Changing keyboard to Spanish?

You have two different things to do:

1. Producing Spanish characters (¿, ñ, ...) and,

2. Change the spelling and grammar checker to check your writing.

Changing the keyboard will allow you to produce the characters, but you'll have to learn the new keyboard layout, and the keycaps won't help a bit. Here's an alternative, a bit slower in the beginning, but more intuitive:

This should even work in any Windows word processor, text editor, browser or email client.

1.Make sure your keyboard is in NumLock mode.

2.Hold down the ALT key and enter the number on the numeric keypad. (Note that many laptops have a blue FN key that changes a set of keys, also with blue numbers on them and usually in the 7-8-9-U-I-O area, into a numeric keypad.)

for é 130

for á 160

for í 161

for ó 162

for ú 163

for ñ 164

for Ñ 165

for ¿ 168

for ¡ 173

for Á 0193

for É 0201

for Í 0205

for Ó 0211

for Ú 0218

Now for the spelling and grammar checking.

First, the proofing tools for the appropriate language have to be installed, usually from the Office CD. The English version of Office also has the French and Spanish proofing tools. Others can be purchased separately.

Try this, in Word versions prior to Word 2007:

1.Press CTRL/A to select the entire document.

2.Click the Tools->Language->Set Language menu item.

3.Select the language you want in the list box.

4.If you want to make this the default language for future documents, click the Default button.

5.Click Yes in the message box.

6.Click OK.

In Word 2007:

1.Press CTRL/A to select the entire document.

2.Click the Review tab on the Ribbon.

3.In the Proofing section, click Set Language.

4.Continue as in Step 3, above.

That should do it.

PS: If you still want to switch your keyboard, do this:

Here's how to switch keyboard layouts in Windows XP:

1. Click the Start->Control Panel menu item.

2. Click Date, Time, Language and Regional Options.

3. Click Add Other Languages.

4. Click the Details button.

5. Click the Add button.

6. Find the language you want and select it.

7. Click OK.

8. Click the Apply button.

Here's how to switch keyboard layouts in Windows Vista:

1. Click the Start->Control Panel item.

2. Under Clock, Language and Region, click Change Keyboards or other Input methods.

3. Click the Change Keyboard button.

4. Click the Add button.

5. Find the language you want and select it.

6. Click the + sign to expand the item.

7. Click the + sign next to Keyboard to expand it.

8. Check the language you want.

9. Click the OK button

This will add that language it to the list of possible languages and possibly add the Language toolbar to your Task bar. You should be able to switch between the languages with the Language toolbar or with the LeftALT/Shift key combination.

google spanish online keyboard