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PolyKybd

WinCompose

WinCompose adds a compose key to Windows: press the compose key, then a short sequence, and you get a character your keyboard has no key for — Compose ' e gives é, Compose < 3 gives ❤.

PolyKybd uses it for unicode and emoji input on Windows. PolyKybdHost detects a running WinCompose and switches the keyboard into its compose mode automatically; without it, Windows unicode input falls back to a numeric escape that cannot produce emoji.

Why PolyKybd maintains a fork

Section titled “Why PolyKybd maintains a fork”

WinCompose was written by Sam Hocevar. The original project is no longer actively developed, and unicode input on Windows is a hard dependency for PolyKybd, so we maintain a fork. Nearly all of the code, the compose sequence data and the design are Sam’s work. If the original project becomes active again, we plan to offer our changes to the original project.

What the PolyKybd fork changes

Section titled “What the PolyKybd fork changes”

The fork builds on ell1010’s fork, which had already modernised the UI and retargeted the project to .NET Framework 4.8.1. On top of that we fixed:

  • The tray tooltip now updates.
  • The tray icon shows the composing state and the update marker again, and the “hide icon” setting works.
  • The settings dialog matches native Windows sizing, keeps its tabs on one row, and can be resized and scrolled.
  • The update check no longer asks the original project’s server, over plain HTTP, about versions that are not this fork’s builds.

Installing

Section titled “Installing”

The easiest route is from PolyKybdHost itself: while WinCompose is not running, the tray menu shows Install WinCompose…, which downloads the latest build and starts its installer for you. See Using the Tray App.

To install it by hand instead, download the latest build from the releases page.

Both a portable build and an installer are published. The portable build runs from any folder; the installer registers WinCompose to start with Windows.

Verifying your download

Section titled “Verifying your download”

Because the builds are unsigned, every release ships a SHA256SUMS.txt listing the SHA-256 of each asset, produced by the same build that made them. To check a download in PowerShell:

Terminal window
Get-FileHash .\WinCompose-NoInstall-<version>.zip -Algorithm SHA256

Compare the result with the matching line in SHA256SUMS.txt.

This proves the file is byte-for-byte what our CI produced — it does not prove who produced it, which is what a signature is for. Until the certificate is in place it is the strongest check available.

Once WinCompose is running, set PolyKybdHost’s unicode input mode to WinCompose (it is detected automatically) and the keyboard’s emoji and unicode layers will work.

Credits and licence

Section titled “Credits and licence”

WinCompose is © Sam Hocevar and contributors, released under the WTFPL. The PolyKybd fork keeps that licence.