January 2022 • Macworld 79
When the Input menu appears at login, you can select the layout you want to use
when you log in.
screen. To do this, you need to have
administrator rights. Users can still
change the layout in the Keyboard
system preferences after logging in.
Here’s how to set it.
- While logged in to an administrator
account on your Mac, go to System
Preferences > Users & Groups. - Click on the padlock on the lower
left corner to unlock the settings and
enter an administrator’s username
and password. - Click Login Options in the bottom
of the left column. - In the right section, check the box
for Show Input menu at login window. - Click the lock and exit.
With that option on, the Keyboard
icon appears in the upper right of the
login screen. Click it and select the
keyboard layout you want, and then
log in to the Mac.
CHANGE THE DEFAULT
KEYBOARD LAYOUT IN
THE TERMINAL
If you use multiple keyboard layouts
and want to change the one that
is the default, you have to do that
in the Terminal, the command-line
interface for the Mac. The Terminal
is located in Applications > Utilities.
Here are the instructions.
- Set macOS to the keyboard layout
you want to use as your default. - In the Finder, hold down the Option
key, and select Go > Library. - In the Library window that appears,
open the Preferences folder. - Look for the file called ‘com.apple.
HIToolbox.plist’ and then select it and