Hindi typing guide: Inscript and Remington Gail

Hindi typing is accepted – and often required – in SSC, Railway, CPCT, UPSSSC, court and police typing tests. This guide explains which layout to learn, shows both standard keyboards, and teaches the special rules of Remington Gail typing. You can practise everything on the Hindi typing test page without installing software.

Unicode (Mangal) vs Kruti Dev

Older Hindi typing used fonts such as Kruti Dev and DevLys, which display Hindi shapes for English letter codes. The text only looks like Hindi when that font is installed. Modern government systems use Unicode, where each Devanagari letter has its own code and displays correctly everywhere. Mangal (Windows) and Nirmala UI are common Unicode fonts – so when a notice says “Hindi typing in Mangal font”, it means Unicode Hindi typing, usually with Inscript or Remington Gail.

Inscript or Remington Gail?

Recommendation: if you are starting from zero, learn Inscript. If you already type Kruti Dev, choose Remington Gail – your existing muscle memory transfers.

Key charts

Each key shows the normal character (bottom) and the Shift character (top). These are exactly the layouts built into TypingPrep.

Remington Gail typing rules

Remington follows the way Hindi looks on paper. TypingPrep’s built-in Remington keyboard applies these rules automatically:

• Short i (ि) comes first: type f then the consonant. fd → कि.
• Half letter + ा = full letter: many letters are typed as their half form plus k. /k → ध, Hk → भ, Fk → थ, 'k → श.
• Reph (र्) comes after: type the syllable, then Z. /keZ → धर्म, dk;Z → कार्य.
• Vowel signs combine: ा + े = ो (dks → को), ा + ै = ौ, अ + ा = आ (vk), इ + reph = ई (bZ).
• Rakar (्र): z after the consonant: iz → प्र, dz → क्र.

Example words: भारत = Hkkjr, प्रधानमंत्री = iz/kkuea=h, स्थिति = fLFkfr.

Enable Hindi typing on your computer and phone

Windows 10 / 11 (Inscript)

1. Open Settings → Time & language → Language & region → Add a language and add Hindi.
2. Under Hindi → Options, add the keyboard Hindi Traditional (this is Inscript).
3. Switch between English and Hindi with Windows + Space.

Remington Gail on Windows

Install a Remington Gail Unicode keyboard (for example the Indic input tool recommended in your exam notification). Or simply use TypingPrep’s built-in Remington Gail layout – no installation needed.

Android

In Gboard, open Languages → Add keyboard → Hindi and choose the Hindi (not transliteration) layout for Inscript-style typing.

Typing conjuncts (संयुक्ताक्षर)

In Inscript, conjuncts are formed with the halant key d (्): क + ् + ष = क्ष. Shortcuts exist for common conjuncts on the shifted number row: Shift+7 क्ष, Shift+6 त्र, Shift+5 ज्ञ, Shift+8 श्र. In Remington, use the half letters on the shifted keys (for example L = स्) followed by the next consonant, and { for क्ष्, K for ज्ञ, J for श्र and = for त्र.

Tips for Hindi typing tests

• Practise with the exact layout the exam centre will provide – check the admit card instructions.
• Hindi passages are full of conjuncts, nukta (़) and chandrabindu (ँ). Drill words like क्षेत्र, प्रशासन, अधिकारी, संविधान, कार्यालय.
• Use the purna viram (।) correctly – in Inscript it is Shift+., in Remington A.
• Do not mix layouts. Switching between Inscript and Remington destroys muscle memory for both.
• Hindi speed requirements are lower (20–30 wpm) but Hindi words are longer to type – plan for the same total practice time as English.