the useful option.
The taskbar indicator shows which layout is active. Turn it on before you start typing in the wrong one and wondering why the letters are swapped.
Y and Z, the punctuation row and the umlauts are the quick check. If they are wrong, the layout is wrong, not the keyboard.
Another app owns the chord. Pick a different key sequence.
Per-app memory is on. Turn it off for a global switch.
The second was added to a different language. Check both language entries.
That app has its own layout set, independent of the system.
No. The physical keyboard stays the same; Windows only interprets it differently.
Yes, from the same language page. The language stays installed.
Remove the second layout and clear the hotkey on the advanced keyboard settings page. The original layout becomes the only one again.
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