A free, open-source Arabic keyboard for Windows 10 and 11: write Arabizi, also called Franco-Arabic
(mar7aba, 3ala, 2albi), in any app, and Type3arabi turns it into the Arabic you meant,
with the most likely word already picked. It works like Yamli, but in every Windows app and offline,
as Microsoft Maren did.
Download · Try it in your browser · Features · Settings · Privacy · FAQ · Arabizi chart · Licenses
Type3arabi (Arabic name «اكتب عربي») adds Arabic · Type3arabi to your Windows languages. Switch to it with Win+Space like any keyboard, then type Arabic in Latin letters and digits the way you already do in chats. A small list under the word shows the Arabic it could be, with the best match on top: press Space and keep typing.
It works in the Windows apps you type in (Word, Chrome, Edge, WhatsApp, Teams, Outlook, Notepad…), understands the major dialects without you picking one, and runs 100% offline: nothing you type ever leaves your PC.
يُضاف «اكتب عربي» إلى لغات ويندوز كلوحة مفاتيح حقيقية. اكتب بالعربيزي كما تكتب في رسائلك، في أي برنامج، والكلمة الأنسب تظهر أولاً. يعمل دون إنترنت، مجاني ومفتوح المصدر.
➜ Latest release on GitHub — download
Type3arabi-x64.msi from the release's Assets. Releases are published on GitHub only.
- Windows 10 or 11, 64-bit. The installer contains both the 64-bit and 32-bit keyboard, so older 32-bit apps work too.
- Each release lists the SHA-256 of the installer. To check your download:
Get-FileHash .\Type3arabi-x64.msi -Algorithm SHA256
Warning
The installer is not code-signed yet, so Windows will warn you. SmartScreen shows "Windows protected your PC" / "Unknown publisher". This is normal and expected for a new, independent project: code-signing certificates for Windows keyboards take time and paperwork to obtain, and we are working on getting one. Until then, choose More info → Run anyway, ideally after checking that the SHA-256 matches the one on the release page.
- Run the installer. The page after the license, What Type3arabi adds, lists what it changes (below) and lets you keep or untick the desktop shortcut to Settings.
- Restart when asked (recommended: apps that were already open only see a new keyboard after a restart).
- Press Win+Space and choose Arabic · Type3arabi, or press Ctrl+Alt+A from any keyboard.
- Type
mar7abaand press Space. That's it.
To remove it: Settings → Apps → Installed apps → Type3arabi → Uninstall. The uninstaller asks whether to
also erase your learned words and settings (off by default: they stay in %LOCALAPPDATA%\Type3arabi, so a
reinstall picks up where you left off), and confirms when Type3arabi is removed.
- Installs to
C:\Program Files\Type3arabiand registers the Arabic · Type3arabi keyboard with Windows (a Text Services Framework input method, 64- and 32-bit), then turns it on for the account that installed it. Other accounts on the PC can add it from Type3arabi Settings → General. - Adds a small helper that starts when you sign in (
t3a-hotkey.exe): it provides the global shortcut and removes the extra Arabic (101) keyboard that Windows adds next to Type3arabi (right after sign-in, then every 5 minutes; Settings → Learning & privacy). With the shortcut and that check both turned off it exits after the sign-in check. - Adds Type3arabi Settings to the Start menu, and to the desktop unless you untick it.
- Keeps your settings and learned words in
%LOCALAPPDATA%\Type3arabi. Nothing is sent anywhere. - Never closes your apps and never restarts the PC by itself. Apps that are already open pick up a new version after a restart, which the installer offers at the end (silent installs, e.g. from the Microsoft Store, return "restart needed" instead).
