Likhari – Nastaliq Word Processor for Urdu, Pashto, Arabic & Sindhi
Likhari is a word processor built specifically for Urdu, Pashto, Arabic and Sindhi — the complex, Nastaliq-style scripts most word processors treat as an afterthought. Type with phonetic (Roman→script) or positional on-screen keyboards, mix right-to-left and left-to-right text freely, justify Nastaliq with proper kashida letter-stretching, and lay out real documents with columns, tables and images. And what you see on screen is exactly what you get on export — page for page, table for table.
Download Likhari
Available on the Microsoft Store — free to use, with an optional one-time Likhari Pro unlock. No subscription, no ads.
Or view the listing at apps.microsoft.com.
Free to use — with a one-time Pro upgrade
The whole word processor is free — every language, keyboard, table, column, image and export feature is unlocked. The free tier adds a small “Created with Likhari” watermark along the bottom of exported and printed pages; a one-time Likhari Pro purchase removes it. Pro is a one-time purchase, not a subscription.
Changelog — what’s new in each release
Full release history — the multilingual keyboards, kashida justification, columns, inline & floating tables and images, per-character formatting, WYSIWYG export, and the freemium Pro unlock.
View the full changelogUser Guide — every feature explained
A plain-English walkthrough of keyboards & languages, typing Nastaliq, columns, tables, images, formatting, headers & footers, find & replace, page setup and export — and the keyboard shortcuts.
Read the User GuideFeatures
🖋️ True Nastaliq for Four Scripts
Proper Nastaliq / complex-script rendering for Urdu, Pashto, Arabic and Sindhi — letters join and stack correctly with accurate dot placement, the way fine Urdu typesetting should look, rather than the flat fallback most word processors produce.
⌨️ Phonetic & Positional Keyboards
Type your language with a built-in phonetic (Roman→script) keyboard or a positional layout — per language — each with a live on-screen key preview so you can see exactly what a key produces. Prefer your own OS input method? Choose “Direct” and type straight through.
↔️ Mixed RTL/LTR & Kashida
Mix right-to-left Urdu/Arabic with left-to-right English and numbers on the same line and it all sits the right way round. Justify Nastaliq paragraphs with authentic kashida (kasheeda) letter-stretching instead of ugly word gaps.
🗞️ One, Two or Three Columns
Lay out pages in one, two or three newspaper-style columns with a configurable gutter. Text fills the first column top to bottom, then flows into the next — ideal for newsletters, bulletins and articles.
📊 Tables That Behave
Insert tables inline in the text flow, floating with text wrapping around them, or as full-page tables. Style borders (solid, dashed, dotted), set weight and colour, edit cells in place, and a tall table splits cleanly across pages with proper continuation borders.
🖼️ Images, Inline & Floating
Place images inline as their own centered block that moves with your edits, or floating with text wrapping around the left or right side. Images are embedded in the document, so a .lkhdoc file is fully self-contained.
🔤 Per-Character Formatting
Apply bold, italic, colour, font and size to exactly the text you select — not the whole document — with a colour picker (hex + presets) and one-key Ctrl+B / Ctrl+I shortcuts. Formatting is saved with the document and reproduced faithfully on export.
📄 Headers, Footers & Page Numbers
Add headers and footers with automatic page numbering, and set up your page with Page Setup — A4, Letter or a custom size, with margins. Rulers down the top and side help you place everything precisely.
🖨️ WYSIWYG PDF & PNG Export
Export to PDF and PNG that match the screen exactly — columns, tables, inline and floating images, per-character formatting, and header/footer bands with page numbers all render page-for-page as you laid them out. No surprises when you print or share.
🔍 Find & Replace, Recent Files
A non-modal Find & Replace with match-case, Replace and Replace All, and an Open Recent list of your last documents so you can jump straight back into your work.
💾 Autosave & Crash Recovery
Closing a document with unsaved changes prompts you to save rather than silently discarding, and open documents are snapshotted periodically — so after an unexpected close, Likhari offers to recover your unsaved work.
🔒 Private by Design
Likhari works entirely offline — no account, no sign-in, no telemetry or analytics. Your documents are saved only where you choose and never leave your device.
Screenshots
The editor — true Nastaliq rendering across Urdu, Sindhi and Pashto, with the Urdu keyboard active
Built for Urdu, Arabic, Pashto and Sindhi — RTL typing, multi-script composition and keyboard tools
Latest Release
Version 1.3 — July 2026
Likhari is now free with an optional one-time Pro unlock, plus horizontal & vertical rulers, an unsaved-changes warning and crash recovery — on top of the full Nastaliq word processor with WYSIWYG PDF/PNG export.