Program for changing the input language. Automatic keyboard language switching

All of us though, s hfp yf, bhfkb something incomprehensible. Fortunately, many programs have long been developed to automatically change layouts. Someone loves them. Some people hate it. And I will help you make the right decision and choose the right program.

OS: Windows
Language: Russian English
Last update: Stable version from 02/05/2018
Price: 0 rubles - non-commercial use, from 399 rubles - commercial use

The main disadvantage of EveryLang is the requirement to install the .NET framework for the program to work. One of the advantages is the presence of a portable version.

The program's interface looks modern, but this is not that important for a program that runs in the background. In the free version, in addition to correcting the layout, a translator and spell checking using a hotkey are also available.

The paid version also unlocks:

  • Clipboard Manager
  • Text input diary
  • Layout indicator
  • Translation history
  • SmartClick (you can follow a text link with a mouse click)

I really liked EveryLang both in appearance and in functionality and quality of work. If it weren't for the .NET requirement, I would happily try using this program on a daily basis. Not everyone needs paid functions, but they will undoubtedly help simplify the work with text.

Key Switcher

OS: Windows
Language: 24 languages, including Russian
Last update: 09.07.2013
Price: free - for non-commercial use, but donate. There are corporate licenses.

The program has no interface. All work is done through the tray icon. Despite Russian language support, at launch, part of the menu will still be in English. You need to select the language again in the program settings.

Features include auto-switching layouts, auto-correction according to rules, and a simple password manager. For each program, you can adjust the sensitivity of auto-switching or turn it off completely.

If you just need an auto layout switcher, then Key Switcher will be an ideal option. The program can be completely hidden and it will work in the background. But the project is clearly not developing, and there may be problems with the presence of vulnerabilities.

Keyboard Ninja

OS: Windows
Language: 7 languages, including Russian
Last update: 6.11.2006
Price: for free

The program does not require installation, and when downloading you can select a set of languages. On Windows 10, Keyboard Ninja simply refused to work and started crashing with errors. If it worked, I would have the following options:

  • Auto switch
  • Translation of Russian text into transliteration
  • Automatic text replacement according to rules
  • Working with the clipboard

OS: Windows, online version
Language: English
Last update: ?
Price: for free

Among the program features:

  • Correcting the layout
  • Sending a text to your phone
  • Translator

The program's interface leaves much to be desired. Switching text, changing capitals to lowercase and others occurs only when you select a word and press a hotkey. Sending a text to a mobile phone is done by scanning a QR code.

Mahou

OS: Windows
Language: Russian English
Last update: 10.04.2018
Price: for free

Mahou does not require installation, but requires .Net 4.0 to work. The program is open source and actively developed.

The program has a lot of functions and a confusing interface. By default, the program only works with certain combinations of languages ​​and therefore may not work out of the box. To be honest, nothing worked for me, even after setting it up.

Punto Switcher

OS: Windows, Mac
Language: Russian
Last update: 13.03.2018
Price: for free

Punto Switcher is a common name for this type of program. After purchasing by Yandex, Yandex Browser and other developer programs will be actively offered during installation.

The program works out of the box and does not require additional settings. You can set up your own switching rules, exceptions and auto-dialing phrases. There is also work with the clipboard.

X Neural Switcher

OS: X Window System, BSD, Linux
Language: 19 languages, including Russian
Last update: 23.11.2016
Price: for free

I have nothing to install X Neural Switcher, so I’ll honestly steal the description from the developer’s website.

X Neural Switcher is a program for automatically switching keyboard layouts, depending on the text being typed. Those. When typing, if it is typed in the wrong language, xneur will automatically (or upon request) switch the language to the desired one.

For ease of operation, there are two modes: automatic and manual.

When working in automatic mode, xneur automatically detects the layout of the text you enter and changes the language for you. In this mode, it is possible to set exception applications in which the automatic mode will be replaced by manual.

loloswitcher

OS: Linux
Language: No
Last update: 01.08.2016
Price: for free

LoLo Switcher is a low-level local keyboard switch for the X11 windowing system. It is able to work in any desktop environment: KDE3, KDE4, GNOME, LXDE and others. LLS works directly with the input device, is very compact and fast, and supports any model of keyboard and joystick. LLS is capable of transparently operating in parallel with other keyboard switches. LLS contains built-in diagnostic tools for codes transmitted from the input device to the computer.