- Uninstalling removes all of the above. Your settings and learned words are kept unless you tick Also erase my learned word choices and settings on the uninstall page.
| A real Windows keyboard | One entry, Arabic · Type3arabi, in the Windows language list. Switch with Win+Space or your own global shortcut. Built on the Text Services Framework, like Microsoft's own input methods. |
| Steps aside by itself | With a regular Arabic keyboard you keep switching back to English for a web address or a password. Type3arabi doesn't need that: in the browser's address bar it types plain Latin by itself, and password, PIN and number fields get plain Latin and teach it nothing. Username and other text boxes keep Arabic, since many sites accept Arabic names. Private/incognito windows never teach it anything. It works from what the app tells Windows about each field (input scopes), the way Microsoft's own keyboards do. |
| Type the way you text | 3 = ع, 7 = ح, 2 = ء, 5 = خ, 9 = ص/ق, 8 = ق/غ, 6 = ط — plus doubled letters, sh, kh, gh, th, dh… Nothing new to learn. |
| Your word, already picked | The most likely Arabic word is selected; Space inserts it. ↓, the mouse wheel or a click picks another. |
| Dialects, automatically | Levantine, Egyptian, Gulf, Iraqi, Maghrebi and Modern Standard Arabic. There is no dialect to choose: it adapts to yours within a few words, and follows you when you switch. |
| The small things, handled | «اللّه» gets its shadda, «شكراً» its tanween, and , ; ? become ، ؛ ؟ automatically. |
| Diacritics, letter by letter | Tab opens the tashkeel editor: any mark on any letter, several letters at once, or a ready-made vowelling. Ctrl+Enter turns the vowels you typed into harakat. |
| English stays English | Shift+Space or Esc keeps a word in Latin letters, so you can mix both freely. |
| Learns your choices, lets you export them | Pick a word once (3am → عام instead of عم) and it comes first next time. Stored on your PC only; take everything it learned to another PC in one .t3learn file, or erase it. |
| Change your mind | Backspace right after a word reopens it with its list. |
All keys
While typing a word (candidate list)
| Key | Action |
|---|---|
| Space | Insert the highlighted word and a space |
| Enter | Insert the word without a space |
| ↓ ↑, mouse wheel | Highlight another word · PgDn PgUp for more pages |
| click a row | Insert that word |
| Tab | Open the tashkeel editor for the highlighted word |
| Ctrl+Enter | Insert with harakat from the vowels you typed (3allam → عَلَّم) |
| Shift+Space | Insert the Latin word as typed, and a space |
| Esc | Insert exactly what you typed, in Latin letters |
| Backspace right after a word | Reopen it with its list |
| Ctrl+Space | Pause Arabic (type Latin) / resume |
| Ctrl+Alt+A | Switch to Type3arabi from any keyboard (global) |
In the tashkeel editor
| Key | Action |
|---|---|
| ← → · Shift+← → · click, Ctrl/Shift+click | Move between letters · select several |
| a u i o | Fatha · damma · kasra · sukun |
| w · A U I · ^ | Shadda · tanween (fath, damm, kasr) · dagger alif |
| x · «مسح الكل» | Clear the letter's marks · clear all |
| 1–8, ↑ ↓, Shift+Tab | Ready-made vowellings (the one marked ✦ comes from how you typed the word) |
| Enter · Space | Insert the vowelled word (· with a space) |
| Esc or Tab | Back to the list |
The shortcuts in the first table can be changed in Settings.
Open Type3arabi Settings from the small ⚙ tab at the top of the suggestion list, the Start menu, or the desktop shortcut. Every change applies from the next word, in every app — no restart.
| Page | What you can change |
|---|---|
| Keyboard shortcuts · الاختصارات | Keep Latin, open the tashkeel editor, insert with harakat, the Arabic ⇄ Latin toggle and the global switch-to-Type3arabi shortcut. Click a field and press the new keys. |
| Typing · الكتابة | Arabic or Latin preview in the text, suggestions per page, word completions, joining «ال» with the next word, Backspace re-edit, Arabic punctuation, Western or Eastern digits, dialect (automatic by default) and the dialect badge. |
| Diacritics · التشكيل | How the name of Allah is written (اللّه · اللَّه · اللّٰه · الله), automatic tanween, hamza spelling, and how much harakat Ctrl+Enter adds. |
| Learning & privacy · التعلّم والخصوصية | Learning on/off, "last choice first", context from the words before the cursor (never stored), export / import what it learned (.t3learn, optionally with your settings) with a dated history, and Forget everything. |
| About · حول | Version, file locations, licenses. |
- Offline. The keyboard has no network code at all. No account, no cloud, no telemetry, no crash upload.
