Nepali keyboard layouts compared: Preeti, Traditional, InScript and Romanized
What each Nepali keyboard layout is, who uses it, and how the key positions differ, so you can choose the one to learn.
Preeti
A font-based layout from the era before Unicode. One key gives one glyph, some letters take two keys, and ि is pressed before its consonant. It is the layout of the Lok Sewa typing test and of many government and newspaper offices.
Traditional Unicode
The Nepali keyboard built into Windows and macOS. Its key positions follow the old Nepali typewriter, close to Preeti for many letters, but it produces Unicode and types in reading order. The usual choice for people who already know Preeti and move to Unicode.
InScript
The standard layout for every Indian script, also available for Nepali on both operating systems. Vowel signs sit on the left hand and consonants on the right, arranged by sound. Learners starting from zero often find it the most logical, and the same positions work for Hindi and Marathi.
Romanized
Not a layout but a converter: you spell words in English letters and software produces Devanagari. The fastest start for messages and notes, and the slowest for long documents, because every word needs the conversion to guess right.
- Exam preparation: Preeti.
- Office documents and the web: Traditional Unicode or InScript.
- Messages and quick notes: Romanized.