To type accented letters like é, ñ, or ü, you have four reliable routes: copy them from a ready-made grid, use your operating system’s built-in shortcuts, insert them from an app’s symbol menu, or press and hold a key on a touch keyboard. The right choice depends on whether you’re on Windows, Mac, mobile, or inside an app like Word or Google Docs.
Common accented letters
Use this quick-copy grid for common accented Latin letters. It is a practical starter set, not every accented character in Unicode.
This guide walks through every common method once, in plain steps, so you can pick the one that fits your device. Start with the quick-copy grid below when you just need a character right now, then read on for shortcuts you can memorize.
Tap or click any letter to copy it, then paste it wherever you’re writing. This handles the majority of everyday needs in Spanish, French, German, Portuguese, and similar languages. For less common characters, the searchable tool and letter guides linked further down will take you further.
The main accent marks and how they work
An accent is a small mark added to a base letter to change its sound or meaning. Most European languages reuse the same handful of marks, so learning them once covers a lot of ground.
- Acute (á, é, í, ó, ú) — a rising stroke, common in Spanish and French.
- Grave (à, è, ì, ò, ù), a falling stroke, common in French and Italian.
- Circumflex (â, ê, î, ô, û), a small peak, common in French.
- Diaeresis / umlaut (ä, ë, ï, ö, ü), two dots above the letter.
- Tilde (ñ, ã, õ), a wavy line, central to Spanish and Portuguese.
- Cedilla (ç) — a hook under the c.
- Ring (å) and macron (ā, ē), a circle above, or a flat bar above.
Two dots can be an umlaut or a diaeresis depending on the language, and the distinction matters more than it looks. If that difference interests you, the diaeresis vs umlaut explainer covers exactly when each name applies.
Dead keys and keyboard layouts
A “dead key” is a key that produces no character on its own and instead waits for the next keystroke. On a layout with dead keys, you press the accent key, release it, then press the letter, typing ' then e gives é.
The catch is that your keyboard layout must support dead keys, which is why the same physical keyboard behaves differently on different machines. The US-International layout on Windows and the standard layout on Mac both enable this, and switching layouts is the single biggest fix for accent problems.
How to type accented letters on every platform
Each platform below appears once. Find yours, follow the exact steps, and note the fallback in case your device is missing a numeric keypad or a symbol menu.
Windows
The most flexible option is the US-International layout. Open Settings, go to Time & Language, then Language & Region, add English (United States) with the International keyboard, and switch to it from the taskbar. After that, type the accent key then the letter, or hold AltGr plus a letter for common combinations.
The classic Alt-code method also works: hold Alt, type a leading zero plus the character’s decimal value on the numeric keypad, then release Alt. This requires a real numeric keypad, so many laptops can’t use it directly.
When a keypad isn’t available, press Win + . to open the emoji and symbol panel, or run Character Map (search “charmap”) and copy from there.
macOS
Mac has two easy paths. Press and hold a vowel and a small accent menu appears, keep holding, then press the number shown for the accent you want.
For speed, use Option-key combinations: Option+e then the letter for acute, Option+` for grave, Option+i for circumflex, Option+u for umlaut, and Option+n for tilde. If you need something unusual, open the Character Viewer with Control+Command+Space and search by name.
Microsoft Word
Word has built-in accent shortcuts that work on any keyboard. Press Ctrl+’ then a letter for acute, Ctrl+` for grave, Ctrl+Shift+^ for circumflex, Ctrl+Shift+~ for tilde, Ctrl+Shift+: for umlaut, and Ctrl+, for cedilla.
For any character by code, type its hexadecimal Unicode value, then press Alt+X to convert it in place, for example, type 010F, then press Alt+X. The Insert > Symbol dialog is the menu-driven fallback when you’d rather browse.
Excel and PowerPoint
These two don’t share Word’s Ctrl accent shortcuts, so the reliable route is Insert > Symbol, where you can pick a letter and reuse it from the recently used tray. Alternatively, type the accent in Word or the quick-copy grid and paste it in, or use your operating system’s own shortcut, which works inside any app.
Google Docs and Sheets
In Google Docs, choose Insert > Special characters, then search by name (type “acute” or “tilde”) or draw the mark to find it. Google Sheets has no special-character menu, so use your operating system’s shortcut or paste the character in from the grid above.
iPhone and Android
On both mobile systems, press and hold the base letter on the on-screen keyboard until a small popup of accented options appears. Slide your finger to the accent you want and release. This is the quickest mobile method and needs no setup or special mode.
Chromebook
ChromeOS supports Unicode entry: hold Ctrl+Shift+U, type the hexadecimal code, then press Enter or Space. For everyday use, enable the US International keyboard in Settings under Languages and inputs, which turns on dead keys so you can type the accent then the letter. Pasting from the grid remains the simplest fallback.
Notion, Slack, Discord, and Canva
None of these apps has its own accent inserter, and they don’t need one. Because operating-system shortcuts and press-and-hold work inside any text field, use your Windows, Mac, or mobile method directly, or paste from the quick-copy grid. In Canva, click into a text box first, then apply the same OS shortcut.
