When Shift+2 types a quotation mark, or Shift+’ types @, nothing is broken. The physical keyboard and the layout the operating system is using disagree. This happens when a UK keyboard is used with the US layout, or a US keyboard with the UK layout, and it explains almost every “my @ key does not work” report.
The UK and US swap
| Key press | US layout | UK layout |
|---|---|---|
| Shift+2 | @ | “ |
| Shift+’ | “ | @ |
| Shift+3 | # | £ |
| \ key next to Enter | \ | # (on the key left of Enter) |
If your @ and “ are swapped, so are # and £. That is the signature of a layout mismatch. Copy the symbols at the top of this page if you need one right now, then fix the layout so the keys match what is printed on them.
Fix the layout on Windows
Switch with a shortcut
Press Win+Space. A list of installed layouts appears; keep pressing Space to cycle through them. Alt+Shift does the same in most versions. If the @ key starts working, you had two layouts installed and were on the wrong one.
Set the right layout permanently
- Open Settings → Time & Language → Language & region.
- Under your language, click the three dots → Language options.
- Under Keyboards, add the layout that matches your keyboard: US for a US keyboard, United Kingdom for a UK keyboard.
- Remove the layout you do not use so accidental switching stops.
If the language itself is wrong (for example English (United Kingdom) with a US keyboard), you can keep the language and still add the US keyboard layout under it. The layout, not the language, decides what the keys type.
Fix the layout on a Mac
- Open System Settings → Keyboard → Input Sources → Edit.
- Click + and add British for a UK keyboard or U.S. for a US keyboard.
- Remove the one you do not use.
- If more than one remains, switch with Control+Space or the input menu in the menu bar.
Apple UK keyboards put @ on Shift+2 like US keyboards, so Mac users who see the swap usually have a Windows-style UK keyboard plugged in. Add the British – PC input source for those.
Fix the layout on a Chromebook
Open Settings → Device → Keyboard → Change input settings, add the correct layout under Input methods, and remove the wrong one. Switch with Ctrl+Space.
Type @ on other layouts
| Layout | @ shortcut |
|---|---|
| German (QWERTZ) | Alt Gr+Q; Mac: Option+L |
| French (AZERTY) | Alt Gr+0; Mac: the key left of Return, or Option+@ |
| Spanish | Alt Gr+2; Mac: Option+2 |
| Italian | Alt Gr+ò (key right of L); Mac: Option+ò |
| Portuguese | Alt Gr+2 |
| Swedish, Norwegian, Danish | Alt Gr+2; Mac: Option+2 |
| Swiss | Alt Gr+2 |
| Turkish Q | Alt Gr+Q |
Alt Gr is the right Alt key. If Alt Gr does nothing, press Ctrl+Alt together with the key instead; Windows treats that combination as Alt Gr. For any layout, our language keyboards list every special character with its shortcut, for example the German keyboard and French keyboard.
If the layout is right and @ still fails
- Test the key. Press 2 and ’ on their own. If both type their normal characters, the keys work and only the Shift combination fails; go to Shift key not working.
- Filter Keys. Turn it off under Settings → Accessibility → Keyboard. It can drop the second key in a combination.
- Try another app. Some remote desktop apps and games swallow modifier combinations. Test in Notepad or TextEdit.
- Remap tools. Check PowerToys Keyboard Manager or Karabiner-Elements for a rule that changed Shift+2.
- Hardware. Clean the key, try another port, or test another keyboard.
Type @ another way
- Alt code: hold Alt and type 64 on the numeric keypad.
- Windows emoji panel: Win + ., Symbols tab.
- Mac Character Viewer: Control+Command+Space, search “commercial at”.
- Copy it: from the tiles above or from the @ symbol page.
Prevent the swap from coming back
Windows adds a layout whenever you add a language, and some apps (remote desktop clients, virtual machines, corporate imaging) add one for you. Once a month, open Settings → Time & Language → Language & region and check that only one keyboard is listed under your language. On a shared computer, ask other users to do the same, because Windows can store a different layout per user account and per sign-in session.
If you regularly switch between a UK laptop and a US external keyboard, keep both layouts installed but set the switching shortcut to something deliberate. Go to Settings → Time & Language → Typing → Advanced keyboard settings → Input language hot keys, and change the Switch Input Language sequence from the default Alt+Shift to a combination you will not press while typing. Turn off “Let me use a different input method for each app window” so the layout does not appear to change when you move between programs.
The keys involved
| Key | US layout | UK layout | Unicode | Symbol page |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| @ | Shift+2 | Shift+’ | U+0040 | Commercial at |
| “ | Shift+’ | Shift+2 | U+0022 | Quotation mark |
| # | Shift+3 | Key left of Enter | U+0023 | Number sign |
| £ | Alt+0163 | Shift+3 | U+00A3 | Pound sign |
| ~ | Shift+` | Shift+# | U+007E | Tilde |
| \ | Key above Enter | Key left of Z | U+005C | Backslash |
Every one of these has an Alt code and an HTML entity on its symbol page, which is the quickest fallback while you sort the layout out.
Related
- Keyboard typing wrong characters
- Where is the @ key
- How to change keyboard language in Windows
- How to change keyboard language on a Mac
Frequently asked questions
Why does Shift+2 give me a quotation mark instead of @? +
Your computer is set to the UK layout while you are using a US keyboard, or the other way around. On UK layouts @ is on the apostrophe key and the quote mark is on 2. Switch the layout in your language settings.
How do I type @ on a German keyboard? +
Press Alt Gr+Q. On a Mac with a German layout, press Option+L.
How do I type @ on a French AZERTY keyboard? +
Press Alt Gr+0 (the zero on the number row). On a Mac with the French layout, press Option+@ or check the key to the left of Return.
Why did my layout change on its own? +
Windows switches layouts with Alt+Shift or Win+Space, and it is easy to press by accident. Remove the layouts you do not use so the shortcut has nothing to switch to.
Can I type @ without the @ key? +
Yes. Copy it from this page, use Alt+64 on the numeric keypad, or open the Windows emoji panel with Win + . and choose the Symbols tab.