iPhone Tamil Keyboard: How to Add and Use It
ஐபோனில் தமிழ் தட்டச்சு
Tamil is built into iOS and iPadOS. How to turn it on, which of Apple’s four Tamil options to choose, and what to do when it misbehaves.
Short answer
Open Settings, tap General, Keyboard, Keyboards, then Add New Keyboard, and choose Tamil. To switch while typing, touch and hold the globe (or emoji) key and tap Tamil. No app is needed, and the steps are the same on iPad.
No Keyboard Set up? Type Here
Type in English letters, press space, and copy the Tamil. It works in Safari.nanriநன்றி
Typing help
Tap a letter to add it at the cursorType Tamil words in English letters. Space converts each word. While suggestions are open, use the arrow keys or numbers to pick, Escape keeps English. Alt plus Down arrow offers other spellings for the Tamil word at the cursor.
Add the Tamil Keyboard on iPhone
Open the Settings app.
Tap General, then tap Keyboard.
Tap Keyboards, then tap Add New Keyboard.
Find Tamil in the list and tap it.
To pick a layout, tap Tamil in the Keyboards list and choose one. The table below helps you decide, and you can change it any time.
Adding Tamil also adds it to your Preferred Languages under Settings > General > Language & Region. That does not turn your iPhone’s menus into Tamil. They stay in whichever language is at the top of that list.
One Keyboard for English and Tamil
On iOS 18 and later, you can add Tamil to the English keyboard itself and type both without switching. When you tap Tamil in Add New Keyboard, choose Add to English (US) Keyboard, then tap Done. Apple says this needs an iPhone 12 or later (or a recent iPad Air, iPad Pro or iPad mini).
Choose a Tamil Layout
Apple’s iOS and iPadOS 27 feature list names four Tamil options: Alphabetic, Anjal and Tamil99 as keyboards, plus Tamil transliteration. To change the one you use, go to Settings > General > Keyboard > Keyboards, tap Tamil, and pick another.
| Layout | How it works | Good for |
|---|---|---|
| Transliteration | Type the word in English letters, such as vanakkam, and the keyboard writes வணக்கம். | Messages, if you already write Tamil in English letters |
| Anjal | A phonetic layout: English letter keys stand for Tamil sounds, following the Anjal scheme. | Letter-by-letter control if you think in Tanglish |
| Tamil99 | Tamil letters on the keys, in the layout the Tamil Nadu government adopted in 1999. Type a consonant, then a vowel, and they join. | People who learned Tamil99 on a computer |
| Alphabetic | Tamil letters in alphabet order, vowels first. | Learners and occasional use |
Not sure? Start with transliteration. If it keeps choosing the wrong word, Anjal gives you control letter by letter, and Tamil99 is the fastest once learned. You can practise Tamil99 on a computer with our Tamil99 keyboard. If you need a layout Apple does not offer, such as the typewriter layout, our Tamil keyboard app comparison lists the alternatives.
Switch Between English and Tamil
While typing, touch and hold the globe key (or the emoji key, if that is what you see) at the bottom left, then tap the keyboard you want.
To change the order so Tamil comes up first, go to Settings > General > Keyboard > Keyboards, tap Edit, and drag Tamil to the top. To remove it, swipe left on Tamil in the same list and tap Delete.
Tamil Voice Typing on iPhone
Apple Dictation does not support Tamil. Apple’s iOS and iPadOS 27 feature availability page lists Tamil for keyboards, predictive typing and as a system language, but not in any Dictation list. So the microphone key will not turn Tamil speech into Tamil text, even on the Tamil keyboard.
To dictate Tamil, use a computer or an Android phone with Chrome: open our Tamil voice typing page, speak, and copy the text. In Chrome the audio goes to Google’s speech service, and the page tells you this before you start.
When Something Goes Wrong
Tamil Is Not in the Add New Keyboard List
Scroll the whole list: it is long, and suggested keyboards come first. If Tamil is still missing, update your iPhone in Settings > General > Software Update, then try again.
There Is No Globe Key
Check that Tamil is listed in Settings > General > Keyboard > Keyboards. If it is, touch and hold the emoji key instead: Apple treats it the same way for switching.
Word Suggestions Do Not Appear
Transliteration relies on suggestions. Touch and hold the globe or emoji key, tap Keyboard Settings, and make sure Predictive Text is on.
An iPad With an External Keyboard Types the Wrong Layout
A physical keyboard has its own layout setting. Go to Settings > General > Keyboard > Hardware Keyboard, tap Tamil, and choose a layout.
Tamil Shows as Boxes or Strange English Letters
Text you type on the iPhone is Unicode and displays everywhere. Boxes, or gibberish such as “jkpo;”, usually mean the text was written years ago with a legacy font like Bamini. Paste it into the Tamil Unicode converter, which detects the font for you.