Learn how to set up and use multilingual typing on the iPhone to write in three different languages on one keyboard without switching locales.
Apple’s built-in QuickType keyboard supports multilingual typing, no keyboard switching required. You can type in up to three languages simultaneously. What’s best, you’ll receive appropriate word suggestions in all of them.
Follow our instructional tutorial below to learn how to set up and use multilingual typing on the iPhone and iPad, including on older iOS versions.
Multilingual typing on iPhone without switching keyboards
iOS 18 and later let you add up to three keyboard languages to the built-in QuickType keyboard for multilingual typing, and receive word suggestions for all of them.
1) Open the Settings app and navigate to General > Keyboard > Keyboards.
2) Tap Add New Keyboard and select a second language to add. I’ll choose Hindi.
3) Add this language and tap Done. You can also change keyboard layout.
In many cases, you can add no more than two keyboard locales. As you can see below, I can only add French and English US locales to the QuickType keyboard.
With some languages like Indian, however, you can use three different keyboard locales for multilingual typing. As evidenced on the screenshot right ahead, I’ve added Hindi and Gujarati to my QuickType keyboard, in addition to English US, so I could type in three different languages without switching keyboards.
4) To test your multi-language keyboard, open Notes and start typing. You should see multilingual suggestions above the keyboard. To switch to another keyboard locale, tap the language letter above the keyboard.
Removing a keyboard language
To remove a specific language from the QuickType keyboard, go to Settings > General > Keyboard > Keyboards and select your bilingual or multilingual keyboard, then swipe left on the language you want to remove and choose Delete.
Multilingual typing on older iOS versions
If your iPhone is running an older iOS version, or the chosen language doesn’t pair with the existing keyboard, follow these steps to set up multilingual typing.
1) Go to Settings > General > Dictionary on your iPhone or iPad and select the languages you’d like to use with the QuickType keyboard, like French and German. Be sure to wait on this screen until the dictionary files have finished downloading.
2) Go to Settings > General > Keyboard > Keyboards and tap “Add New Keyboard“, then add your downloaded languages here, like French and German. On iOS 18 and later, select “Add New Keyboard” instead, then pick a layout and choose Done. To reorder keyboard languages, choose Edit in the top-right corner.
3) That’s it! You can now type like a pro on your iPhone in multiple languages. Your iPhone analyzes everything you type, automatically providing next-word suggestions in an appropriate language above the keyboard without auto-correct getting in the way by trying to correct foreign language words.
To change the order of these next-word suggestions, go to Settings > General > Language & Region > Preferred Languages Order and rearrange the list there. For example, if you reorder languages so that French comes before English, the first predictive recommendation above the keyboard will be in French rather than English.
Supported languages for multilingual typing
Apple’s iOS Feature Availability page lists these languages for multilingual typing:
- Bangla
- Cantonese (Traditional) — Phonetic
- Chinese (Simplified) — Pinyin
- Chinese (Traditional) — Pinyin
- Czech
- Danish
- Dutch (Belgium, Netherlands)
- English (Australia, Canada, India, Japan, New Zealand, Singapore, South Africa, United Kingdom, United States)
- French (Belgium, Canada, France, Switzerland)
- German (Austria, Germany, Switzerland)
- Gujarati
- Hindi
- Icelandic
- Indonesian
- Italian
- Japanese (Romaji)
- Korean (2-Set)
- Lithuanian
- Marathi
- Norwegian (Bokmål, Nynorsk)
- Polish
- Portuguese (Brazil, Portugal)
- Punjabi
- Romanian
- Slovenian
- Spanish (Latin America, Mexico, Spain)
- Swedish
- Tamil
- Telugu
- Turkish
- Vietnamese — Telex
Apple occasionally refreshes this page as existing features expand to new countries and languages. Give it a visit from time to time to check if any new languages are available for multilingual typing on the QuickType keyboard.
Multilingual typing with SwiftKey
Multilingual typing only works with Apple’s predictive QuickType keyboard. If you’re not a fan of QuickType, don’t worry—you’re welcome to try a third-party keyboard that allows multilingual typing, such as SwiftKey.
Do you use third-party keyboards on your iPhone at all? If so, which ones? If you use QuickType, have you ever tried bilingual or multilingual typing? If so, how did it go? Chime in with your thoughts in the commenting section down below!