Type Finnish and Special Characters using a US Keyboard#

https://raw.githubusercontent.com/HuangJiaLian/DataBase0/master/uploads/screenshot_260506_082724.png — Fig. 1 The European Keyboard Layout [1]. To type `ä`, you use `altgr + a`; to type `Ä`, you use `altgr + shift + a`.#

Before buying a Finnish keyboard, I asked AI whether there was an alternative that could save me the cost of buying a new keyboard. That is how I learned about EurKey, which lets me type Finnish characters very easily.

In Linux Mint, enable it by:

setxkbmap eu

You can type the Finnish characters äåö with AltGr + a, w, and o, and use AltGr + Shift + a, w, and o to get the capital letters ÄÅÖ.

Summary#

Thanks to the author of EurKey, Steffen. He created something genuinely useful that makes my life easier.

References#

[1]

Steffen Brüntjen. Eurkey the european keyboard layout: download. https://eurkey.steffen.bruentjen.eu/download.html, 2026. EurKEY Manual. Accessed: 2026-05-06.