Typing O with Accents on Windows, Mac & Mobile

The letter O takes eight accent marks: ò ó ô õ ö ō ŏ ő, in both lowercase and uppercase. On Windows, hold Alt and type a code on the numeric keypad—Alt+0243 gives ó, Alt+0246 gives ö.

On Mac, press Option+E then O for ó, or Option+U then O for ö. Both work in Word, browsers, and most apps.

Five of these O variants have a genuine Windows Alt code. Three do not: ō ŏ ő (and their capitals Ō Ŏ Ő) fall outside the Windows-1252 table, so there is no Alt code for them.

For those, use the Word Alt+X trick, Character Map, or a copy from the widget above. The table below carries every value you need.

O with accent: full reference table

Alt codes are decimal and need the numeric keypad. The Word column is hexadecimal: type the code, then press Alt+X. Do not paste a hex value into an Alt code, they are different numbers for the same character.

GlyphNameUnicode (hex)Alt code (decimal)Word (hex + Alt+X)HTML
òO with graveU+00F2Alt+024200F2ò
óO with acuteU+00F3Alt+024300F3ó
ôO with circumflexU+00F4Alt+024400F4ô
õO with tildeU+00F5Alt+024500F5õ
öO with diaeresisU+00F6Alt+024600F6ö
ōO with macronU+014DNo standard Windows Alt code; Word: 014D then Alt+X014Dō
ŏO with breveU+014FNo standard Windows Alt code; Word: 014F then Alt+X014Fŏ
őO with double acuteU+0151No standard Windows Alt code; Word: 0151 then Alt+X0151ő
ÒCapital O with graveU+00D2Alt+021000D2Ò
ÓCapital O with acuteU+00D3Alt+021100D3Ó
ÔCapital O with circumflexU+00D4Alt+021200D4Ô
ÕCapital O with tildeU+00D5Alt+021300D5Õ
ÖCapital O with diaeresisU+00D6Alt+021400D6Ö
ŌCapital O with macronU+014CNo standard Windows Alt code; Word: 014C then Alt+X014CŌ
ŎCapital O with breveU+014ENo standard Windows Alt code; Word: 014E then Alt+X014EŎ
ŐCapital O with double acuteU+0150No standard Windows Alt code; Word: 0150 then Alt+X0150Ő

The leading zero on the Alt codes matters. Alt+0243 reads from the Windows-1252 set and gives ó reliably on any Windows machine. Drop the zero and you land in a different character table, so keep the zero.

The eight accent marks on O, and how case works

Each mark sits above the O and changes the character’s identity, not just its look. The grave (ò) slopes down to the right; the acute (ó) slopes up. The circumflex (ô) is a small peak, and the tilde (õ) is a wave.

The diaeresis (ö) is two dots and is also called the umlaut. The macron (ō) is a flat bar, the breve (ŏ) is a small cup, and the double acute (ő) is two upright strokes, easy to confuse with the umlaut at small sizes.

Uppercase and lowercase carry the same mark on the same letter: ó pairs with Ó, ö pairs with Ö. Each case is its own Unicode character with its own code, which is why the table lists both. Changing case in software usually preserves the accent, but retyping by hand does not, so use the correct code for the case you want.

Windows

Hold the Alt key, type the decimal code on the numeric keypad, then release Alt. Alt+0242 gives ò, Alt+0246 gives ö, Alt+0214 gives Ö. This needs a real numeric keypad with Num Lock on; the number row across the top will not work.

Laptops without a keypad can use the on-screen keyboard, or skip Alt codes entirely with the accent keyboard tool. For ō ŏ ő, which have no Alt code, open Character Map (search “charmap”), find the character, and copy it.

The emoji panel at Win+. does not list these accented letters, so Character Map or the Word method is the route for the three macron/breve/double-acute variants.