While working on a computer, we often switch input languages. Sometimes, forgetting to switch to the desired language, you have to delete the entered text, switch and type it again. The free program Key Switcher is designed to automatically switch the input language when typing. The utility saves the user from unnecessary actions on the keyboard and saves time. Key Switcher analyzes the entered characters, recognizes what language the entered word should be in, and if the user forgot to change the keyboard layout, turns the typed text into characters of the desired language.

Automatic change of input language

For example, the user typed “crfxfnm” on the keyboard, Key Switcher immediately converts the text into “download” and the following characters will be entered in Russian, as if the user had switched the input language. The program corrects text layout automatically and manually (Break by default). If the program makes an error, the user can cancel the layout changes by pressing the BackSpace key. When a new window appears, Key Switcher will briefly display the flag of the country whose language is currently selected for input in the system. Using Key Switcher, you can change the keyboard language by pressing one key (left Ctrl by default). The program is self-learning; Key Switcher analyzes user actions related to the keyboard layout and learns from them. Key Switcher can also change the first or all letters of a word to upper and lower case, as well as remember passwords to protect against accidental switching when entering a password. For security purposes, passwords are not saved; only a digital sequence is stored, which does not allow it to be recovered, but is sufficient to determine whether the password was entered. Another great feature of the program is the automatic replacement of key letters with a word or an entire phrase, according to a template defined by the user. For example, if the user types "dosv" and presses the space bar, "Goodbye" will appear instead of "dosv". Well, if the user’s spelling is poor, Key Switcher will correct grammatical errors.

Screenshots of the Key Switcher program


Punto Switcher is a program for automatically switching keyboard layouts. The program monitors the correct keyboard layout when typing on a computer, and if necessary, automatically replaces the keyboard layout.

Many people are familiar with the situation when, while typing on the keyboard, the user forgot to change the keyboard layout, for example, from English to Russian. The user enters the word “hello” thinking that he is typing text in the Russian keyboard layout, but in fact he is entering the word “ghbdtn” in the English keyboard layout. Punto Switcher will understand that the user has made a mistake and will switch to the correct keyboard layout.

Key features of the free Punto Switcher program:

  • automatic keyboard switching
  • autocorrect
  • fixing selected text and text on the clipboard
  • sound design
  • switch keyboard layout using hotkeys
  • maintaining a Diary in which all typed text is saved
  • saving the last 30 texts to the clipboard

In the Punto Switcher program, you can not only correct the layout and case, but also perform the following actions: check spelling, transliterate, clear selected text from formatting, etc.

When switching layouts, and in some other cases, Punto Switcher beeps, notifying you of these actions.

You can download the free Punto Switcher program from the official website of Yandex, the manufacturer of this application.

punto switcher download

Punto Switcher Settings

You can enter the settings of the Punto Switcher program from the notification area. After right-clicking on the program icon, select “Settings” in the context menu.

After this, the “Punto Switcher Settings” window will open. The program settings are located in several sections:

  • General - here you can configure general rules for the program’s operation
  • Hot keys - you can configure hot keys for more convenient control of the program
  • Switching rules - here you can configure the program in which cases you should switch the keyboard layout and in which cases you should not do this
  • Exception programs - you can add programs to the list in which you will need to disable automatic keyboard layout switching
  • Troubleshooting - here you can add some additional settings if problems occur
  • AutoCorrect - in this section you can specify abbreviations that will be automatically replaced with full words
  • Sounds - here are the sound settings for actions and events in the Punto Switcher program
  • Diary - you can save all text information typed on the keyboard

You can read more about working with the Punto Switcher Diary in a special article on my website.

The program offers several hotkey options for switching layouts. In the "General" section, you can activate the "Switch by:" item and then select hotkeys to quickly switch keyboard layouts. The Punto Switcher program responds to quick keystrokes in order to avoid conflicts with regular system shortcuts.

You can perform any actions using the Punto Switcher program using hot keys, or turning on the necessary functions after clicking on the program icon from the notification area.

Here you can quickly change some program settings: turn on or off auto-switching, sound effects, in the clipboard you can: change the layout, transliterate, check spelling, view the history, additionally you can enable diary keeping, view the diary, make an autocorrect list, send the selected text on Twitter, view system properties, convert numbers to text.

Using the program, you can find the necessary information on external resources on the Internet. Select “Find” from the context menu, and then decide where to look for the information you need.

Fixing typing errors in Punto Switcher

When typing words that have impossible combinations of letters in Russian or English, Punto Switcher will automatically switch the keyboard layout. Next, you will type the text in the correct language.

In simpler cases, the program changes the layout after several letters have been entered; in more complex cases, the word will change only after complete input, after pressing the space bar.

