Can’t type caret (^) on German MacBook Air keyboard

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iamjustagirl Author

Level 1

4 points

Can’t type caret (^) on German MacBook Air keyboard

Hi everyone,

I’m using a MacBook Air with a built-in German (QWERTZ) keyboard layout.

The system input source is set to Deutsch (German), and everything else works fine — except I can’t type the caret (^).

Normally, on a German Mac keyboard, it should work like this:

Press the key left of the “1” key (labeled ^ °) Then press space → it should produce ^.

However, on my keyboard there is <>.

^ is on the control key and nothing happens when I press that key. I’ve tried switching between “Deutsch”, “Deutsch – Standard”, and “Deutsch (QWERTZ)” in System Settings → Keyboard → Text Input, but none of them make the caret appear.

Does anyone know what could cause this or how to fix it?

Thanks in advance!

MacBook Air 13″, macOS 15.6

Posted on Oct 23, 2025 2:07 PM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

Tom Gewecke

Level 10

121,860 points

Oct 24, 2025 5:35 AM in response to iamjustagirl

iamjustagirl wrote:

Press the key left of the “1” key (labeled ^ °) Then press space → it should produce ^.However, on my keyboard there is <>.

It sounds like your machine mistakenly thinks you have an ANSI keyboard instead of an ISO keyboard. Does by chance your key at bottom left next to Y now produce the ^ ?

This note may help fix the problem if you don't want to switch to German Standard, where ^ and some other things are on different keys.

How To Fix Keyboard Type Problems - Apple Community

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Answer 2

kaz-k

Level 9

51,054 points

Oct 23, 2025 2:26 PM in response to iamjustagirl

Hi,

Following method could help your issue.

Change your keyboard layout

Go to System Settings from the Apple menu.
Click on Keyboard in the sidebar.
Go to the Text Input section and click the Edit button next to Input Sources.
Click the + button to add a new input source.
Search for and select German Standard from the list. A preview of the layout will appear on the right.
Click Add.
Click Done.
You may want to set the "German Standard" layout as your default or set a shortcut for quick switching. You can also turn on "Show Input menu in menu bar" in the Text Input section to easily switch between layouts from your menu bar.

After the change

Now, when you press Shift + 6, you should get the caret symbol (^).
The "@" symbol will now be on the Alt + 2 key, and the "€" symbol will be on the Alt + E key, as shown in this Apple Support Community thread and Stack Exchange article.

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