Languages & Unicode Input

PolyKybd does two related things with languages: it can switch its on-screen keyboard layout between ~156 languages, and it can type Unicode characters (emoji, accented letters) on any OS.

The language layer

PolyKybd ships with around 156 keyboard-language layouts. Press the Language/Globe key [ 🌐 ] to open the language picker. On this layer each key shows a country flag and its xx-YY language code (for example de-DE, fr-FR, es-MX), with a frame drawn around the currently selected language.

Switching the layout re-renders every keycap, accents and AltGr symbols included — these are real keycaps, not a diagram:

The same keys after switching to a Greek layout — a different script entirely, no hardware change:

Pick a language and PolyKybd does two things at once:

• Switches the keycap legends so every key shows the characters for that layout.
• Tells the host OS to switch input language, so what you type matches what the keys show.

Your selection persists across reboots. Because the language list is shared by both hardware variants, split72 and split42 support the same set of languages.

Tip

The layouts cover everything from US/UK/DE/FR/ES variants to minority and regional locales. Some are folds (same physical layout, different OS locale), others are full distinct layouts with their own AltGr legends.

Note

Want to restyle the legends themselves — Tengwar, runes, Braille — without changing what the keys type? That’s a separate, cosmetic feature: Glyph Scripts.

Emoji layer

PolyKybd also has a dedicated emoji layer that turns the keycaps into a visual emoji picker — each key previews an emoji, grouped into categories along the top row, so you choose one by sight instead of memorising a codepoint. Your most-recently-used emoji are kept close at hand.

Close up, a single 72×40 px keycap rendering one emoji:

Unicode input

PolyKybd also supports Unicode input for emoji, accented characters (Æ, Ç, È, …), and any other Unicode codepoint. Because each OS handles Unicode input differently, you must first tell the keyboard which mode to use.

Selecting your OS input mode

Press the Language/Globe key [ 🌐 ] to reach the OS selection. Choose the entry matching your operating system and preferred input method:

Key label	Use on
Mac	macOS — requires setup below
Lnx	Linux with IBus and compatible apps/window managers
BSD	BSD (currently unimplemented in QMK)
Emcs	Emacs (untested)
Win	Windows, unicode up to U+FFFF (no emoji) — requires registry edit below
WinC	Windows with WinCompose installed — full unicode including emoji

Your selection is saved to the keyboard and persists across reboots.

Per-OS setup

macOS

Follow the QMK macOS unicode setup guide:

1. Open System Settings → Keyboard → Text Input → Input Sources
2. Add the Unicode Hex Input input source
3. Select it when you want to type unicode characters

Then press Mac on the PolyKybd language selector.

Linux

IBus must be installed and running as your input method framework. Most major desktop environments (GNOME, KDE) support this.

Press Lnx on the PolyKybd language selector.

Windows (basic)

Windows supports unicode input up to code point U+FFFF (this excludes emoji). First enable hex numpad input:

reg add "HKCU\Control Panel\Input Method" -v EnableHexNumpad -t REG_SZ -d 1

Log out and back in (or reboot) after running this.

Then press Win on the PolyKybd language selector.

Note

This method does not support emoji or characters above U+FFFF. For full unicode support on Windows, use WinCompose instead.

Windows (WinCompose)

WinCompose adds a compose key mechanism to Windows with full unicode support including emoji.

1. Download and install WinCompose — we maintain a fork of Sam Hocevar’s original, since it is no longer actively developed
2. Launch it — it runs in the system tray
3. Press WinC on the PolyKybd language selector

Typing unicode characters

Once your OS mode is set, press any key that has a unicode character assigned in the keymap (such as an emoji or accented character). The keyboard sends the appropriate input sequence for your OS automatically.

Unicode character assignments are configured in the QMK keymap source. See Keymaps & Layers for how to modify them.