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<topic xml:lang="en-us" id="ct_soft-keyb">
  <title>Soft Keyboard</title>
  <body>
    <p><ph conkeyref="vbox-conkeyref-phrases/product-name"/> provides a <i>soft keyboard</i> that enables you to input keyboard characters on the guest. A soft keyboard is an on-screen keyboard that can be used as an alternative to a physical keyboard. See <xref href="soft-keyb-using.dita#soft-keyb-using"/> for details of how to use the soft keyboard. </p>
    <note type="caution">
      <p>For best results, ensure that the keyboard layout configured on the guest OS matches the keyboard layout used by the soft keyboard. <ph conkeyref="vbox-conkeyref-phrases/product-name"/> does not do this automatically. </p>
    </note>
    <p>The soft keyboard can be used in the following scenarios: </p>
    <ul>
      <li>
        <p>When the physical keyboard on the host is not the same as the keyboard layout configured on the guest. For example, if the guest is configured to use an international keyboard, but the host keyboard is US English. </p>
      </li>
      <li>
        <p>To send special key combinations to the guest. Note that some common key combinations are also available in the <b outputclass="bold">Input</b>, <b outputclass="bold">Keyboard</b> menu of the guest VM window. See <xref href="specialcharacters.dita#specialcharacters"/>. </p>
      </li>
      <li>
        <p>For guests in kiosk mode, where a physical keyboard is not present. </p>
      </li>
      <li>
        <p>When using nested virtualization, the soft keyboard provides a method of sending key presses to a guest. </p>
      </li>
    </ul>
    <p>By default, the soft keyboard includes some common international keyboard layouts. You can copy and modify these to meet your own requirements. See <xref href="soft-keyb-custom.dita#soft-keyb-custom"/>. </p>
  </body>
</topic>
