Type in a bi-directional language in Office for iPad or iPhone (iOS 8)

To type in a bi-directional or right-to-left (RTL) language in Office on your iPad or iPhone, first add the language and keyboard you want to use. Then open Word, Excel, or PowerPoint and switch to the new keyboard.

Add a language

1. On the Home screen, tap Settings.

2. On the Settings screen, tap General > Language & Region > Other Languages or Add Language. You'll see Add Language instead of Other Languages if you have more than one language installed.

3. Tap the language you want to activate, such as Arabic, Hebrew or Thai, and then tap Done.

4. On the Add Preferred Language screen, do one of the following:

   • If you want to change the default language for your iPad to the new language, tap Prefer [New Language].

   • If you want the new language to be available, but don't want it to be the default, tap Prefer [Current Language].

Add a Keyboard

After you activate a language, add the keyboard for that language so it will be available in Word, Excel, and PowerPoint.

1. On the Home screen, tap Settings.

2. On the Settings screen, tap General > Keyboard > Keyboards > Add New Keyboard.

3. Tap the keyboard you want to add.

To switch to the new keyboard the next time you open Word, Excel, or PowerPoint, on the keyboard, hold down the globe key and tap the language.

For more information, see Change the language on your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch on the Apple support site.