Quick reference: method by platform
| Platform | How to add an accent | Keypad or special mode | Best fallback |
|---|---|---|---|
| Windows (US-International) | Type accent key, then the letter | Enable the layout first | Emoji panel: Win + . |
| Windows (Alt code) | Hold Alt, type 0 + decimal value | Needs numeric keypad | Character Map (charmap) |
| macOS | Option+e/`/i/u/n, then the letter | None | Press-and-hold letter |
| Microsoft Word | Ctrl accent shortcut, then letter; or hex then Alt+X | None | Insert > Symbol |
| Excel / PowerPoint | Insert > Symbol | None | Paste or OS shortcut |
| Google Docs | Insert > Special characters, then search | None | OS shortcut |
| Google Sheets | No built-in menu; use OS input | None | Paste from grid |
| iPhone / Android | Press and hold letter, pick accent | Touch keyboard | Copy from grid |
| Chromebook | Ctrl+Shift+U, hex, Enter; or intl layout | Enable layout for dead keys | Paste from grid |
| Notion / Slack / Discord / Canva | Use your OS shortcut in the text field | None | Paste from grid |
Precomposed versus combining characters
Unicode can represent an accented letter two ways. A precomposed character is a single code point — é exists as one unit. A combining sequence is the plain letter e followed by a separate combining accent mark that stacks on top.
Both usually look identical on screen, but they behave differently. A combining sequence counts as two characters, can break text search, and may render with the accent slightly misaligned in some fonts. Most keyboards and the grid above produce the tidy precomposed form.
Normalization is the process that reconciles these forms. NFC normalization composes sequences into single characters, while NFD decomposes them. If pasted text sorts oddly or a search misses obvious matches, normalizing to NFC usually fixes it.
Troubleshooting accented letters
Boxes, tofu, or question marks instead of the letter
An empty rectangle (often called “tofu”) means the current font lacks that glyph, not that the character is wrong. Switch to a broad font such as Arial, Segoe UI, or Noto, and the letter usually appears. Question marks instead suggest the text was saved in an encoding that can’t hold the character, so save as UTF-8.
The accent key does nothing or types the wrong thing
This is almost always the wrong keyboard layout. On a standard US layout there are no dead keys, so pressing an apostrophe just types an apostrophe. Switch to US-International (Windows) or verify your Mac input source, then try the accent-then-letter sequence again.
Alt codes won’t work on a laptop
Windows Alt codes need a physical numeric keypad, which many laptops omit. Rather than hunting for a Fn-key workaround, use the emoji panel (Win + .
), Character Map, or the quick-copy grid. On a desktop, confirm Num Lock is on before typing the code.
Copy and paste changes the character
Sometimes a pasted accent splits into a letter plus a floating mark, which is the combining form described above. Paste as plain text, or run the text through NFC normalization, to restore a single clean character. Watch also for “smart” autocorrect that swaps straight marks for curly ones.
Reaching less-common accented characters
The starter grid covers frequent letters, but languages reach far beyond it. For anything outside the common set, the searchable accent keyboard tool lets you look up and copy characters by name or mark without memorizing any codes.
When you want the full background on a specific mark, the individual A–Z letter guides go deeper than a pillar page can. You can browse every accented-letter guide to find the exact character and language notes you need.
Related guides
These focused guides pair well with this overview, especially for the marks people most often confuse:
- How to type the Spanish ñ (enye), the tilde-n at the heart of Spanish.
- Letters with a macron (ā ē ī ō ū), the flat bar used for long vowels.
- The German eszett (ß), how to type the sharp S correctly.
- Letters with a caron / háček (č š ž), the little v used across Central Europe.
- Bookmark this complete guide to typing accented letters for quick return trips.
Frequently asked questions
What is the fastest way to type one accented letter?
For a single character, copy it from the quick-copy grid at the top of this page and paste it in. If you type accents regularly, learning your operating system’s shortcut is faster over time than reaching for a grid each time.
Why do my accented letters show up as boxes or question marks?
A box means your current font doesn’t include that glyph, so switching to a broad font like Noto or Segoe UI fixes it. A question mark usually means the file was saved in an encoding that can’t store the character, which UTF-8 resolves.
Do I need a numeric keypad to type accents on Windows?
Only the Alt-code method needs one. The US-International keyboard layout and the emoji panel (Win + .) both work without a keypad, which makes them the better choice on laptops.
How do I type an accent on a laptop with no number pad?
Skip Alt codes entirely. Enable the US-International layout for dead keys, press Win + . for the emoji and symbol panel, or copy the character from the grid above.
Are the precomposed and combining versions of é the same?
They
They look identical but are stored differently: precomposed é is one code point, while the combining version is a plain e plus a separate accent mark. They can sort and search differently, so normalizing text to NFC is the safe way to keep them consistent.
Why does my accent shortcut type the wrong symbol?
You’re most likely on the wrong keyboard layout. A standard US layout has no dead keys, so an apostrophe stays an apostrophe; switch to US-International on Windows or check your Mac input source, then retry the accent-then-letter sequence.
Can I type accents inside Slack, Discord, or Canva?
Yes. None of those apps has its own accent tool, but operating-system shortcuts and mobile press-and-hold work inside their text fields, and pasting from the grid always works as a fallback.