If you’ve been using Myanmar Unicode for years, you remember the old Bagan Keyboard—the layout that felt like second nature before the 3.0 update. Whether you're reinstalling it for nostalgia or need to use it on an older PC, here’s a complete reference to all its hotkeys.
⚠️ Note: This guide covers Bagan Keyboard version 2.x and earlier (pre-2020 interface). Modern Bagan (3.0+) uses different shortcuts.
These hotkeys modify how characters are typed. In old Bagan, these are pre-programmed but can be edited. bagan keyboard old version all hot
| Hotkey | Output / Action |
|--------|----------------|
| q or Q + Alt | Produces the kinzi (္) character |
| Ctrl + f | Insert f (superscript vowel sign) |
| Ctrl + r | Insert repha (ရ) ahead of a consonant |
| Ctrl + [Number] | Insert tone marks: 1=နိဂ္ဂဟိတ်, 2=ရှေ့ထိုး, 3=ါ, etc. |
| Ctrl + Alt + ; | Insert visarga (း) |
| ` (backtick) | Switch between two last-used characters (quick correction) |
If you're looking to use an older version of the Bagan keyboard layout: If you’ve been using Myanmar Unicode for years,
The old Bagan Keyboard layout mapped Myanmar characters to Latin-key positions in a way that reflected common typing habits of native users. Key features included:
The most significant selling point of the old version is its weight—or lack thereof. Modern keyboard apps often come with heavy integrations: themes, stickers, AI prediction engines, and news feeds. While useful to some, these features slow down older Android devices. The old version of Bagan Keyboard is incredibly lightweight. It installs in seconds and takes up minimal storage. If you are using a budget smartphone or an older device, this version is a lifesaver. It creates a "hot" demand because it simply works without lagging the system. ⚠️ Note: This guide covers Bagan Keyboard version 2
Before Unicode became the global standard for encoding Burmese, several local encodings and keyboard layouts competed for adoption. The Bagan Keyboard old version was developed in this transitional era to offer a practical method for entering Myanmar script on computers and early mobile devices. It addressed immediate user needs — compatibility with popular local fonts and input conventions — at a time when many systems lacked full support for complex-script rendering.
Even with compatibility mode, you might hit snags:
Old Bagan was built for Windows XP/Vista. Here’s how to run all hot functions on modern OS:
Note: Some antivirus may flag the old keyboard hook as a "keylogger." Add Bagan to exclusions—it’s a false positive due to the low-level keyboard driver.