Russian keyboard layout

The standard ЙЦУКЕН layout key by key, the phonetic layout that maps letters by sound, and the Typewriter variant, with all 33 letters on all three.

33
letters
3
Windows layouts
11
two-key letters on Mnemonic

ЙЦУКЕН, the standard layout

The standard Russian layout is named after the first six letters of its top row: ЙЦУКЕН. Here is the full map, named by the key in the same place on a US keyboard:

Key on a US keyboardTypesWith Shift
`ёЁ
11!
22"
33№
44;
55%
66:
77?
88*
99(
00)
--_
==+
QйЙ
WцЦ
EуУ
RкК
TеЕ
YнН
UгГ
IшШ
OщЩ
PзЗ
[хХ
]ъЪ
\\/
AфФ
SыЫ
DвВ
FаА
GпП
HрР
JоО
KлЛ
LдД
;жЖ
'эЭ
ZяЯ
XчЧ
CсС
VмМ
BиИ
NтТ
MьЬ
,бБ
.юЮ
/.,

What moves compared with an English keyboard

  • Ё is on `, left of 1.
  • The period is on / and the comma is Shift + /.
  • Х and Ъ take the bracket keys ([ and ]); Ж and Э take ; and '; Б and Ю take , and ..
  • Shift + 3 types the numero sign № instead of #.
  • AltGr + 8 types the ruble sign ₽.

Russian - Mnemonic: the phonetic layout

If you learned to type in English, the Mnemonic layout puts Russian letters where they sound: A types а, B types б, D types д, F types ф, G types г, R types р. Letters with no Latin match are built with a second key, the way you would spell them in English:

TypeGives
J then Aя
J then Eэ
J then Oё
J then Uю
S then Hш
S then Cщ
C then Hч
Y then Aя
Y then Eэ
Y then Oё
Y then Uю

The first key waits to see what comes next; type Space after it if you want it alone. The Cyrillic keyboard uses this layout.

Russian (Typewriter)

The older Typewriter layout keeps every letter in place and moves 16 keys, mostly punctuation onto the number row, with digits on Shift:

KeyStandardTypewriter
`ё Ё| +
11 !№ 1
22 "- 2
33 №/ 3
44 ;" 4
55 %: 5
66 :, 6
77 ?. 7
88 *_ 8
99 (? 9
00 )% 0
-- _! =
== +; \
\\ /) (
\\ /) (
/. ,ё Ё

Every letter on all three layouts

LetterStandard (ЙЦУКЕН)MnemonicTypewriter
аFAF
б,B,
вDVD
гUGU
дLDL
еTET
ё`AltGr + ` then E/
ж;X;
зPZP
иBIB
йQJQ
кRKR
лKLK
мVMV
нYNY
оJOJ
пGPG
рHRH
сCSC
тNTN
уEUE
фAFA
х[H[
цWCW
чXAltGr + ` then CX
шIWI
щOAltGr + ` then WO
ъ]`]
ыSYS
ьM'M
э'AltGr + ` then A'
ю.AltGr + ` then U.
яZQZ

Questions

Why is the Russian keyboard called ЙЦУКЕН?

Those are the first letters of its top row, the same way QWERTY is named.

Where is ё on a Russian keyboard?

On the key left of 1 (` on a US keyboard).

Is there a phonetic Russian keyboard?

Yes. Windows includes Russian - Mnemonic, which maps letters by sound: A types а, B types б, and с then х types ш.

Where is the period on a Russian keyboard?

On the / key; the comma is Shift + /.

Try it on the keyboard

Sources

Every key and count in this guide is computed from the layout data when the site is built, so it always matches the keyboards here.