North vs South Facing Switches
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North facing and south facing describe which way a switch is oriented on the circuit board, specifically which side the small LED slot and internal components face. North facing means that slot points toward the top of the board, away from you, and south facing means it points toward the bottom, toward you. This small orientation detail has a couple of real consequences worth understanding.
The most talked about consequence is keycap compatibility, specifically with a popular sculpted keycap profile that has interference issues. On north facing switches, the internals can collide with the inside of certain tall sculpted keycaps, preventing them from pressing all the way down. South facing switches move that obstruction out of the way, so they avoid the interference and work cleanly with those keycaps.
Because of that, south facing is generally preferred on boards where you might use a wide range of keycap profiles, since it sidesteps the compatibility problem entirely. If your board is north facing, you are not out of luck, but you should confirm that your chosen keycaps clear the switch internals before buying a full set, particularly with the taller sculpted profiles.
There is also a lighting consideration. With north facing switches the LED sits nearer the top of the keycap legend, which can light shine through legends more evenly on caps designed for it, while south facing places the LED nearer the bottom. For boards without per key backlighting, this point is irrelevant, and it only matters if legend lighting is important to you.
Some people also debate a subtle difference in sound and feel between the two orientations, but this is minor and easily overshadowed by switches, keycaps, and mods. For most buyers the practical rule is simple: if you want the widest keycap compatibility, favor south facing, and if you have a north facing board, just verify keycap clearance before committing to a set. Beyond that, do not let orientation dominate your decision.