Retype

macOS menu bar app that converts mistyped text between keyboard layouts.

Typed ghbdtn when you meant привіт? Select the text, double-press the trigger key — Retype swaps it instantly.

Works with any two keyboard layouts installed on your Mac.

Install

brew tap bobjer/retype
brew install --cask retype

First launch: go to System Settings → Privacy & Security → Accessibility and enable Retype.

Usage

1. Type text in the wrong layout
2. Select it
3. Double-press the trigger key (default: Left Shift)

The text is replaced with the correct layout version automatically.

Settings

Click the RT icon in the menu bar → Settings:

• From / To layout — which layouts to convert between
• Trigger key — Left Shift, Right Shift, Left Control, Left Option, Left Command
• Timeout — how fast the double-press must be (0.2–1.0 s)
• Cmd+A+A — alternative trigger: hold ⌘, press A twice (selects all + converts)
• Launch at login — start Retype automatically

Requirements

• macOS 13 Ventura or later
• Accessibility permission (for reading keyboard input and clipboard)

How it works

Retype uses macOS accessibility APIs to detect the double-press, copies the selected text via Cmd+C, remaps each character between the two layouts using the system's own keyboard layout data (UCKeyTranslate), then pastes the result back.

No text is sent anywhere — everything happens locally.

Build from source

git clone https://github.com/bobjer/retype
cd retype
./build.sh
open build/Retype.app

Requires Xcode Command Line Tools (xcode-select --install).

Troubleshooting

Hotkey does nothing after granting Accessibility permission

macOS ties accessibility permissions to the app's code signature. After rebuilding or reinstalling, the old entry can go stale. Reset it:

tccutil reset Accessibility com.retype.app

Then relaunch Retype and grant permission again when prompted.

License

Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal