Export KBE file

The "Export KBE file" command is accessible through the File | Export KBE file menu item, or through the button (Export KBE file) on the main toolbar. It exports the current layout to a KBE file, which is KbdEdit's custom format for layout interchange and backup.

A KBE file can be imported using the mirror feature Import KBE file.

Note: KBE files exported from the Demo version are saved in a restricted format. When importing such files into a pay version, certain restrictions apply - see Editions for details.

Choosing the command opens up the Windows standard "Save File As" dialog, where a full path to the KBE file is specified. The dialog's File name field is initially pre-filled with the current layout's descriptive name (which is defined through the Layout text field of Save As dialog).

KbdEdit dialog Export keyboard layout to KBE file

Even though it is possible to manually copy a layout DLL file to another computer's System32 directory, and register it from there using the Register layout DLL file, this method is strongly discouraged. KBE files are intended as the primary vehicle for the backup and distribution of custom layouts because of their advantages:

KBE files are platform independent. The format remains the same regardless of whether a file was saved from 32- or 64-bit KbdEdit. This is not the case with layout DLL files, which are strictly platform dependent: a 32-bit DLL file cannot be used under 64-bit Windows.
KBE files can be saved to / read from an arbitrary location: they can be conveniently stored in the user's private directory, on an external medium (CD / DVD, USB drive) or a network drive. DLL files, on the other hand, must be placed in the Windows System32 directory, which can pose security and access rights problems.

Alternatively, you can distribute keyboard layouts by generating a stand-alone layout installer package. This method is less restrictive (KbdEdit is not required on the target computer), but it is available only in Premium edition.

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