The letter Y takes six accented forms: ý ÿ ŷ Ý Ŷ Ÿ. On Windows, the fastest route is a numeric-keypad Alt code — hold Alt and type 0253 for ý or 0221 for Ý.
On Mac, press Option+e then y for ý. Two of these variants have no Alt code at all, so this guide covers every method that does work.
Click any character below to copy it, then paste it wherever you need it.
Y with accent: full reference table
Every verified code for the six accented Y characters is below. The Alt code column uses decimal numbers typed on the numeric keypad. The Word column uses hexadecimal, type the value, then press Alt+X. Do not mix the two: the numbers are different and only one works for each method.
| Glyph | Name | Unicode | Alt code (decimal) | Word (hex + Alt+X) | HTML |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ý | Small Y with acute | U+00FD | Alt+0253 | 00FD then Alt+X | ý |
| ÿ | Small Y with diaeresis | U+00FF | Alt+0255 | 00FF then Alt+X | ÿ |
| ŷ | Small Y with circumflex | U+0177 | No standard Windows Alt code; Word: 0177 then Alt+X | 0177 then Alt+X | ŷ |
| Ý | Capital Y with acute | U+00DD | Alt+0221 | 00DD then Alt+X | Ý |
| Ŷ | Capital Y with circumflex | U+0176 | No standard Windows Alt code; Word: 0176 then Alt+X | 0176 then Alt+X | Ŷ |
| Ÿ | Capital Y with diaeresis | U+0178 | Alt+0159 | 0178 then Alt+X | Ÿ |
Note the two gaps: ŷ and Ŷ (circumflex) have no Windows Alt code. Use the Word Alt+X method, Character Map, or copy them from the widget above instead.
The three accents on Y, and how case works
This set uses three different marks. The acute (ý, Ý) is a single stroke rising to the right.
The diaeresis (ÿ, Ÿ) is two dots. The circumflex (ŷ, Ŷ) is a small peak, like a caret.
Uppercase and lowercase are separate characters with separate code points, not one letter that changes size. Ý (U+00DD) and ý (U+00FD) are stored as different values, so you type them with different codes. Typing the lowercase code and then pressing Shift will not produce the capital.
Type accented Y on Windows
Alt codes (numeric keypad)
- Make sure Num Lock is on.
- Hold the Alt key.
- Type the decimal code on the numeric keypad, for example 0253 for ý or 0221 for Ý.
- Release Alt. The character appears.
Alt codes need a real numeric keypad, not the top-row number keys. Laptops without one can use the on-screen touch keypad or a Fn-layer numpad. If that is a recurring problem, see our accent keyboard tool for a keypad-free way to insert these letters.
Always use the leading-zero form (0253, not 253). Codes without the leading zero read from an older DOS character table and can produce a different symbol depending on your region’s code page. The leading-zero form is consistent everywhere.
Emoji panel and Character Map
For ŷ and Ŷ, which have no Alt code, press Win + . (period) to open the emoji panel, click the Ω symbols tab, and browse the Latin section. Or open Character Map (search for it in the Start menu), find the glyph, and copy it.
Type accented Y on Mac
macOS has no Alt codes. It uses dead-key combinations: press the accent shortcut, release, then press the letter.
- Acute. Option+e, then y (ý) or Shift+Y (Ý)
- Diaeresis. Option+u, then y (ÿ) or Shift+Y (Ÿ)
- Circumflex. Option+i, then y (ŷ) or Shift+Y (Ŷ)
If nothing happens, you may be on a keyboard layout without these dead keys. Switch to ABC or U.S. in System Settings → Keyboard → Input Sources. You can also hold a letter for the accent menu on some layouts, or open the Character Viewer with Ctrl+Cmd+Space and search “circumflex”.
Type accented Y in Word, Outlook and OneNote
Word’s Alt+X trick handles all six, including the two with no Alt code. Type the hexadecimal code from the table, then press Alt+X, and it converts to the character.
