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Fix Getting Double Quote Instead of @ When Typing on Windows

· One min read
Luke Murray
Luke Murray
Author

If pressing Shift + 2 produces a double quote instead of the @ symbol, your keyboard layout has been changed from US to UK. The US and UK keyboard layouts swap the positions of the @ and " characters, which is a common source of confusion.

This can happen accidentally by pressing Left Alt + Shift, which is the default Windows shortcut for switching between installed keyboard layouts.

How to switch back to the US keyboard layout​

  1. Click Start.
  2. Click Control Panel.
  3. Click Regional and Language Options.
  4. Click the Languages tab.
  5. Click Details.
  6. Under the Settings tab, use the dropdown list to select US Keyboard (International).
  7. Click Ok.

Restart the application you were having problems typing in, and the @ symbol should now appear when pressing Shift + 2.

Preventing accidental layout switches​

To stop the keyboard layout from changing unexpectedly:

  1. In the Regional and Language settings, click the Languages tab, then Details.
  2. Click Key Settings (or Advanced Key Settings on newer versions).
  3. Select Between input languages and click Change Key Sequence.
  4. Set the option to Not Assigned to disable the keyboard shortcut.

This prevents the Alt + Shift shortcut from switching your layout while you are typing.