How do I type an em dash on a Polish keyboard in Windows?

Press AltGr + - (minus key). The Kirkouski Typographic layout puts em dash, en dash, and other typographic symbols directly on AltGr — no Alt codes needed.

How do I type Polish characters on a US keyboard without switching layouts?

Install the US+POL Typographic variant. It registers under English (US) so Win+Space stays clean — Polish ogonki (ą ć ę ł ń ó ś ź ż) are on AltGr.

Does this work with Polish Programmers QWERTY?

Yes. The Polish variant is built on the standard Polish Programmers QWERTY layout. Typographic symbols are added on AltGr and Shift+AltGr layers only.

Will this add a new input language to Win+Space?

The US+POL variant does not — it registers under English (US). The standard Polish and Russian variants do add their respective input language.

Does this work on macOS?

Yes. Download the .bundle, place it in ~/Library/Keyboard Layouts/, clear the quarantine xattr, and log out/in. macOS keyboard layouts are not tied to system language.

v0.6

KirkouskiTypographic

Em dashes, curly quotes, Polish ogonki (ą ć ę ł ń ó ś ź ż), and 80+ typographic symbols — all on AltGr.

Base

AltGr⌥ Option

Polish

UA/BY

Dead key

Fewer input languages

On Windows, every keyboard layout is tied to an input language. To type Polish characters you have to add Polish as an input language; to type Russian you add Russian. The Win+Space switcher then cycles through everything you've added — and the more languages, the worse the toggle.

EN + Polish typing = 2 input languages with the standard Polish layout. With US+POL, just EN (1 input language).
EN + RU + Polish typing = 3 input languages with the standard Polish layout. With US+POL, only EN + RU (2 input languages).

The US+POL Typographic layout registers under English (US) instead of Polish — Polish characters live on AltGr, English stays your system language, and the Win+Space cycle stays short.

Typography on the keyboard

Real typographic characters at your fingertips, not Unicode-picker excavations:

Dimensions: 30×20 instead of 30x20
Em dashes: — instead of --
Curly quotes: “like this” instead of "like this"
Euro, pound, copyright, arrows, math symbols — all on AltGr

No compose key, no autocorrect rule to maintain, no copy-pasting from Character Map.

FAQ

How do I type an em dash on a Polish keyboard in Windows? Press AltGr + - (minus key). The Kirkouski Typographic layout puts em dash (—), en dash (–), and other typographic symbols directly on AltGr — no Alt codes needed.: Press AltGr + - (minus key). The Kirkouski Typographic layout puts em dash (—), en dash (–), and other typographic symbols directly on AltGr — no Alt codes needed.
How do I type Polish characters on a US keyboard without switching layouts? Install the US+POL Typographic variant. It registers under English (US) so Win+Space stays clean — Polish ogonki (ą ć ę ł ń ó ś ź ż) are on AltGr.: Install the US+POL Typographic variant. It registers under English (US) so Win+Space stays clean — Polish ogonki (ą ć ę ł ń ó ś ź ż) are on AltGr.
Does this work with Polish Programmers QWERTY? Yes. The Polish variant is built on the standard Polish Programmers QWERTY layout — all base and shift keys are identical. Typographic symbols are added on AltGr and Shift+AltGr layers only.: Yes. The Polish variant is built on the standard Polish Programmers QWERTY layout — all base and shift keys are identical. Typographic symbols are added on AltGr and Shift+AltGr layers only.
Will this add a new input language to Win+Space? The US+POL variant does not — it registers under English (US). The standard Polish and Russian variants do add their respective input language, as Windows requires.: The US+POL variant does not — it registers under English (US). The standard Polish and Russian variants do add their respective input language, as Windows requires.
Does this work on macOS? Yes. Download the .bundle, place it in ~/Library/Keyboard Layouts/, clear the quarantine xattr, and log out/in. macOS keyboard layouts are not tied to system language.: Yes. Download the .bundle, place it in ~/Library/Keyboard Layouts/, clear the quarantine xattr, and log out/in. macOS keyboard layouts are not tied to system language.
What is the difference between this and Birman's Typography Layout? This layout adds Polish diacritics (ą ć ę ł ń ó ś ź ż) on AltGr and repositions some symbols for a more consistent Polish/Russian experience. The typographic symbol positions are compatible with Birman's layout.: This layout adds Polish diacritics (ą ć ę ł ń ó ś ź ż) on AltGr and repositions some symbols for a more consistent Polish/Russian experience. The typographic symbol positions are compatible with Birman's layout.

Download

Get the layout for your system

Recommended for your system

Installation

Download and run the .exe installer — it handles everything automatically and prompts for a reboot

Restart when prompted — the new layout will appear in Settings after the reboot

After the reboot, go to Settings > Time & Language > Language & Region > Keyboard and add the new layout

To uninstall: open Settings > Apps > Installed Apps, find Kirkouski Typographic, and click Uninstall. Reboot required.

To apply to login screen: Win+R > intl.cpl > Administrative > Copy settings > check both boxes

Pronunciation Fonts

We also made fonts that show how to pronounce Polish — Cyrillic hints for Russian speakers, IPA for everyone else.

Cyrillicszczególnie

IPAszczególnie

Try the fonts →

Based on

Typography Keyboard Layout by Ilya Birman.

Built on Polish Programmers QWERTY and Russian ЙЦУКЕН — same symbols in the same positions across all variants.

Open source under the MIT License.

View on GitHub Support the author

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