The Kazakh language was written mainly in four scripts at various points of time – Old Turkic, Cyrillic, Latin, and Arabic – each having a distinct alphabet. The Arabic script is used in Iran, Afghanistan, and China, while the Cyrillic script is used in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, and Mongolia. In October 2017, a presidential decree in Kazakhstan ordered a transition from the Cyrillic to Latin script to be implemented by 2025. In January 2021, the target year for finishing the transition was pushed back to 2031.

During the Soviet era, majority use of Arabic script was first replaced by a new Latin-based script, before being abruptly switched to Cyrillic-based script just decades later. This was likely in part due to weakening Turkish–Soviet relations after the Turkish Straits crisis.^{[citation needed]}

In effort to consolidate its national identity, Kazakhstan started a phased transition from the Cyrillic alphabet to the Latin alphabet in 2017. The Kazakh government drafted a seven-year process until the full implementation of the new alphabet, sub-divided into various phases.

The Kazakh Cyrillic alphabet is used in Kazakhstan, the Altai Republic in Russia, and the Bayan-Ölgiy Province in Mongolia. It is also used by Kazakh populations in Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan, as well as diasporas in other countries of the former USSR. It was introduced during the Russian Empire period in the 1800s, and then adapted by the Soviet Union in 1940.

In the 19th century, Kazakh educator Ibrahim Altynsarin first introduced a Cyrillic alphabet for transcribing Kazakh. Russian missionary activity, as well as Russian-sponsored schools, further encouraged the use of Cyrillic between the 19th and early 20th centuries. The alphabet was reworked by Sarsen Amanzholov and was accepted in its current form in 1940. It contains 42 letters: 33 from the Russian alphabet with 9 additional letters for sounds not found in Russian: ⟨ә, ғ, қ, ң, ө, ұ, ү, һ, і⟩. Initially, Kazakh letters came after Cyrillic letters shared by the Russian alphabet, but now they are placed after Cyrillic letters based on similar sound or shape.

The letters ⟨в, ё, ф, ц, ч, ъ, ь, э⟩ are not used in native Kazakh words; of these, ⟨ё, ц, ч, ъ, ь, э⟩ are used solely in Russian loanwords. Due to Russian influence on Kazakh phonology, ⟨е⟩ palatalizes the preceding consonant and is pronounced as /je/. The letter ⟨һ⟩ is usually found in Perso-Arabic loanwords and is often pronounced /h/, a non-native phoneme. In rapid conversation, ⟨қ⟩ can be pronounced like ⟨х⟩ intervocalically or when preceding stop consonants. The letter ⟨щ⟩ represents a long ⟨ш⟩ in three native words: ащы [ɑʃːə́] 'bitter', тұщы [tʰʊ̆ʃːʊ́] 'saltless', and кеще [cʰĕɕːé] 'stupid'), as well as in Russian loanwords.

The letter ⟨и⟩ represents the diphthongs /əj/ ⟨ый⟩ in back-vowel words and /ɘj/ ⟨ій⟩ in front-vowel words. Similarly, ⟨у⟩ represents the glide /w/ next to vowels to form diphthongs, and the tense vowel /u/ between consonants. However, unlike ⟨и⟩, ⟨у⟩ as the infinitive marker in Kazakh verbs can be pronounced /ʊw/ ⟨ұу⟩, /ʉw/ ⟨үу⟩, /əw/ ⟨ыу⟩, and /ɘw/ ⟨іу⟩, depending on the preceding vowels in the verb stem. Additionally, the pronunciation of ⟨и⟩ and ⟨у⟩ are retained in Russian loanwords, representing /ˈi/ and /ˈu/ in stressed positions and /ɪ/ and /ʊ/ in unstressed positions, respectively.

The standard Windows keyboard layout used for Cyrillic Kazakh in Kazakhstan is a modification of the standard Russian keyboard, with characters found in Kazakh but not in Russian located on the number keys.