Raskladka: user guide

What it does

You start typing and forget to switch the keyboard layout. Instead of “hello” you get “руддщ”, or instead of «привет» you get “ghbdtn”. Raskladka notices this and fixes the word for you. It also switches the layout, so you keep typing in the right language.

A word is fixed the moment you finish it: when you press Space, Return or Tab (except in code editors — see below), or type a punctuation mark. While you are still typing a word, nothing is touched.

The menu bar icon

At the top of the screen, next to the clock, you see the current layout, for example EN or RU. A small mark may appear next to it:

• no mark: everything is working;
• ·: automatic switching is turned off, either everywhere or in the app you are using right now;
• 🔒: you are typing a password, or a field is open where macOS does not allow keyboard monitoring. Raskladka pauses and resumes by itself;
• ⚠︎: Raskladka does not have permission yet. See “First launch” below.

The main shortcut: press Shift twice

Quickly press Shift twice (or use ⌥⇧Space instead). What happens depends on the situation:

• Raskladka just fixed a word and you didn’t want it to. The fix is undone and your original text comes back. Raskladka remembers this word and won’t touch it again.
• You are typing a word that Raskladka didn’t fix. The word is converted to the other layout.
• You just finished such a word. It is converted as well.
• You selected some text with the mouse. All of the selected text is converted to the other layout. This is handy for fixing a whole phrase. If nothing is selected, nothing happens. The selection is read through the macOS accessibility service, and not every app exposes it: in some Electron and Java apps, in terminals and in editors with their own text engine, converting a selection does not work — double Shift does nothing there. Words you are typing are still fixed as usual. Converting a selection goes through the clipboard (like ⌘C → ⌘V). Whatever was on the clipboard is put back about half a second later — unless you copied something yourself in the meantime. A ⌘C of your own during the conversion is never overwritten. Images and files copied in Finder are not kept on the clipboard after a conversion — copy them again.

What Raskladka leaves alone

• Correct words. If a word is in the dictionary, it stays as is.
• One-letter words and words containing digits.
• Words you have already undone with a double Shift.
• Apps you have excluded.
• Terminals (Terminal, iTerm2, Warp, kitty, Ghostty, Alacritty, WezTerm, Hyper, Tabby) are excluded out of the box. In code editors (VS Code, Cursor, Zed, JetBrains IDEs, Xcode, Sublime Text, …) a word is not fixed on Return or Tab — there Return runs a command and Tab accepts a completion; only Space and punctuation fix the word. Both lists live in Settings → Apps; an app you removed does not come back after an update.

Short words such as “a” and “I” are fixed together with the next word: “ш фь” becomes “i am”.

The menu (click the icon)

• ⚠︎ No access — set up…: shown only while Raskladka has no permission (or it is not working); opens the “First launch” window.
• 🔒 Secure input…: shown while secure input is on (see below).
• Auto-switching: turn Raskladka on or off entirely.
• Don’t work in “…”: turn Raskladka off only in the app you are using right now (for example, a code editor or a game).
• Settings… (⌘,): the settings window, see below.
• About: version and copyright.
• Quit (⌘Q): close Raskladka.

The settings window

Open it from the menu (“Settings…” or ⌘,). While the window is in front, Raskladka does not fix anything (a · appears next to the layout).

• General: “Auto-switching”, “Launch at login” (works only when the app is in the Applications folder), the look of the menu bar indicator (text, or icon with text) and the hotkey hint.
• Layouts: which Latin and which Cyrillic layout form the pair, if you have several. Only this pair is corrected.
• Apps: the list of apps where Raskladka stays off. Add from running apps or by choosing an app file; “−” removes an entry. The menu item “Don’t work in “…”” does the same.
• Words: how many words you asked Raskladka not to fix, and a “Clear” button. The words themselves are not shown.
• Hotkeys: turn the double Shift on or off. ⌥⇧Space always works.

If the lock 🔒 stays for a long time

Normally the lock goes away as soon as you finish typing your password. Sometimes another app “forgets” to turn this mode off. In that case the menu shows Reset secure input. It locks your screen, and after you log back in everything works again.

First launch

On first launch a “First launch” window opens with a red dot saying there is no access. Click “Allow access”: macOS shows a system prompt or opens System Settings → Privacy & Security → Accessibility directly; turn on Raskladka there (if it is not in the list, add it with “+”). As soon as access is granted the dot turns green, ⚠︎ disappears from the menu and Raskladka starts working without a relaunch; click “Done”. Without this permission Raskladka can’t see what you type and can’t fix anything.

If the switch in System Settings is on but the dot stays red, remove Raskladka from the Accessibility list and add it again.

You can open the window again from the menu item ⚠︎ No access — set up… (visible while there is no access).

Installing and launching a second copy

• If you launch Raskladka straight from the disk image (.dmg), it asks you to drag it to Applications and quits. Launch the installed copy from the Applications folder.
• If Raskladka is already running and you launch it again (for example, a new version), you get the question “Raskladka is already running — quit the old one?”. “Quit the old one” closes the previous copy and continues launching the new one; “Quit” leaves everything as it was. Two copies never run at the same time, otherwise words would be fixed twice. The Accessibility permission is not changed.