- What it learns stays on your PC (
%LOCALAPPDATA%\Type3arabi): which Arabic word you chose for which Latin spelling. Not your sentences, not your documents. Export it, import it or erase it in Settings. - Password fields are left alone: where Windows turns input methods off, Type3arabi does nothing; fields an app marks as password, PIN, number, phone, date or amount get plain Latin letters (no Arabic, nothing learned), and private/incognito fields never teach it anything.
- Open source, so anyone can check all of the above.
All four let you type Arabic in Latin letters and pick the Arabic word from a list. The difference is where they work.
| Type3arabi | Yamli | Microsoft Maren | Google Input Tools | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| What it is | Windows keyboard (input method) | Website and Chrome extension | Windows keyboard (input method), 2009 | Chrome extension; the Windows version was removed in 2018 |
| Types into any Windows app | Yes | No, web pages only | Yes, on Windows XP, Vista and 7 | No, Chrome only |
| Works offline | Yes | No | Yes | No |
| Available today | Yes, Windows 10 and 11 | Yes | No, no longer supported by Microsoft | Chrome extension only |
| Open source | Yes (Apache-2.0) | No | No | No |
Checked September 2026; sources and details on type3arabi.com/compare. Type3arabi is an independent project, not connected to Yamli, Microsoft or Google. It does not translate English into Arabic: it turns Arabic written in Latin letters into Arabic letters. It runs on Windows only (x64; ARM PCs are not supported yet).
- Extra words after yours in the Start menu's search. The search box in Start completes what you type with its own suggestions, so after «مرحباً» it can show a whole sentence such as «مرحباً كيف حالك يا صديقي الغالي». That text comes from Windows, not from Type3arabi: Type3arabi only ever inserts the word you picked (and the space or punctuation you typed). To see it for yourself, switch Type3arabi off, paste «مرحباً» into Start's search box, and the same sentence appears.
Type3arabi is a Text Services Framework input processor written in Rust. For every key you type, the engine searches a 600,000-word Arabic lexicon with a model of how people write Arabic in Latin letters, weighs each candidate by how common it is in your (automatically detected) dialect and by what you chose before, and adds an out-of-dictionary spelling path for names and new words. Everything runs inside the app you are typing in, typically in well under a millisecond per key, from one read-only data file shared by all apps.
The model is learned from public datasets of Arabic text and Arabizi–Arabic pairs, listed with their authors
and licenses in DATASETS.md. Details: docs/03-engine-algorithm.md
and docs/04-data-pipeline.md.
Requirements and commands
Rust (the version pinned in rust-toolchain.toml), Visual Studio 2022 Build Tools with the Windows 11 SDK,
WiX Toolset 5 for the installer, and uv for the data pipeline. See docs/07-build-release.md.
cargo test --workspace # tests (the engine also builds on Linux)
cargo run -p t3a-cli -- repl --dialect LEV # type Arabizi, see the ranked candidates
cargo run --release -p t3a-tip --example tsf_harness # the keyboard in a real TSF host, no install
powershell -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File .\scripts\dev-install.ps1 # install a dev build on this PC
powershell -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File .\scripts\build-installer.ps1 -Data target\type3arabi-release.datThe language model is not stored in the repository: tools/pipeline downloads the datasets from their
publishers and t3a-cli build-data compiles them (docs/04-data-pipeline.md).
| Rules for contributors (and coding agents) | AGENTS.md |
| Where the project stands | STATUS.md |
| Architecture · engine · UX | docs/01 · docs/03 · docs/05 |
| Testing a build on your PC | TESTING.md |
| License | Details | |
|---|---|---|
| Software — keyboard, engine, Settings, installer, tools | Apache License 2.0 | © 2026 Hassan Obaida |
Language model — type3arabi.dat, shipped in the releases |
CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 | Built from the datasets in DATASETS.md; attributions in NOTICE.md |
The full statement of who owns what and which license covers it is in COPYRIGHT.md.
The model is non-commercial because some of the datasets it learns from are. The code is fully open (Apache-2.0).
The name, «اكتب عربي» and the logo identify this project and are not covered by either license. Fonts: Kufam and
Manrope (SIL OFL 1.1). Compiled dependencies: THIRD-PARTY-LICENSES.html, installed with the app.
Type3arabi is free, and nothing is locked behind payment. If it helps you and you are able to, a coffee means a lot:
Found a bug or a word it gets wrong? Open an issue — the Arabizi you typed and the Arabic you expected are all we need.