Tamil Typing in Google Docs
கூகுள் டாக்ஸில் தமிழ் தட்டச்சு
Google Docs has Tamil input built in. Turn it on once per document and type Tamil in English letters, on an on-screen keyboard, by hand or by voice.
Short answer
In Google Docs on a computer, click File > Language and choose Tamil. An input tools menu appears in the toolbar; click its down arrow and pick the Tamil phonetic option. Type a word in English letters and click the Tamil match. Shortcut: Ctrl + Alt + Shift + K.
Or Write Here and Paste Into Docs
Type in English letters, press space, then copy. Useful on a phone, where Docs has no input tools menu.kadithamகடிதம்
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.
Turn on Tamil Input
Open your document in Google Docs on a computer. (The same steps work in Google Slides.)
Click File, then Language, then Tamil.
An input tools menu appears in the toolbar. Click the down arrow next to it.
Choose how you want to type (see below).
To turn Tamil input on or off quickly, press Ctrl + Alt + Shift + K (Windows, ChromeOS) or ⌘ + Option + Shift + K (Mac). In Google Sheets there is no File > Language; Google says to set the locale in File > Spreadsheet settings instead.
Docs is one of four places where Google Tamil typing still works. That guide covers the Chrome extension and Gboard too, and what happened to the old Windows app.
Four Ways to Type Tamil in Docs
| Method | What you do | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| Phonetic | Type the word in English letters, then click the best Tamil match from the list. | Most people, if you write Tanglish |
| Keyboard | Click keys on a Tamil on-screen keyboard, or press the matching keys on your own keyboard. | People who know a Tamil layout |
| Handwriting | Draw letters with the mouse or a finger in a panel at the bottom right, then click the match. | Single letters you cannot spell |
| Voice typing | Tools > Voice typing, click the microphone and speak. | Long passages |
In a school or work account, handwriting only works if the administrator allows additional Google services, so it may be missing there.
Tamil Voice Typing in Docs
Open the document in Chrome, Edge or Safari, and make sure your microphone works.
Click Tools > Voice typing. A microphone box appears.
Click the microphone, speak Tamil at a normal pace, and click it again when you are done.
Google lists Tamil (India), Tamil (Sri Lanka), Tamil (Singapore) and Tamil (Malaysia) as voice typing languages. Voice commands such as “select all” work only in English, and spoken punctuation may not work in Tamil, so add commas and full stops by hand.
Google notes that the browser handles the speech-to-text, so your audio is processed by your browser’s speech service. Read the result through before you share it: voice typing often mishears names and similar-sounding words. Outside Docs, our Tamil voice typing page works the same way in Chrome and Edge.
Fonts and Sharing
Text you type this way is standard Unicode Tamil, so it shows correctly for anyone you share the document with, on any device. If the default look is too small or thin, pick a Tamil font from the font menu’s More fonts list. Our Tamil fonts page lets you compare free Unicode Tamil fonts with your own text first.
When Something Goes Wrong
There Is No Input Tools Menu
Check File > Language: Google says the menu appears when you choose a language that does not use Latin letters, such as Tamil. Make sure you are in Docs or Slides on a computer; Sheets uses the locale setting instead.
Phonetic Typing Picks the Wrong Word
Click the word you meant in the suggestion list instead of pressing space. Long or unusual words (names, English loanwords) are where every phonetic tool struggles, ours included.
An Old Document Shows English Gibberish
If someone typed it years ago with a legacy font such as Bamini, Docs shows the raw letters, for example “jkpo;”. Paste the text into the Tamil Unicode converter and paste the result back.