QZERTY keyboard layout
QZERTY is the traditional layout of Italian typewriters, QWERTY with W and Z swapped and M beside L; Italian computer keyboards use QWERTY instead.
- Created by
- Unknown
- Italian typewriters
- Year
- Typewriters
- Finger travel
- −2%
- vs QWERTY
- Home row
- 39%
- of letters, QWERTY 37%
The layout
Italian QZERTY: W and Z swapped and M beside L, as on Italian typewriters.
QZERTY is typed with standard touch-typing fingering.
How QZERTY measures
QZERTY typed on 23,331 words of English and compared with QWERTY.
History
- TypewritersItalian typewriters, Olivetti’s among them, use QZERTY: W and Z swapped and M beside L, as on AZERTY.
- ComputersItalian computer keyboards adopt QWERTY. Apple uses QZERTY on some early Italian keyboards and on the iPod touch.
Design goal: Not documented; it shares its changes with the French AZERTY.
Pros
- Matches the layout Italian typists learned on typewriters.
- Otherwise close to QWERTY.
- Shares its M position and top-left Z with AZERTY.
Cons
- Effectively obsolete: modern Italian keyboards are QWERTY.
- Not built into Windows or Linux.
- Almost no documentation or learning material.
QZERTY compared
Against QWERTY and other national standards, ranked by finger travel per 1,000 words.
| Layout | Finger travel | vs QWERTY | Home row | Same finger | Alternation | Left hand |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| QZERTYTHIS PAGE | 128.0 m | −2% | 39% | 7.1% | 55% | 57% |
| QWERTY | 130.0 m | — | 37% | 6.5% | 55% | 57% |
| QWERTZ | 132.8 m | +2% | 37% | 6.8% | 55% | 59% |
| AZERTY | 144.6 m | +11% | 30% | 7.4% | 55% | 58% |
QZERTY has no known designer. It was the traditional layout of Italian typewriters in the 20th century.
It moves your fingers less. On 23,331 words of English, finger travel was −2% against QWERTY, 39% of letters landed on the home row against QWERTY’s 37%, and same-finger pairs were 7.1% against 6.5%. Less movement does not guarantee more speed, and switching takes weeks of practice.
QZERTY is typed with standard touch-typing fingering.
Yes. Choose QZERTY as your keyboard layout and the on-screen keyboard and hands show where every key is.