How do I type Russian with the phonetic layout?

The page opens with XKB phonetic selected. Click letters, or enable Use Russian key positions for my physical keyboard and type in the box. For example, priwet gives привет. The English labels show the physical positions. Shift and CapsLock control the ordinary letter keys; Shift+3 gives ё, Shift+4 gives Ё, Shift+5 gives ъ and Shift+6 gives Ъ.

Where are the less obvious Russian letters?

W types в, X types ь, V types ж, backquote types ю, equals types ч and backslash types э. The extra row includes ю, ч, ё and ъ with their English-position labels. All 33 Russian letters are clickable in both cases.

Is this the Microsoft Russian Mnemonic keyboard?

It uses xkeyboard-config’s fixed Russian (phonetic) positions. Microsoft Russian Mnemonic is a different layout with different input rules. This page maps individual keys and does not expand sequences such as sh or transliterate complete words. Other keys use your device’s normal input.

Can I use this phonetic keyboard on a phone, tablet or computer?

Tap or click the letters in a browser on iPhone, iPad, Android, Mac or Windows. Physical mapping is optional and applies only inside this text box. Native IME composition and Ctrl, Command or Alt shortcuts use normal device input. Copy gives Unicode text and Download saves UTF-8. The page does not install a keyboard or change system settings.

Will this change the main page’s saved language?

Opening this preset selects Russian and the phonetic board without changing the language you previously chose on the main page. Layout and physical-input choices last only for the page visit. Physical mapping starts off, so native typing remains available.

Russian Phonetic Keyboard

Use the fixed XKB Russian (phonetic) letter layout. Click the labelled keys or enable Russian key positions for your physical keyboard. Q gives я, W gives в and V gives ж. Copy or save the Unicode text.

XKB Russian (phonetic) letter positions: Q types я, A types а and V types ж. Ё/ё use Shift+4/Shift+3 and Ъ/ъ use Shift+6/Shift+5. This fixed layout differs from Microsoft's Russian Mnemonic keyboard and does not transliterate words.

Use Russian key positions for my physical keyboard

Your text0 / 100,000 characters

Other phonetic letter positions

Click a key, or type in the box with your own keyboard.

Language

Case

Characters

0 / 100,000

Whole-draft Standard key-position conversion

Convert the whole draft using Standard ЙЦУКЕН letter positions, regardless of the selected typing layout. English letters and the letter-producing punctuation positions map to Russian letters; shifted English symbols map to capitals. For example, Ghbdtn becomes Привет, and Привет becomes Ghbdtn. Unmapped characters, including digits, spaces and other scripts, stay unchanged. This does not translate or transliterate words.

Click a key and the character lands where the cursor is, so you can click, type, click again and it stays in order. Your own keyboard types normally unless you enable Russian key positions. That option reads physical letter positions for Standard ЙЦУКЕН or XKB phonetic, whichever you selected. English labels show those positions. It does not transliterate multi-letter spellings. Shift stays on until you press it again, and Thai and Persian have no case, so the control is not offered there. Backspace here removes a character together with the marks sitting on it, and Undo puts back the last hundred steps, text and cursor together.

What comes out

привет, key by keyeach key lands at the caret, in order
привет

Exact about characters: Every key inserts the character it shows, encoded as ordinary Unicode, at the cursor: this types text and does not translate or transliterate it. Clicked Greek accents are composed into single characters where Unicode supplies a precomposed form; other clicked combinations remain combining sequences. Persian keeps the zero-width non-joiner, and deletion removes a character with its combining marks rather than leaving one behind. Nothing you type leaves the browser. Your draft and the language you picked are kept in this browser alone, and the Start over button at the top of the page forgets them. Sub-pages open in their own script without changing the language you chose here.

Common questions

How do I type Russian with the phonetic layout?: The page opens with XKB phonetic selected. Click letters, or enable Use Russian key positions for my physical keyboard and type in the box. For example, priwet gives привет. The English labels show the physical positions. Shift and CapsLock control the ordinary letter keys; Shift+3 gives ё, Shift+4 gives Ё, Shift+5 gives ъ and Shift+6 gives Ъ.
Where are the less obvious Russian letters?: W types в, X types ь, V types ж, backquote types ю, equals types ч and backslash types э. The extra row includes ю, ч, ё and ъ with their English-position labels. All 33 Russian letters are clickable in both cases.
Is this the Microsoft Russian Mnemonic keyboard?: It uses xkeyboard-config’s fixed Russian (phonetic) positions. Microsoft Russian Mnemonic is a different layout with different input rules. This page maps individual keys and does not expand sequences such as sh or transliterate complete words. Other keys use your device’s normal input.
Can I use this phonetic keyboard on a phone, tablet or computer?: Tap or click the letters in a browser on iPhone, iPad, Android, Mac or Windows. Physical mapping is optional and applies only inside this text box. Native IME composition and Ctrl, Command or Alt shortcuts use normal device input. Copy gives Unicode text and Download saves UTF-8. The page does not install a keyboard or change system settings.
Will this change the main page’s saved language?: Opening this preset selects Russian and the phonetic board without changing the language you previously chose on the main page. Layout and physical-input choices last only for the page visit. Physical mapping starts off, so native typing remains available.

Every key inserts the character it shows, encoded as ordinary Unicode, at the cursor: this types text and does not translate or transliterate it. Clicked Greek accents are composed into single characters where Unicode supplies a precomposed form; other clicked combinations remain combining sequences. Persian keeps the zero-width non-joiner, and deletion removes a character with its combining marks rather than leaving one behind. Nothing you type leaves the browser.