If you work with Malayalam text regularly, you have probably seen at least one of these problems:

• Malayalam characters appear as empty boxes or small squares.
• Letters show up, but conjuncts look broken and spacing is weird.
• You paste Malayalam from a website into Photoshop and it turns into junk.
• Typed text in a form or app becomes question marks or random symbols.

The good news is that these issues usually come from a few predictable causes: wrong fonts, non‑Unicode encodings, old legacy layouts, or apps that do not fully support Malayalam shaping. Once you know how to diagnose them, you can fix most problems quickly and build a workflow that behaves correctly across browsers, documents and design tools.

1. Recognising common Malayalam typing problems

Before you fix anything, it helps to give each problem a name. Most Malayalam typing issues fall into a few clear categories:

• Missing glyphs: Characters show as empty boxes, small squares or “tofu”.
• Encoding mismatch: Text appears as random symbols or Latin letters instead of Malayalam.
• Broken shaping: Conjuncts and ligatures are separated; virama (്) behaves strangely.
• Wrong mapping: The key you press does not match the Malayalam letter you expect.
• Copy‑paste corruption: Text looks correct in one app but becomes wrong elsewhere.

Each of these points to a different root cause: missing fonts, non‑Unicode encodings, legacy layouts or app limitations. Once you know which one you are facing, you can jump to the right fix.

2. Unicode Malayalam vs legacy fonts: why it matters

Modern Malayalam typing is based on Unicode. In Unicode:

• Each Malayalam character has a unique code point that is recognised across systems.
• Text is portable between browsers, documents, apps and operating systems.
• Search, copy‑paste and accessibility tools work reliably.

Older workflows used legacy encodings (like ML‑TT, ISM and custom font maps). In legacy workflows:

• Malayalam letters are stored as Latin characters or private codes.
• Text only looks correct if everyone has the same legacy font installed.
• Copy‑pasted text often turns into gibberish on other systems.

The key rule for avoiding problems is simple: use Unicode Malayalam for everything written inside browsers, apps and documents, and only convert to legacy font encodings at the very end if a specific design tool or print workflow demands it.

3. Problem: Malayalam text shows as boxes or squares

Seeing boxes (□) or little empty squares instead of Malayalam letters usually means:

• The chosen font does not support Malayalam glyphs.
• The app or website is not using any Malayalam‑capable font as fallback.

To fix this in a document or design:

1. Select the Malayalam text.
2. Change the font to a known Malayalam‑compatible Unicode font (for example, Noto Sans Malayalam, Noto Serif Malayalam, Rachana, Manjari, Kartika or other Unicode Malayalam fonts installed on your system).
3. Check again. If the boxes disappear and Malayalam letters appear, the issue was purely font support.

To fix this on a web page:

• Ensure the CSS font-family stack includes a font that supports Malayalam, or a generic stack that falls back to system Malayalam fonts.
• Make sure the page uses <meta charset="utf-8"> and is served as UTF‑8 so the browser can interpret Malayalam correctly.

4. Problem: broken conjuncts, wrong spacing and mis‑shaped letters

Another common issue is when Malayalam letters appear but conjuncts and ligatures are broken. For example, characters that should join appear separated, virama marks appear visually, or spacing between letters looks strange.

This usually means:

• The font has incomplete Malayalam shaping support.
• The text engine in that app is outdated or not using complex‑script shaping properly.

Fixes to try:

• Switch fonts: Change to a modern, well‑tested Malayalam Unicode font. If one font looks broken and another looks correct, the issue is with font shaping tables.
• Use a different app: If an old text editor mangles conjuncts but a modern browser shows them correctly, consider editing in the browser or a Unicode‑aware editor, then exporting.
• Avoid mixing fonts mid‑word: Some apps let you apply different fonts to parts of the same word, which can break shaping. Keep one font per full word where possible.

When testing, always compare the same text in two places: your online Malayalam keyboard or a modern browser, and the target app. If the browser renders correctly but the other app doesn’t, the problem is on the app/font side, not with your text.

5. Problem: wrong letters appear when typing

Sometimes you press keys expecting one Malayalam letter and see another, or see Latin characters instead. Possible causes:

• You are using a legacy layout that maps keys differently from what you expect.
• The input method is set to a different language or layout (for example, a system Malayalam layout, English layout, or a third‑party IME).
• You are typing into an app that does not fully respect your chosen input method.

Simple recovery steps:

• Check your input method indicator. On desktop, look at the language icon in the taskbar or menu bar and confirm you are in the expected layout.
• Use an online Malayalam keyboard or transliteration page as a “known good” typing environment. Type the same word there and compare the result to what you see in the problem app.
• If you must use a legacy layout, keep a mapping chart handy so you know which keys map to which characters. But for new workflows, prefer Unicode‑aware layouts or online keyboards.

If every app except one behaves correctly, the problem is probably specific to that app’s handling of keyboard input or fonts. In that case, it may be better to type in a known good place and paste the result.

6. Problem: copying and pasting Malayalam breaks text

Copy‑paste issues can be confusing. Malayalam looks correct in one place, but when you paste it into another, it:

• Turns into boxes or question marks.
• Appears as raw Latin letters (legacy encoding).
• Loses conjuncts and spacing.