You can manually cancel switching the keyboard layout on the last word entered. Let's say there are some English words in the Russian text that the program wants to convert into Russian, or there is a typo. To do this, you will need to press the “Pause/Break” (Break) key. You can also highlight text and change the input language using this very useful key. In this case, the layout is also changed using the “Shift” + “Pause/Break” (Break) keys.

Remember this “magic” key, it will often help you out when entering text.

  • Pause/Break (Break) - using this key you can forcefully change the input language of the last word or selected text.

When entering abbreviations that do not follow the rules, errors in the alteration of these words are possible. You can disable abbreviation correction in the program settings. In the “General” section, in the “Advanced” tab, you can uncheck the box next to the “Correct abbreviations” item. However, this is not necessary, since if an abbreviation is entered incorrectly, you can press the “Pause/Break” key in order to correct this word.

Many laptops do not have a Pause/Break key. What should such users do?

Replacing the Break key with another key on a laptop

If your laptop does not have a “Pause/Break” key, then Yandex suggests using the “F11” key instead. You can select any other keys.

In Punto Switcher settings, go to the “Hot Keys” section. Select the action you want to change. In our case, this is a replacement for the “Break” key (Pause/Break). Click on the “Assign...” button.

In the “Select a key combination” window, activate the item opposite the input field, click in the field with the mouse button, and then press the desired key on the keyboard, or several keys at once. After that, click on the “OK” button, the key combinations will be changed.

Instead of the "Break" key, I chose the "F11" key.

As you can see in this image, I changed the "Break" key to "F11" in the Hotkey settings.

Changing case, transliteration, spell checking

To change the case, the program has the key combination “Alt” + “Pause/Break”. You will need to highlight the text and then press the given keyboard keys. As a result, all capital letters will become CAPITAL letters, and capital letters, on the contrary, will become capital letters.

To change transliteration, that is, to translate letters of Russian text into Latin letters, or vice versa, you can use the key combination “Alt” + “Scroll Lock”. For example, if you need to change the word “thank you” into the word written in Latin letters “spasibo”.

Highlight the word or text you want, and then press that keyboard shortcut. The selected text will be written in Latin or Russian letters (if reverse transliteration is performed).

There are no rules for a unified Russian transliteration yet, so the text will be rewritten according to Yandex rules.

With Punto Switcher you can check spelling on the clipboard. To do this, click on the program icon in the notification area. In the context menu, first select “Clipboard”, and then “Check Spelling”.

Now you can paste text from the clipboard into a document, into your correspondence, or elsewhere.

Conclusions of the article

The free program Punto Switcher from Yandex automatically changes the keyboard layout, makes corrections in the typed text, performs autocorrection, transliteration, spell checking, and saves the typed data in a diary.

How often, forgetting to switch the keyboard layout, many users type a large amount of text without looking at the monitor screen. After all, the eyes are busy with more important things. They look for the necessary keys on the keyboard, trying to type the necessary words as quickly as possible. The result seen on the screen will make any user think about how to control the text input and, if it is entered incorrectly, produce a visual and audio alert, and ideally, independently correct the error and switch between languages. The topic of this article is the keyboard switch, as well as an overview of programs worth installing that can solve user problems.

At the pinnacle of glory

The Punto Switcher keyboard switch is considered the most popular among its analogues. It is a fact. After all, as you know, the program was bought by the Russian search engine Yandex several years ago, so any Russian-speaking person fell under the influence of hidden and open advertising of the world's best keyboard switch. The most important advantage of the Punto Switcher program is that it is free. The functionality of the keyboard switch is impressive.

  1. Automatic switching of layouts with instant correction of already written letters.
  2. Set up rules for switching layouts, such as abbreviation and acronyms.
  3. Having a dictionary for entering exception words that do not need to be switched is very convenient when entering passwords.
  4. The ability to keep a diary of printed text, which is broken down by date and can also be locked with a password.
  5. Sound warnings about incorrect input for those who do not want to use auto-switching.
  6. Frequent updates and bug fixes, which indicates full software support.

Disadvantages of the Punto Switcher

Judging by numerous user reviews, along with its advantages, the program also has many disadvantages, which is why it is very often removed and replaced with an alternative one. It is clear that developers constantly monitor such feedback and try to correct errors, but very often new problems appear.

