How do you type accents?
You have a number of options:
We recommend learning and using the shortcuts: they're fast and easy and they work in any software (Word, Firefox, email, etc.). The boxes on this page explain how you can use the shortcuts as well as the other methods to type accents.
Shortcuts for Accents on a Mac
On a Mac, you can type accents and other special characters without changing the keyboard settings. If you learn these basic shortcuts, you can type accented letters in any software, including Word, Firefox, email, etc.
Method 1:
First, Hold down the Option key and then hit the appropriate symbol - the symbol depends on your desired accent (you’ll see the combinations in the next section). The accent will then appear underlined in your document. Then, type any of the available characters, and the accent will be added to that letter.
Accent Type | Key Strokes | Available Characters |
Grave ` | (Option Key + `) + Character | À à È è Ì ì Ò ò Ù ù |
Acute ´ | (Option Key + e) + Character | Á á É é Í í Ó ó Ú ú |
Circumflex ˆ | (Option Key + i) + Character | Â â Ê ê Î î Ô ô Û û |
Tilde ˜ | (Option Key + n) + Character | Ã ã Ñ ñ Õ õ |
Umlaut ¨ | (Option Key + u) + Character | Ä ä Ë ë Ï ï Ö ö Ü ü Ÿ ÿ |
French cedille ç |
(Shift for uppercase) (Option Key + c) |
ç Ç |
Upside-down exclamation mark ¡ | (Option Key + 1) | ¡ |
Upside-down question mark ¿ | (Option Key + Shift + ?) | ¿ |
German Sharp/Double S ß | (Option Key + s) | ß |
This video provides a short demonstration of this method.
Method 2:
New versions of Mac OS allow users to type accented letters by using a sustained keypress on a single key. For example, if you press and hold on “o” a pop-up will appear after holding that key for a few moments which displays which accents are available for that particular letter or character.
First, press and hold on the letter you wish to accent, continue holding the letter until a menu with character accents are displayed.
Next, choose the character accent with the mouse, or press the number corresponding below the accent in the menu.
You can leave the accent menu on the Mac keyboard any time by hitting the “ESCAPE” key.
This video provides a short demonstration of this method.
Shortcuts for Accents on Windows
To type accents on Windows, there are 3 main options you can use:
Keyboard Shortcuts for International Characters
For keyboard shortcuts in which you press two or more keys simultaneously, the keys to press are separated by a plus sign (+). For keyboard shortcuts in which you press one key immediately followed by another key, the keys to press are separated by a comma (,).
To type a lowercase character by using a key combination that includes the SHIFT key, hold down the CTRL+SHIFT+symbol keys simultaneously, and then release them before you type the letter. You must use the right hand CTRL key for these shortcuts to work.
To insert this |
Press |
---|---|
à, è, ì, ò, ù, |
CTRL+` (ACCENT GRAVE), the letter |
á, é, í, ó, ú, ý |
CTRL+' (APOSTROPHE), the letter |
â, ê, î, ô, û |
CTRL+SHIFT+^ (CARET), the letter |
ã, ñ, õ |
CTRL+SHIFT+~ (TILDE), the letter |
ä, ë, ï, ö, ü, ÿ, |
CTRL+SHIFT+: (COLON), the letter |
å, Å |
CTRL+SHIFT+@, a or A |
æ, Æ |
CTRL+SHIFT+&, a or A |
œ, Œ |
CTRL+SHIFT+&, o or O |
ç, Ç |
CTRL+, (COMMA), c or C |
ð, Ð |
CTRL+' (APOSTROPHE), d or D |
ø, Ø |
CTRL+/, o or O |
¿ |
ALT+CTRL+SHIFT+? |
¡ |
ALT+CTRL+SHIFT+! |
ß |
CTRL+SHIFT+&, s |
The United States (International) Keyboard Layout
The easiest option is to activate the United States-International keyboard layout. The following instructions are for Windows 10 systems; scroll for instructions for earlier versions of Windows.
One advantage of the United States – International keyboard layout is that replacing your current keyboard layout with the US – International keyboard layout doesn’t interfere with typing in the English language. With the US – International keyboard layout, you can simultaneously type in both the English language and in another latin-alphabet foreign language.