- ŷ: type 0177, press Alt+X
- Ŷ: type 0176, press Alt+X
- Ÿ: type 0178, press Alt+X
The same Alt+X method works in Outlook and OneNote. You can also use Insert → Symbol → More Symbols, set the subset to Latin-1 Supplement or Latin Extended-A, and double-click the glyph. The identical Insert → Symbol route also works in PowerPoint, which has no Alt+X of its own.
To make a letter you use often automatic, add it under File → Options → Proofing → AutoCorrect Options, map a short trigger to the character.
Type accented Y in Excel and Google Sheets
Excel has no Alt+X. Windows Alt codes still work directly in a cell, so Alt+0253 gives ý. For any character, use the UNICHAR function with the decimal code point: =UNICHAR(375) returns ŷ, =UNICHAR(376) returns Ÿ. Convert the hex Unicode value to decimal first (0177 hex = 375 decimal).
Google Sheets has no Insert Symbol menu. Use the same function, =UNICHAR(253) for ý, or paste the character in. If you are typing into a cell with an OS shortcut, press F2 first to enter edit mode.
Type accented Y in Google Docs
- Open Insert → Special characters.
- Type the name, such as latin small letter y with circumflex, in the search box.
- Or draw the shape in the sketch box to find it.
- Click the character to drop it at the cursor.
Docs on a Mac also respects the Option dead keys above, so Option+e then y works there too.
Type accented Y on iPhone and Android
Both phone keyboards use press-and-hold. Tap and hold the Y key and a small menu of accented options pops up, then slide to the one you want and release.
The default menu on most keyboards shows ý and ÿ. Circumflex Y (ŷ, Ŷ) is rarer and may not appear, so for those the reliable route is to copy from the widget near the top of this page. For capitals, turn on Shift before you hold the key.
Type accented Y on Chromebook
ChromeOS has no Alt codes, and adding a USB numpad will not change that. Use the Unicode input method instead:
- Hold Ctrl+Shift+U. An underlined u appears.
- Type the hex code, 00fd for ý, 0178 for Ÿ, 0177 for ŷ.
- Press Enter or Space.
Type the code only, with no U+ prefix. Some web fields swallow the shortcut; if so, use the picker at Launcher+Shift+Space or paste the character.
Type accented Y in Notion, Slack, Discord and Canva
None of these apps has its own accent shortcut. The dependable method is the same in all four: paste the character from the copy widget above.
On desktop, the OS shortcuts still apply inside the text box. Mac Option keys and Chromebook Ctrl+Shift+U both work.
If you type a variant repeatedly, set up a text replacement so it inserts itself. On Mac use System Settings → Keyboard → Text Replacements; on iPhone use Settings → General → Keyboard → Text Replacement; on Windows lean on Word AutoCorrect or a tool like PhraseExpress. Map something like yac to ý.
Accented Y on the web (HTML and CSS)
Two of these letters have named HTML entities: ý (ý) and ÿ (ÿ). The rest use numeric references.
HTML accepts decimal (ŷ) or hex (ŷ, note the x). In CSS content, escape with the hex value: \0178 for Ÿ.
If your page already declares <meta charset="utf-8">, you can paste the raw character straight into the markup and skip entities entirely.
Precomposed characters versus combining marks
All six letters in this guide are precomposed: each is a single Unicode code point with the accent built in. ý is one character, U+00FD.
The same shape can also be built from two code points — a plain y followed by a combining accent. On screen the two versions look identical, but a computer treats them as different text. That mismatch causes real problems.
- Search may fail to match one form against the other.
- Filenames that look the same can be treated as two different files.
- Form validation can reject a “wrong length” name.
- Copy/paste from some sources pastes the two-part form.
The fix is Unicode normalization to NFC, which merges the two-part sequence back into the single precomposed character. The copy buttons on this page all give you the precomposed form, so pasting from here keeps your text clean.