  1. Professional photo, audio and video editors, which take over all the computer’s system resources, often stop working when another application tries to change the active resources without unauthorized access. When creating a menu using the Text effect, it's very common for the keyboard layout switch to do its job and ruin an hours-long unsaved project.
  2. Strange behavior of the program during games. By controlling the player's movement during the game through the speakers, you can clearly hear the sounds of Punto Switcher, which signal an incorrect input.
  3. "Gifts" from the developers. When installing frequent updates, the program tries to force the installation of unnecessary Yandex panels and all sorts of utilities. And after completely uninstalling the program through the control panel after a reboot, it is discovered that the Punto Switcher process continues to be in the task manager.

About analogues on the Internet

It is unlikely that the author of the popular program Punto Switcher and the little-known brainchild of Keyboard Ninja at the beginning of the 21st century would have guessed that the profitably sold project, which would undergo many changes over the decades, would become an analogue of the entertainment software forgotten in 2003. And so it happened. If you test and compare these two programs, you will find that in one decade nothing new and perfect has appeared in the popular and beloved by many users Punto Switcher program. Only there were more rules and the dictionaries were replenished.

It remains to determine for yourself what is better, a keyboard switch for Windows 8, which is constantly advertised by a well-known search engine and requires a lot of system resources in its work, or a small utility that can perform the same range of tasks. Even though sometimes the program requires user intervention.

A program built to last

The free Ninja language switcher, created by Russian amateur programmers, is unknown to a wide range of users. It is not advertised anywhere and it is not easy to find it in reviews. But it exists and is quite popular among administrators and programmers.

It honestly fulfills its intended purpose - it switches the keyboard layout when needed, without affecting the program code that the famous Punto Switcher loves to change. No annoying advertising or advice. A small amount of system resources is used and there are no problems in collaboration with other applications. It’s a shame that the project is not supported; new users often have to create their own rules and expand the vocabulary when working with Keyboard Ninja.

2 in 1 utility

The keyboard switch of another Russian developer deserves the attention of users. The Orfo Switcher application is positioned as a utility for checking text for errors, and also, as a nice bonus, it has the ability to automatically switch keyboard layouts. The principle of operation of the program is slightly different from its analogues.

The program has several built-in dictionaries with which the word is compared when entered. If it is in the dictionary, the input is correct, otherwise the keyboard language switch is triggered. Apparently, things were not going very well for the developer, since he, while distributing his product for free, collected donations from users on a voluntary basis.

As a result, the project was divided into two directions. Orfo Switcher exists as an application available for download and free use without technical support. And the VirtAssist project requires payment for using the utility.

An alternative with a nice addition

An automatic keyboard switch called "Anetto Layout" is suitable for those users who accidentally press the Caps Lock button. You no longer need to rewrite text typed with the wrong case. Like previous programs, the utility can independently detect incorrectly entered letters and words. Having automatically corrected the error, the application will change the keyboard layout to the desired language and notify the user of its action with a sound signal.

The complete freeness of the application, ease of installation and use, the ability to fine-tune and additional functionality should attract the attention of many users to this program. There is only one drawback in this program, but for many owners of modern computers it is significant. The application does not work on 64-bit systems, and in compatibility mode it displays a message about data incorrectness and terminates its own process.

"Semi-automatic" in the service of users

An interesting keyboard switch for Windows 7 is offered by the Arum Switcher utility. You shouldn’t expect anything supernatural from her, and her appearance looks somehow childish. It will be of interest to those users who do not want the computer to independently change the keyboard layout at its discretion.

The Arum Switcher program constantly monitors and remembers the text entered by the user. And only at the request of the computer owner, who discovers that he is entering incorrectly, the program can switch the language and correct the previously entered text incorrectly. Moreover, the user needs to press the desired key combination to send a signal to the program. That is, it is not an automatic USB keyboard switch.

Also, with the help of this program, it will not be difficult for the user to reassign to change the language layout. This solution will appeal to owners whose control buttons are far from each other and it is not always possible to press them with the fingers of one hand.

For Mac OS X owners

Owners of Apple products did not go unnoticed. There is a free automatic keyboard switcher for them called RuSwitcher. The program runs in the background. Monitors user input from the keyboard. If a discrepancy is detected, it corrects the error and changes the keyboard layout.

If you make a comparison, you will find that the appearance and functionality are very similar to the Punto Switcher program, popular among Windows owners. In addition to the automatic mode, the user is given the opportunity to independently switch by pressing the previously specified buttons on the keyboard. Laptop owners will definitely like this application. After all, the developer made it possible for the service button “Fn” to participate in changing the layout, which affected the ease of use of the switch.

