How to set up the most convenient language switching on macOS. I use it and enjoy it

Many host computers only work in one language on the system (lucky ones). But the virus has to use two or more languages ​​on the keyboard. The switching mechanism in macOS is not the best, but everything can be fixed.

Now let’s talk about the not-so-standard way to switch the input source on a Mac and how to fix it.

What’s wrong with standard language switching on a Mac?

macOS developers regularly changed the default keyboard shortcuts for this. To switch language input during testing:

► Command + Space

► Option (Alt) + Space

► Control + Space

And recently, under this they even highlighted the power button – Globe.

Each of these methods is not ideal. This is either an inconvenient button that requires you to reach with your little finger, or a couple of keys in a tasty place that can be assigned to something more useful, for example, working with ChatGPT or Raycast advanced search.

It’s good that in the system components you can choose the most convenient option.

How to change the keyboard shortcut to change the language in macOS

▶ open System Settings.

▶ Go to section Keyboard and press the button Keyboard shortcut.

▶ In the side menu, go to the section. Input sources.

▶ Set a suitable shortcut to switch the language.

The device has two actions to enable the following and source input source. Setting them up makes sense when more than two layouts are used.

The main inconvenience of providing a language changing system is that you don’t know which layout is enabled until you swipe the first character or click on the indicator in the upper right corner. If running in full screen mode, you still need to swipe up to display the indicator.

Often the problem is solved by the input language indicator, which appeared in macOS Sonoma. But it does not work in all applications and not in every character input field.

How to set up the most convenient language switching on macOS

The most convenient way is to assign the inclusion of Russian layouts to one shortcut, and English to another. This way you can press the desired key combinations before typing and be absolutely sure that you will start typing in the desired language. But we will go even further and configure the switching not to a key combination, but to a single button.

On thematic forums, it is customary to consider the protocol and the right keyboard command. That is, before entering the text, you quickly tapped on the left Command and then write in English, tapped on the right – write in English, or vice versa. I myself have been using this switching method for several months now and am terribly indignant when I have to work on my wife’s laptop, where there are no such settings.

So, let’s start setting up. For this we will use the well-known utility Carabinieriit allows you to reassign any buttons on the keyboard and even set tricky shortcuts as we want. Pressing a button on one application performed a specific function, while pressing other keys became a familiar modifier.

1. download the free Karabiner application from the developer’s website.

2. Install the application and grant the necessary permissions to operate.

3. In the appendix to the section Complex modifications and press Add a predefined rule.

4. Open the application website with a set of custom rules from the entry of enthusiasts. I recommend finding one.

5. Activate the imported rules and they will immediately start working.

For convenience, I swapped the buttons, the left Command switches on the Russian layout, and the right one switches on the English layout. You can make changes manually to each script.

So, we have assigned a couple of additional actions to the keyboard command, we can further assign what is needed for the remaining modifiers: Option, Control, Fn and even useless CapsLock.

More articles about component voltages on a Mac:

🌐 How to assign language switching in macOS to the FN button

🌐 How to return FLAGS for the language layout in macOS

🌐 How to customize the keymap for each application in macOS

🌐 Set your keyboard layout customization for macOS.