The US – International keyboard layout on Windows computers is capable of typing characters with Spanish accents in any text fields that capable of Spanish accented character input and output. To switch to the US – International keyboard layout from your current keyboard layout on Windows 10, you need to:
Once you have added the United States – International keyboard layout as an input method and have also selected it as your current input method, simply typing normal English characters (such as a) while holding down the right Alt key on your keyboard will result in their accented counterparts (such as á) to be typed instead of the normal characters. If you don’t hold down the right Alt key, however, the normal character will be typed – this is how the US – International keyboard layout doesn’t interfere with normal English typing.
Now, you can use the table below to type the accents you want. You will need to hold down the shift key for some symbols (e.g. ~ or ^).
Press and hold this key | Then press this key | Resulting character |
Apostrophe ' | c, e, y, u, i, o, a | ç, é, ý, ú, í, ó, á |
Quotation Marks " | e, y, u, i, o, a | ë, ÿ, ü, ï, ö, ä |
Grave ` | e, u, i, o, a | è, ù, ì, ò, à |
Tilde ~ | o, n, a | õ, ñ, ã |
Carrot ^ | e, u, i, o, a | ê, û, î, ô, â |
ctrl(Control)+ alt(OPTION) | , (comma) | ç |
Right Alt (Right Option) | 1 | ¡ |
Right Alt (Right Option) | / | ¿ |
Right Alt (Right Option) | s | ß |
Windows Character Map
Windows has a built-in Character Map with characters from a wide array of different languages. Users can search for any character they want, find out the ASCII code for that specific character or even copy it to their clipboard and paste it wherever it is required. To use the Windows Character Map to type accented characters on your computer, you need to:
1. Open the Windows Character Map.
2. Once the Character Map shows up on your screen, search through it and locate the accented character you require. Once you find the character, click on it to zoom in on it for a closer look.
Click on Select, and the character will be appended to the Characters to copy: field.
3. Click on Copy, and the accented character you selected will be copied to your computer’s clipboard. You can then press Ctrl + V to paste the accented character wherever it is required.
Special Character Alt Codes
To insert a Unicode character, type the character code, press ALT, and then press X. For example, to type a dollar symbol ($), type 0024, press ALT, and then press X. You must use the right hand ALT key for this to work.
Important: Some of the Microsoft Office programs, such as PowerPoint and InfoPath, cannot convert Unicode codes to characters. If you need a Unicode character and are using one of the programs that doesn't support Unicode characters, use the Character Map to enter the character(s) that you need.
Notes:
If ALT+X converts the wrong character code into Unicode, select the correct character code before pressing ALT+X.
Alternatively, precede the correct character code with the text "U+". For example, typing "1U+B5" and pressing ALT+X will always return the text "1µ", while typing "1B5" and pressing ALT+X will return the text "Ƶ".
This method only works in Windows programs + apps.
For more Unicode character codes, see Unicode character code charts by script.
If you are typing in Microsoft Office and do not know the shortcut keys for the accents that you need, you can insert premade symbols into your document. However, this takes time, so it is not recommeded for longer documents, where the shortcut keys (see above) will be much more efficent.
To insert symbols into Microsoft Word (Mac):
To insert symbols into Microsoft Word (Windows):
Another option is to use a keyboard layout from a country where the language is spoken. However, this method may take more time to learn where the keys are located on the new keyboard layout.
If you'd like to use a country-specific keyboard, you'll need to follow these three basic steps. See the Windows and Mac boxes below for details about how to do this on each system.
First, activate the keyboards or input methods that you want through the Control Panel:
Next, turn on the Language Bar:
Use the Language Bar to select which language you want to type in:
When using another keyboard layout, open the On-Screen Keyboard to see what characters are associated with each key:
Need help? Contact the LCC, or check out the links below for more detailed, step-by-step instructions.
First, activate the keyboards or input methods you want:
To use these keyboards:
Need help? Contact the LCC, or check out the links below for more detailed, step-by-step instructions.