Open operating systems

There is also a keyboard switch for people working with Linux and Unix operating systems. It's called X Neural Switcher. And here it could not have happened without Russian developers, who created a masterpiece of their own. The application became so popular that it was posted in all popular repositories and is available for download under the name Xneur.

In addition to automatic mode, the program can also work with manual switching. Accordingly, the user chooses the assignment of active buttons independently. A special feature of this program is the ability to install in two ways - graphical and console.

To operate the graphical mode, a visual interface “X Window” is required; a convenient control menu has been created for it. Users working in the console only need to start "demon" and configure its configuration file.

The most popular system did not go unnoticed

It is very difficult to find a keyboard switch for Windows 7, because, apart from the popular Punto Switcher application, there is little information on alternative programs on the Internet. Quite the opposite is true for the most popular operating system in the world - Android. After all, as you know, many users use an external keyboard connected to a tablet or mobile phone with a wide screen. Naturally, the problem of switching languages ​​also arises for them.

The choice of free applications with a huge number of additional features is so large that it can take more than one day to test all the programs. Judging by the reviews of many owners, several worthy applications deserve attention. One of them is called SmartKeyboard, which works only mechanically, after pressing a certain combination the user configured earlier.

But External Keyboard Helper Pro can work in automatic mode and is somewhat reminiscent of the most popular application for Windows. In addition to switching functions, the Android program can reassign buttons on an external keyboard.

Self-security theory

This may seem like paranoia, but what about any application that monitors every keystroke on the keyboard and has a constant connection with its own server on the Internet? And taking into account the fact that any keyboard layout switch has a considerable size in relation to the small functionality of the program itself, it is quite possible to have hidden capabilities.

  1. Collection and transmission of data to the developer’s server about the user’s interests for maintaining statistics.
  2. Collecting information and compiling a dossier for each Internet user.
  3. Creation of a database of user logins and passwords for access to various resources. After all, Google somehow found out people’s personal information by presenting the “Most Popular User Passwords” rating for everyone to see.

Finally

Having figured out which automatic and mechanical keyboard switches are available for installation, we missed one important factor. Any software should be purchased only from the developer’s website. This applies to both paid and free programs. By downloading software from alternative and little-known sources, the computer owner exposes himself to the risk of becoming a victim of scammers.

It is up to the user to decide whether to make it easier for themselves to work at the computer by installing an automatic keyboard layout switch or not, but the main thing is to remember that laziness is not always the engine of progress. Sometimes just being mindful is enough to solve a whole range of problems. On the other hand, the stupidity of paranoia turned people into conservatives, preventing them from developing and keeping up with the times. In any case, everyone chooses their own path.

Well, hello again. You may have guessed from the title what we will be talking about. Yes, exactly how to automatically switch the keyboard language layout. You may remember that in a recent article we discussed in detail the issue of hotkey combinations. But, have you considered how many characters and words you type on a computer keyboard per day, and it’s very unpleasant when you look up and see a picture like this:
"Hello, shall we go to the KinoFresh cinema today? nfv bltn jnkbxysq abkmv... "
Is this situation familiar to everyone? And you have to retype the text again, it seems like a small thing, but not pleasant. And all because they forgot to switch the language in time. So let's talk about how to set up automatic keyboard language switching.
Yes, in our time, when almost any process is automated, even related to finance, changing the language automatically will not pose any problems. So, let's talk about how to do this, of course you will have to install additional software called from the well-known company Yandex, since this cannot be done using standard Windows 7 or 8 tools. You can download it via a direct link, absolutely free and always have the latest version.
So, after you download and install this program, another icon will appear in your taskbar:


It, just like the standard language bar, notifies you about the keyboard layout, and if necessary, automatically switches the layout, accompanying this process with a characteristic sound signal. The program also has the ability to switch the layout manually. All this and much more, you can further configure in the program, including language switching rules, exception programs where automatic keyboard layout switching is not needed:


How to disable automatic language switching
After you have downloaded and installed the program, “Auto switching” is enabled by default - this means that the program itself will change the layout if necessary. But sometimes we don’t need it at all, for example in some programs. In this case, you can easily turn off this function. To do this, right-click on the icon in the taskbar and uncheck the box:


Or you can add the desired program to the list of exclusion programs in the settings.
With this program, you can type text without thinking about whether you switched the language or not, because it will do everything for you! The interface is extremely simple, convenient and understandable, and I think that there will be no problems with it, but if they do happen, I will definitely answer all your questions in the comments to this article.

Download Punto Switcher for free