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How to type Turkish letters on an English keyboard
The ways to type ç, ğ, ı, ö, ş and ü on a US keyboard, on Mac, Windows and Linux, and which one stays out of your way.
Turkish has six letters that an English keyboard does not show: ç, ğ, ı, ö, ş and ü, and the capital İ. If you write Turkish on a laptop bought abroad, or you write code and English all day, you have met this problem. Here are the ways to solve it, from the built-in ones to the one that needs no thought.
On a Mac
Press and hold. Hold a letter key, and macOS shows its accented forms with a number under each. Hold c and press the number for ç. It works for ç, ö and ü. It does not help with ğ, ş and ı, and it is slow when every second word needs it.
Option shortcuts. On the standard US layout, Option + C types ç, and Option + U followed by a vowel types the two dots: ö, ü. The other Turkish letters have no shortcut on this layout.
Add the Turkish keyboard. Open System Settings → Keyboard → Text Input → Edit, press +, and add Turkish Q. Switch between it and the US layout with Control + Space or the globe key.
On Windows
Add the Turkish keyboard. Open Settings → Time & language → Language & region, add Turkish or only its keyboard, and choose Turkish Q. Switch with Windows + Space.
Alt codes. Hold Alt and type a number on the number pad: 0231 for ç, 0246 for ö, 0252 for ü. These codes cover only those three, and they need a number pad.
On Linux
Add the Turkish layout in your desktop's keyboard settings. In GNOME, switch with Super + Space. A Compose key works too, once you set one: Compose, ,, c types ç.
The problem with switching
The Turkish Q layout puts ı, ğ, ü, ş, i, ö and ç on the keys where English has punctuation, and moves the punctuation. In Turkish Q, the key for i types ı, and @, brackets and quotes go to new places. So you switch every time you go from a Turkish message to an English email or a line of code, and you type the wrong letter each time you forget which layout is on.
Many people give up and write without the letters: cok guzel for çok güzel. It is readable, but it is not correct, and in a few words it changes the meaning.
Type in English, get Turkish
Typeet takes the other way. You keep the US layout. You type cok guzel, and when you finish the word, Typeet puts in the letters: çok güzel. It checks each word against word lists for Turkish and English and looks at the words around it, so bir stays bir and an English word stays English.
It works in every app, and it runs on your computer, so what you type stays there. If Typeet changes a word you meant to keep, undo it; undo the same word often, and Typeet leaves it alone.