To fix and prevent this:

1. Identify the source encoding.
   If you copied from an old site that uses legacy fonts, the text may not be real Unicode Malayalam. Try pasting into a plain‑text Unicode editor or an online Unicode normaliser if available.
2. Prefer Unicode sources.
   When possible, copy from modern Unicode‑based pages or type the text yourself in a Unicode keyboard page, then paste elsewhere.
3. Use “paste as plain text”.
   Some editors support a “paste without formatting” option, which helps avoid inheriting strange fonts or encodings from the source.
4. Check fonts after pasting.
   If text is Unicode but the target app uses a non‑Malayalam font by default, manually change it to a Malayalam‑capable font.

A quick test: paste the text into a modern browser address bar or a Unicode‑aware notes app. If it looks correct there, your text is fine and any errors you see later are due to fonts or app behaviour, not corrupted text.

7. Problem: Malayalam text looks fine in browser but not in design tools

Designers often face a specific pain: Malayalam text is perfect in the browser or in a text file, but looks wrong in Photoshop, Illustrator, older DTP tools, or some video editors.

Typical reasons:

• The design tool expects ML‑TT or other legacy fonts instead of Unicode.
• The version of the app you use has limited support for complex‑script shaping.
• You are using a font inside the design app that does not fully support Malayalam.

Strategies to handle this:

• Check if the app supports Unicode Malayalam natively. Newer versions of design tools usually handle Unicode well; older ones may not.
• If the workflow demands ML‑TT fonts, use a converter. Type clean Unicode Malayalam in an online keyboard, then convert it to ML‑TT encoding only for the design step using a font converter tool. Keep the original Unicode version as your “master” text.
• Test multiple fonts inside the design tool. Some fonts may show broken conjuncts while others look correct. Pick the one that renders Malayalam accurately and legibly at your target sizes.

For critical print projects, always export a test PDF and open it on another machine to confirm the Malayalam rendering is stable and not dependent on local font installation.

8. Problem: forms or apps reject or mangle Malayalam input

Some websites and apps are built with limited language support. When you try to type or paste Malayalam into them, you may see:

• Validation errors or “invalid characters” messages.
• Truncated or partially saved text.
• Converted text showing as question marks after submit.

In these cases, the problem is on the backend or validation layer:

• The app may be configured to accept only ASCII or Latin‑1 characters.
• Database columns may be using a non‑Unicode encoding.
• Server‑side code may be incorrectly normalising or sanitising input.

As a user, you are limited. You can:

• Try a different browser, in case the problem is client‑side.
• Use English where absolutely necessary if the form clearly cannot handle Malayalam.
• Contact the site or app support and report that Unicode Malayalam input is not being saved correctly.

As a developer, fix this by ensuring:

• All text fields and database columns use UTF‑8 or UTF‑8 compatible encodings.
• Validation patterns explicitly allow Malayalam Unicode ranges where appropriate.
• Front‑end and back‑end layers agree on encoding and normalisation.

9. Quick way to diagnose where the problem lives

When Malayalam text looks wrong, you can quickly find the real cause by comparing three places:

1. Online keyboard / trusted editor.
   Type or paste the text into an online Malayalam keyboard or a Unicode‑aware notes app. If it looks correct here, the text itself is fine.
2. Plain‑text viewer.
   Open the text in a simple UTF‑8 text editor. If it still looks correct, encoding is fine. If not, your source or copy step was flawed.
3. Target app or document.
   Paste into the problem app. If only this app misbehaves, the issue is its font or rendering support.

This three‑step check prevents you from wasting time “fixing” text that is already healthy when the real culprit is a font or app limitation.

10. Best practices to avoid Malayalam typing issues

A few long‑term habits will almost completely eliminate day‑to‑day Malayalam typing problems:

• Always use Unicode Malayalam for writing, storing and transmitting text.
• Choose well‑supported fonts for documents and designs, and test them across devices.
• Keep a clean master copy of important Malayalam text in a plain‑text Unicode file for reference and reuse.
• Only convert to legacy encodings at the final step for specific legacy tools, and keep the Unicode original safe.
• Regularly test on multiple devices (desktop, mobile, different OS) to spot environment‑specific problems early.

With these practices, most of your future Malayalam work will “just work” without needing constant troubleshooting.

11. FAQ

Is it safe to mix Unicode and legacy Malayalam text in one document?

Technically you can, but it is almost always a bad idea. Mixing encodings makes search, copy‑paste and future editing painful. Keep everything Unicode in source documents and use legacy encodings only in isolated places if a specific tool demands it.

Will installing more fonts automatically fix all issues?

Installing good Unicode Malayalam fonts helps, but it does not fix encoding problems or app limitations. If text is stored in the wrong encoding or the app does not support complex‑script shaping, fonts alone cannot solve it.

Why does Malayalam look correct in PDF but not in the original app?

Some apps convert text to vector outlines or embed fonts properly at export time, so the PDF shows the final shaped result even if the live editing view is buggy. This is a sign that the app’s editor view is weaker than its export engine. Use the PDF as a reference, but still aim to keep live text correct where possible.

12. Wrap‑up

Malayalam typing problems can be frustrating, but they usually come from a small set of root causes: missing fonts, legacy encodings, limited app support or copy‑paste quirks. Once you know how to recognise “boxes”, broken conjuncts, wrong letters and corrupted text, you can fix them methodically instead of guessing.

By standardising on Unicode Malayalam, choosing reliable fonts, keeping a clean master copy and testing in modern tools first, you can build a stable Malayalam workflow that works across browsers, documents, design apps and forms. Over time, you will spend less time fighting fonts and more time focusing on the actual content you want to create in മലയാളം.