Dell AZERTY Laptop Keyboards Do Not Match Certain Microsoft French Keyboard Layouts

Summary: The following article provides information about an issue where certain Windows French keyboard layouts do not match the physical AZERTY laptop keyboards from Dell.

This article applies to This article does not apply to This article is not tied to any specific product. Not all product versions are identified in this article.
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Symptoms

Typing on an AZERTY laptop keyboard displays the wrong characters after selecting the wrong French layout in Windows.

Affected Platforms:

  • All Dell French laptops that run Windows 11
Note: The same issue may be experienced with external AZERTY peripheral keyboards.

Affected Operating System:

  • Windows 11

Cause

While multiple French keyboard layouts are provided in the Windows 11 operating system, only "French (Legacy, AZERTY)" matches the physical keyboards on Dell laptops.

Legacy (Correct):

Legacy AZERTY laptop keyboard layout (physical keyboard)

Standard (Incorrect):

Standard AZERTY keyboard layout (virtual keyboard)

Resolution

Review the Dell laptop order to confirm whether a French keyboard is ordered. (These layouts are legacy standards used across all Dell laptop platforms.)

Follow these steps to ensure that the operating system is configured with the correct keyboard layout:

  1. Open the settings window from the start menu on the laptop.

  2. Click Time & Language from the left side menu.

  3. Open the Language and Region drop down in the pane on the right side of the window.

  4. Go to the list of preferred languages under the Language section in the right hand.

  5. Click the three dots to the right of the French language and click Language Options.

  6. Go to the Keyboards section and confirm if the selected keyboard is set to the French (Legacy, AZERTY).

    Keyboard layout selection example

Note: The French Standard AZERTY and French Standard BEPO keyboards have different layouts. Using a BEPO layout can result in a mismatch between your physical keyboard and the keyboard settings in the operating system. (The BEPO community developed the BEPO layout to ease programming.)

Affected Products

Alienware 16 Aurora AC16250, Alienware 16X Aurora AC16251, Dell Pro Max Micro, Alienware Area-51, Alienware m15, Alienware m16, Alienware m17, Alienware m18, Alienware x14, Alienware x15, Alienware x16, Alienware x17, Dell Laptops, Dell Plus , Dell Pro, Dell Pro Max, Dell Pro Plus, Dell Pro Premium, 3000 Series, 5000 Series, 7000 Series, 9000 Series, Dell Pro Rugged, 3000 Series, 5000 Series, 7000 Series, XPS 11, XPS 12, XPS 13, XPS 14, XPS 15, XPS 16, XPS 17, Mobile Workstations, Dell Pro Max 14 Premium MA14250, Dell Pro Max 16 Premium MA16250, Dell Pro Max 16 Plus MB16250, Dell Pro Max 18 Plus MB18250 ...
Article Properties
Article Number: 000424091
Article Type: Solution
Last Modified: 09 Feb 2026
Version:  1
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