Setting the keyboard correctly (Swiss Mac keyboard)
Are @, + or the brackets not where they are printed? Then the wrong keyboard layout is set. Here’s how to set up “German (Switzerland, Macintosh)” in Zorin OS 18.
This guide applies to MacBooks and iMacs with a Swiss Apple keyboard and Zorin OS 18. If you have a normal PC keyboard, read the section PC keyboard.
1. Set the keyboard layout
- Press the Super key (cmd), type Settings and press Enter.
- Click Keyboard on the left.
- Under Input Sources, click + Add Input Source …
- Click German (Switzerland). If the language is not in the list, click the three dots at the very bottom or type “Switzerland” into the search field.
- Choose German (Switzerland, Macintosh) and click Add.
- Remove the other layouts: click the three dots next to each entry and choose Remove.
The setting applies immediately; no restart is needed.
Several layouts: with Super + Space you switch between the layouts you have set up. If the characters are suddenly in the wrong place, you have often switched by accident. If only “German (Switzerland, Macintosh)” is set up, this can no longer happen.
2. Important characters
In Zorin OS the Option key (⌥) is called Alt. You type special characters with Option as on the Mac, but only with the right Option key. The left Option key is reserved for shortcuts such as Alt + Tab.
| Character | Keys (Mac keyboard) |
|---|---|
| @ | Right ⌥ + G |
| # | Right ⌥ + 3 |
| € | Right ⌥ + E |
| + | Shift + 1 |
| | | Right ⌥ + 7 |
| \ | Shift + Right ⌥ + 7 |
| [ ] | Right ⌥ + 5 / Right ⌥ + 6 |
| { } | Right ⌥ + 8 / Right ⌥ + 9 |
| « » | Right ⌥ + , / Shift + Right ⌥ + , |
| ~ | Right ⌥ + N, then Space |
In the keyboard settings there is the option Alternate Characters Key. Leave it on the right Alt key. If you change it to the left Alt key, shortcuts such as Alt + Tab will no longer work as usual.
You can find other characters such as §, ° or ± in the table Special characters.
Note: on some MacBooks under Linux, the top-left key (§) and the key to the left of Y (<) are swapped. If this is the case for you, get in touch and we will help you.
3. Copy, paste and other shortcuts
In Zorin OS the cmd key is the Super key and opens the Zorin menu. For copying, pasting and saving, use ctrl (Ctrl) instead of cmd: Ctrl + C, Ctrl + V, Ctrl + S.
→ Keyboard shortcuts and keyboard layout
→ Keyboard shortcuts cheat sheet
PC keyboard
For a normal Swiss PC keyboard, for example an external keyboard on the iMac, choose German (Switzerland) in step 5 instead of “German (Switzerland, Macintosh)”. You then reach the special characters with the AltGr key to the right of the space bar:
| Character | Keys (PC keyboard) |
|---|---|
| @ | AltGr + 2 |
| # | AltGr + 3 |
| € | AltGr + E |
| | | AltGr + 7 |
| \ | AltGr + < |
| [ ] | AltGr + ü / AltGr + ¨ |
| { } | AltGr + ä / AltGr + $ |
| ~ | AltGr + ^, then Space |
Stuck?
Write to us by WhatsApp, on Telegram (@not_yet_shop) or via the Support form. We’re happy to help.