How to switch keyboard language automatically on Mac

What macOS can do on its own

If you haven't set these up yet, start here. Every step lives in System Settings and takes a minute.

1. Add the languages you type. Open System Settings → Keyboard → Text Input → Input Sources → Edit…, click +, and add each layout you use, such as Hebrew, Russian, or Arabic. The input menu — a flag or a short abbreviation — appears in the menu bar.
2. Learn the shortcut. By default, ⌃ Space switches to the previous input source and ⌃ ⌥ Space cycles through all of them. On keyboards with a 🌐 key, you can also set System Settings → Keyboard → Press 🌐 key to to Change Input Source. Both shortcuts can be changed under Keyboard → Keyboard Shortcuts… → Input Sources.
3. Turn on per-document memory. In the same Input Sources screen, enable Automatically switch to a document's input source. macOS then remembers the layout you last used in each document or window and restores it when you switch back to it.
4. Check for a Caps Lock toggle. Some setups also show Use the Caps Lock key to switch to and from ABC on that screen. If yours does, it gives you a single key to jump to your Latin layout and back.

Where the built-in options stop

All of the above react to where you are, not to what you type. That leaves three gaps:

• No detection. macOS never looks at the word you're typing to decide which language it is. If the layout is wrong, it stays wrong until you notice.
• Mixed-language windows. Per-document memory assumes each window is one language. A chat, an email thread, or an AI assistant where you write Hebrew on one line and English on the next defeats it.
• Nothing gets fixed. A word already typed on the wrong layout — akuo for שלום — stays that way. You still delete and retype. If that's the part that hurts, read why a Mac types gibberish in the wrong language.

Automatic switching based on what you type

This is the gap Unfumble fills: a small menu-bar app that reads the word you're typing, works out which language you meant, and switches — and fixes the word — as you go. Setting it up:

1. Install it. Download the DMG, drag Unfumble to Applications, and open it. The app is signed with an Apple Developer ID and notarized by Apple.
2. Grant Accessibility access. Unfumble asks for exactly one permission, under System Settings → Privacy & Security → Accessibility. It's what macOS requires to read the word you're typing and replace it in place — no contacts, files, camera, or extra network access.
3. Enable your languages as input sources. Unfumble only considers languages you've added in macOS, so it never switches you to a layout you can't type. Fourteen are supported: English, Hebrew, Arabic, Persian, Ukrainian, Russian, Bulgarian, Serbian, Macedonian, Greek, Armenian, Georgian, Hindi, and Thai.
4. Type. That's the whole workflow. When a word comes out on the wrong layout, Unfumble rewrites it in the language you meant and switches the input source so the following keystrokes are already right. Over time it learns which language you tend to write in each app and website, and it defaults a browser's address bar to English so links type cleanly.

A few things worth knowing once it's running:

• Undo is one step away. Undo a correction immediately to restore your keystrokes. Tell it to stop fixing that word in that app, and it remembers.
• Manual mode still exists. Prefer to stay hands-on? Select text and press Unfumble's global shortcut, or right-click and choose Unfumble from the Services menu.
• Pause when you need to. From the menu bar you can pause Unfumble for fifteen minutes, or in the current app only.
• It's on-device. Detection uses bundled dictionaries on your Mac; nothing you type is transmitted. Password fields are secure input in macOS and are never touched. Details in the privacy policy.

Built-in macOS vs. an automatic switcher

Troubleshooting

It switched when I didn't want it to

Undo right away to get your keystrokes back. If you choose to keep the original, Unfumble learns to leave that word alone in that app. Names, product codes, and slang in the "wrong" alphabet are the usual culprits, and they're exactly what the learning list is for.

It doesn't work in one app

First confirm Accessibility access is on for Unfumble in System Settings. Then check whether the app uses secure input: password managers do, and Terminal does when Secure Keyboard Entry is turned on. Secure fields are off limits to every accessibility tool, by design.

I only want it in some apps

Open the Unfumble menu in the menu bar and choose to pause in the current app. It stays paused there until you resume, and keeps working everywhere else.

My language isn't listed

Email hello@unfumble.app. Every request is read, though not every language can be added.

Frequently asked questions

Does macOS have a built-in automatic keyboard language switcher?

Not in the sense of detecting the language you type. macOS can remember a layout per document and give you shortcuts to switch by hand, but it never inspects your words. Automatic detection needs a third-party app.

Is there something like Punto Switcher for Mac?

People coming from Windows often look for Punto Switcher on the Mac. Unfumble does the same job on macOS — detects the language you meant, switches the layout, and rewrites the word — and adds per-app and per-website language memory. It runs on macOS 13 and later on Apple silicon and Intel.

Can I keep using my keyboard shortcut to switch?

Yes. Unfumble doesn't take over your input-source shortcut. Switch by hand whenever you like; it catches the times you forget.

Does it work on both Apple silicon and Intel Macs?

Yes. Unfumble supports macOS 13 Ventura or later on both Apple silicon and Intel Macs.