Mac

Mac uses dead-key combinations. Press the Option combo, release, then press O:

  • Option+E, then O → ó (Shift+O for Ó)
  • Option+`, then O → ò
  • Option+I, then O → ô
  • Option+N, then O → õ
  • Option+U, then O → ö

The macron, breve, and double acute are not on the standard US layout. Open the Character Viewer with Control+Command+Space, search the name (for example “macron”), and double-click to insert. You can also hold the O key on a Mac to get a small popup of accented options.

Microsoft Word

Word gives you the widest reach because it handles every variant. Type the hex code from the table, then press Alt+X: type 014D and press Alt+X for ō, or 0151 then Alt+X for ő. Put the cursor right after the code so Word converts the correct digits.

Word also has built-in accent shortcuts for the common five. Press Ctrl and the mark key, release, then type O:

  • Ctrl+` then O → ò
  • Ctrl+’ then O → ó
  • Ctrl+Shift+^ then O → ô
  • Ctrl+Shift+~ then O → õ
  • Ctrl+Shift+: then O → ö

Insert → Symbol → More Symbols works for anything, and the same Insert → Symbol route is available in PowerPoint. If you type one variant constantly, add it under File → Options → Proofing → AutoCorrect so a short trigger expands to the letter.

Excel and PowerPoint

Alt+X does not work in Excel or PowerPoint, so use Alt codes on the numeric keypad or Insert → Symbol. In Excel, the cleanest option for the no-Alt-code letters is a formula: =UNICHAR(333) returns ō, =UNICHAR(337) returns ő. UNICHAR takes the decimal Unicode value, so 243 gives ó and 246 gives ö.

Copy the formula result and Paste Special → Values if you need the plain character rather than a live formula. PowerPoint has no formula option, so Insert → Symbol or a paste from the copy widget is the way to place ō ŏ ő on a slide.

Google Docs and Sheets

In Google Docs, open Insert → Special characters, then type a name like “latin small o acute” or draw the shape in the sketch box. Click the result to drop it into the document. This finds every O variant, including the macron and double acute.

Google Sheets has no Insert → Special characters menu. Use =UNICHAR(243) for ó or =UNICHAR(333) for ō, or paste the character in. To use an OS input method inside a cell, press F2 first to enter edit mode, otherwise the keystroke can be swallowed by cell navigation.

iPhone and Android

Both phones use the same trick: press and hold the O key on the on-screen keyboard. A row of accented options pops up, ò ó ô õ ö and usually ō—and you slide to the one you want and release. Hold Shift first for the capital versions.

The popup does not always include ŏ or ő. When it doesn’t, paste the character from the copy widget above, or set up a text replacement (iPhone: Settings → General → Keyboard → Text Replacement; Android: Personal dictionary) so a short code expands to the letter you need.

Chromebook

ChromeOS has no Alt codes. Use the Unicode method instead: hold Ctrl+Shift+U, type the hex code, then press Enter or Space.

Ctrl+Shift+U then 00f3 gives ó; 014d gives ō. An underlined u appears while you type to confirm the mode, enter the hex digits only, with no U+ prefix.

The symbol picker at Launcher+Shift+Space is another route, and newer Chromebooks have a dedicated Quick Insert key. If a web text field intercepts Ctrl+Shift+U, fall back to pasting the character.

Notion, Slack, Discord, and Canva

None of these apps has a dedicated accent shortcut. The reliable method is the same in all four: copy the character from the widget above and paste it. Every one of them keeps the accent intact on paste.

For letters you reuse, build a replacement so you never hunt for it again. Slack has Preferences → Advanced text replacements; Notion, Discord, and Canva pick up the system-level text replacements you set in Windows, macOS, or your phone. Type a trigger like :oe and let it expand to ö.

HTML and CSS

On the web, use the HTML entity from the table. Named entities like ó and ö exist for the five common variants; the macron, breve, and double acute use numeric entities such as ō for ō. Numeric entities work for all sixteen characters, so they are the safe default.

In CSS content values, escape with a backslash and the hex code: content: "\00F3" for ó, content: "\014D" for ō. Saving the file as UTF-8 lets you paste the raw character directly instead, which is usually simpler.