Troubleshooting accented Y
You see a box, a question mark, or nothing
A □ or ? means the font lacks the glyph. ý, ÿ, Ý and Ÿ are in almost every font because they sit in the common Latin-1 range.
The circumflex pair, ŷ and Ŷ, live in Latin Extended-A and are missing from some display and decorative fonts. Switch to Arial, Calibri, Times New Roman, or another broad font.
Your Alt code produced the wrong character
You probably dropped the leading zero. Alt+0253 gives ý; Alt+0253 reads from a different table.
Always include the zero. Also confirm Num Lock is on and that you used the keypad, not the number row.
ŷ or Ŷ will not type
These two have no Alt code, that is expected, not a fault. Use Word’s Alt+X (type 0177 or 0176, press Alt+X), Character Map, or the copy widget above.
Alt+X converted the wrong digits
Alt+X reads the hex characters immediately before the cursor and can grab a stray letter or digit sitting in front of your code. Put a space before the code, or select exactly the four hex characters before pressing Alt+X.
Diaeresis versus dots on capitals
Capital Ÿ appears far less often than lowercase ÿ, and some keyboard layouts refuse to make it with the dead key. If Option+u then Shift+Y does nothing, use Alt+0159, the copy button, or Insert → Symbol.
Where accented Y appears
ý and Ý turn up in names and words carried over from languages that mark a stressed or long vowel. ÿ and Ÿ show up in certain surnames and place names. The circumflex forms ŷ and Ŷ are the rarest of the set and mostly appear in Welsh text and in linguistic or academic notation.
Related guides
Working through a name or word with several marked letters? These guides cover the letters people most often type alongside an accented Y:
- Typing U with accents on Windows, Mac and mobile, the vowel next to Y in many spellings.
- How to type V with an accent mark, easily confused with an accented Y in some scripts.
- W with accent: every way to type it, another letter that carries a circumflex in Welsh.
- Typing X with accents, a rarer marked consonant.
- Z with accent: every way to type it — for names using multiple diacritics.
For the full method set across every letter, see the complete guide to typing accented letters, browse more accented-letter guides, or keep the accent keyboard tool open while you work.
Frequently asked questions
Why do ŷ and Ŷ have no Alt code when the others do?
Alt codes only cover the Windows-1252 table, which includes the acute and diaeresis forms but not the circumflex Y. Those two characters live in a later Unicode block with no assigned Alt code, so you reach them through Word’s Alt+X, Character Map, or copy and paste.
Why does ý look different on my phone than on my laptop?
Different devices use different default fonts. The character itself is identical, only its drawing changes. If the accent looks too faint or the letter looks off, it is a font rendering choice, not a wrong character.
My accented Y breaks search or a login form. Why?
The text was likely stored as a base y plus a combining accent rather than a single precomposed character. The two look alike but count as different data. Retype the letter using a method from this guide, or normalize the text to NFC, and matching should work again.
How do I type capital Ý without a numeric keypad?
On Mac, press Option+e then Shift+Y. In Word, type 00DD and press Alt+X. On a Chromebook, use Ctrl+Shift+U then 00dd. Or copy Ý from the widget at the top of this page.
What is the difference between ÿ and y with two dots I typed myself?
If you inserted ÿ as a single character (U+00FF), it is one precomposed letter. If you added a combining diaeresis after a plain y, it is two code points that happen to render the same. Precomposed is safer for filenames, search, and forms.
Can I use UNICHAR for the circumflex Y in a spreadsheet?
Yes, but convert the hex code point to decimal first. U+0177 (ŷ) is 375, so use =UNICHAR(375).
U+0176 (Ŷ) is 374, so use =UNICHAR(374). This works in both Excel and Google Sheets.
Will these characters survive when I save a plain text file?
Save the file as UTF-8 and all six letters are preserved. Older encodings like ASCII cannot store them and will drop or replace the accents. Most editors default to UTF-8 now, but check the encoding option in your Save As dialog if the marks disappear.