By: Mustafa Umar

Enabling Arabic Input in Windows 7
To be able to type in Arabic, do the following:
1. Click on the Start Menu
2. Click on Control Panel
3. Click on “Change keyboards or other input methods”
4. Click on “Change keyboards”
5. Click on “Add”
6. Choose “Arabic (Saudi Arabia)” [the country doesn’t matter too much]
7. Check “Arabic 101” and click “Ok”
8. Click “Ok” again to return to the “Region and Language” menu
9. Click “Ok” again to save changes
You will now see on the bottom right hand of your screen an icon which either says “EN” or “AR”. To change languages, you can click on it, select a different language, and start typing in that language. You can also toggle languages by holding Alt and pressing Shift [you will see the icon change].
On-Screen Keyboard
Now, you can either buy/make stickers with Arabic letters for your keyboard so you know what you are typing or you can use the on-screen keyboard built into Windows. To enable that keyboard:
1. Click on the Start Menu
2. Click on “All Programs”
3. Click on “Accessories”
4. Click on “Ease of Access”
5. Click on “On-Screen Keyboard”
6. Toggle the language to Arabic [by selecting “AR” or Alt-Shift] and the keyboard will automatically change as well
7. Click in the program where you want to type and click keys from the on-screen keyboard