Precomposed characters vs combining marks

An accented O comes in two forms that look identical. The precomposed form is a single character, ó at U+00F3. The decomposed form is a plain o followed by a separate combining acute mark (U+0301) that stacks on top when displayed.

On screen they can be indistinguishable, but the computer sees different byte sequences. That gap causes real problems: a search for “ó” may miss text stored the other way, two filenames that look the same can be treated as different, and a form field can reject or duplicate what seems like the same input.

The fix is normalization. NFC composes marks into single characters; NFD splits them apart.

Most systems store and match text as NFC, which is the precomposed form the codes in this guide produce. If matching fails between two visually identical strings, normalize both to NFC before comparing.

Troubleshooting O with accents

The character shows as a box or question mark. The font lacks that glyph.

The macron and double acute (ō ő) are missing from some display and legacy fonts even though the five common variants render fine. Switch to a broad font such as Arial, Segoe UI, Calibri, or Noto and the box disappears.

The Alt code gives the wrong letter or nothing. Confirm Num Lock is on and that you used the numeric keypad, not the top-row numbers. Keep the leading zero: Alt+0243 gives ó, but without the zero you get a different character from another code page.

You got ő when you wanted ö. The double acute (two upright strokes) and the diaeresis (two dots) look alike at small sizes.

Check the code: ö is U+00F6 / Alt+0246, while ő is U+0151 with no Alt code. Zoom in to see whether the mark is dots or strokes.

Your keyboard layout keeps producing the wrong symbol. Dead-key layouts and international layouts remap the apostrophe, backtick, and quote keys to build accents. If Option+E or a quote key does something unexpected, check which keyboard layout is active in your system settings.

Where these characters are used

Accented O appears in names, place names, and loanwords across many writing systems, so it turns up in contact forms, spreadsheets of customer data, citations, and product listings. Getting the exact character right keeps records searchable and stops names from breaking in databases.

Related letters and guides

The same accent marks and methods apply to other vowels and consonants. If you work with several, these guides use the identical approach:

For the full method set across every letter, see the complete guide to typing accented letters, browse more options in the accented letters guides, or generate any character quickly with the accent keyboard.

Frequently asked questions

Why does my ó not match in a search box even though it looks correct?

The two texts are stored in different Unicode forms, one precomposed (U+00F3), one as o plus a combining acute mark. They look identical but hold different bytes. Normalize both strings to NFC before comparing and the match works.

What is the difference between ö and ő?

ö carries a diaeresis, two dots, at U+00F6 with Alt code 0246. ő carries a double acute, two upright strokes, at U+0151 with no Windows Alt code. At small font sizes they look similar, so check the code point to be sure.

How do I type ō, ŏ, or ő without Word or Character Map?

Hold the O key on a phone or Mac keyboard for a popup, use Ctrl+Shift+U then the hex code on a Chromebook, or click the character in the copy widget at the top of this page and paste it wherever you need it.

Why do the capital versions need different Alt codes?

Uppercase and lowercase are separate Unicode characters. Ó is U+00D3 (Alt+0211) while ó is U+00F3 (Alt+0243). Pressing Shift on an Alt code does nothing, so you must type the capital’s own code.

Which fonts fail to show the macron or double-acute O?

Older display and decorative fonts often omit ō, ŏ, and ő, showing a box or a fallback glyph instead. Arial, Calibri, Segoe UI, Times New Roman, and the Noto family all include them and render the marks correctly.

Do Alt codes work in every Windows program?

The five common variants with genuine Alt codes work in nearly any Windows app that accepts text, as long as you use the numeric keypad with Num Lock on. Apps like Excel and PowerPoint accept them too, but Word’s Alt+X hex method is the only built-in route for ō ŏ ő.

Can I paste accented O into filenames and web forms safely?

Usually yes, since modern systems are UTF-8. Trouble appears when one system stores NFC and another NFD, which can make identical-looking names sort or match differently. If a filename or form value behaves oddly, normalize it to NFC.

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