ANSI vs ISO keyboards: the differences, drawn
ANSI and ISO are the two keyboard shapes used outside Japan. An ANSI keyboard, the US shape, has a wide Enter key one row tall, a long left Shift and a backslash key above Enter. An ISO keyboard, used across most of Europe, has a tall Enter that spans two rows and a short left Shift with an extra key beside it, so a full-size board has 105 keys instead of 104. Japan's JIS shape adds keys around a shorter space bar. Which character each key types is a separate setting: the layout.
US (ANSI) 104 keys
European (ISO) 105 keys
Japanese (JIS) 109 keys
Which one do you have?
- Look at Enter. One row tall and wide: ANSI. Two rows tall, shaped like an upside-down L: ISO or JIS.
- Look at the left Shift. Long: ANSI or JIS. Short, with a key between it and the next letter: ISO.
- Look at the space bar. Short, with extra keys on both sides and kana printed on the keys: JIS.
- Or press one key. On the keyboard test, press the key just right of the left Shift. If the drawing switches to European (ISO), you have an ISO keyboard; if the key next to Shift on the drawing lights up, you have ANSI or JIS. Pressing ¥ or ろ switches it to Japanese (JIS).
Every difference
| Key | ANSI | ISO | JIS |
|---|---|---|---|
| Enter | One row tall, wide | Two rows tall (an upside-down L) | Two rows tall, narrower than ISO's |
| Left Shift | Long | Short, with an extra key beside it | Long |
| Above Enter | A wide backslash key | Enter itself; that key moves down, left of Enter | Enter itself; ¥ and a short Backspace sit above it |
| Right Shift | Long | Long | Short, with the ろ (Ro) key beside it |
| Space bar | Long | Long | Short, between the Muhenkan, Henkan and Kana keys |
| Keys on a full-size keyboard | 104 | 105 | 109 |
Shape is not layout
The shape is the physical keyboard; the layout is the character each key types, chosen in your system settings. The UK and Germany both use the ISO shape with different layouts: QWERTY with £ in the UK, QWERTZ with Ä, Ö and Ü in Germany. German, French, Spanish and Nordic layouts put < and > on ISO's extra key, one reason Europe sells ISO keyboards. You can change the layout without changing the keyboard; the printed legends then stop matching what you type.
Is one better?
Neither shape types faster; the one you learned on feels best. The practical differences: ANSI's wide Enter and long left Shift are easy to find without looking, and many keycap sets sell the ISO keys only as an add-on. ISO's extra key and the AltGr key of European layouts make room for accented letters. In games, a long left Shift is harder to miss when it is bound to sprint or crouch.
If you type a European language every day, the ISO keyboard sold for your language saves hunting for symbols. If you type in English and play games, either works; pick the shape you will not have to relearn.
Mac keyboards
Apple makes its keyboards in the same three shapes. The bottom row has Control, Option and Command where a PC has Ctrl, Windows and Alt, and Apple's Japanese keyboards have 英数 (Eisu) and かな (Kana) keys on either side of the space bar. Some European Mac layouts place a few symbols differently from a PC in the same language; the British Mac layout puts § on the top-left key, for example.
Test your keyboard on the right drawing
The keyboard test opens on the shape usual for your language and switches by itself when you press a key that only one shape has. You can also pick US, European or Japanese, and Windows or Mac keys, above the drawing; it remembers your choice on this device.