To type an S with an accent, the fastest route is to copy the exact glyph you need — ß, ś, ŝ, ş, š, Ś, Ŝ, Ş, or Š, from the buttons below, then paste it wherever you are writing. If you would rather key it yourself, two of the lowercase forms and two uppercase forms have genuine Windows Alt codes, while the rest are typed with the Word Alt+X method or an insert-symbol menu. This guide gives you the verified code for every variant plus the exact steps for each app.
Every S-with-accent variant and its code
The table below lists all nine precomposed S variants covered here. Only ß, š, and Š have a real Windows Alt code; for every other character the “No standard Windows Alt code” note points you to the Word Alt+X column instead. In that column you type the four hex characters and then press Alt+X to convert them into the glyph.
| Glyph | Unicode name | Code point | Windows Alt code | Word Alt+X | HTML |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ß | U+00DF | U+00DF | Alt+0223 | type 00DF, then Alt+X | ß |
| ś | U+015B | U+015B | No standard Windows Alt code; Word: 015B then Alt+X | type 015B, then Alt+X | ś |
| ŝ | U+015D | U+015D | No standard Windows Alt code; Word: 015D then Alt+X | type 015D, then Alt+X | ŝ |
| ş | U+015F | U+015F | No standard Windows Alt code; Word: 015F then Alt+X | type 015F, then Alt+X | ş |
| š | U+0161 | U+0161 | Alt+0154 | type 0161, then Alt+X | š |
| Ś | U+015A | U+015A | No standard Windows Alt code; Word: 015A then Alt+X | type 015A, then Alt+X | Ś |
| Ŝ | U+015C | U+015C | No standard Windows Alt code; Word: 015C then Alt+X | type 015C, then Alt+X | Ŝ |
| Ş | U+015E | U+015E | No standard Windows Alt code; Word: 015E then Alt+X | type 015E, then Alt+X | Ş |
| Š | U+0160 | U+0160 | Alt+0138 | type 0160, then Alt+X | Š |
How the marks and cases relate
This set carries four distinct diacritics plus one special letter. The acute (ś, Ś) is a single stroke rising to the right, and the circumflex (ŝ, Ŝ) is a small pointed hat above the letter. The cedilla (ş, Ş) is a hook that hangs below the base, and the caron (š, Š) is an inverted hat, the mirror of the circumflex.
The sharp s (ß) is different in kind. It is not an S plus a diacritic but its own lowercase letter, which is why it has a dedicated HTML entity, ß, and its own Alt code. Treat it as a separate character rather than a decorated S.
Each accented S comes as a matched pair: a lowercase form and an uppercase form that sit at neighboring code points. For example ś is U+015B and its capital Ś is U+015A. Changing case with your Shift key or a “change case” command swaps between the two members of that pair, so you rarely have to look up both codes.
Type it on every platform
Windows
For ß, š, and Š, hold Alt and type the code on the numeric keypad: Alt+0223, Alt+0154, and Alt+0138 respectively. Num Lock must be on and you must use the number pad, not the top-row digits, or nothing appears. The remaining six variants have no Alt code, so use Character Map (search “charmap”), find the glyph, copy it, or paste from the buttons above.
Mac
The simplest Mac method works in any app: press and hold the S key and an accent picker pops up, then choose the variant with a click or a number key. If a specific mark is missing from that picker, open the Character Viewer with Control+Command+Space, search the Unicode name such as “s with caron,” and double-click to insert it.
Microsoft Word
Word handles every variant through Alt+X. Type the four-character hex code from the table — for instance 0161 for š, then press Alt+X and Word replaces the code with the glyph. You can also use Insert › Symbol › More Symbols and search by the Unicode name if you prefer a menu.
Excel
Excel does not support the Alt+X conversion, so use Insert › Symbol, pick the character, and click Insert. For repeated use, paste the glyph into a cell once and reference that cell, or wrap it in a formula with UNICHAR, such as =UNICHAR(353) for š. The Windows Alt codes for ß, š, and Š also work directly in a cell if you have a numeric keypad.
PowerPoint
PowerPoint mirrors Excel: there is no Alt+X, so reach for Insert › Symbol and choose the variant from the grid, using the Unicode name to confirm you have the right one. On Windows the three Alt codes work inside a text box, and on any platform pasting from the copy buttons is the quickest fallback for the six codeless characters.
Google Docs and Sheets
In Google Docs open Insert › Special characters, then type the Unicode name or draw the mark in the search box and click the result. Google Sheets has no special-character menu, so paste the glyph into a cell or build it with =UNICHAR(346) style formulas using the decimal value that matches each code point.
iPhone and Android
On both phone systems, press and hold the S key on the on-screen keyboard until a row of accented options appears, then slide to the one you want and release. If a needed variant is not offered, add a matching language keyboard in settings, or simply paste from the copy buttons at the top of this page.
Chromebook
Turn on the Unicode shortcut by enabling the US International or a relevant keyboard, then press Ctrl+Shift+U followed by the hex code (for example 0161) and Enter. If that feels fiddly, the Chromebook emoji-and-symbols picker (Launcher+Shift+Space) or a straight paste from above both work reliably.
Notion, Slack, Discord, and Canva
These apps have no built-in accent inserter, so the dependable path is to paste the glyph from the copy buttons or from your operating system’s character picker. On Windows the three Alt codes work inside any of these text fields, and on Mac the hold-the-key picker works in Notion, Slack, Discord, and Canva text boxes alike. Once pasted, the character behaves like normal text and travels with copy, search, and export.
Precomposed characters versus combining marks
Every glyph in this guide is precomposed: the letter and its accent live in a single code point, such as š at U+0161. There is also a second way to build the same-looking character — a plain s followed by a separate combining mark, like combining caron U+030C. On screen the two can look identical.
The difference matters the moment software compares text. A precomposed š is one code point, while the combining version is two, so a filename, form field, or search box may treat them as unequal even though your eyes see the same shape. Copy and paste can silently carry either form.
The fix is Unicode normalization, which converts between the two representations. Normalizing to NFC folds the combining sequence back into the single precomposed code point, which is what most systems expect. When a match “should” work but doesn’t, a mismatched form is a common cause.
Troubleshooting
The glyph shows as a box or blank. The font lacks that character, not your keyboard. Switch the run of text to a broad font such as Arial, Segoe UI, or Noto, and the accented S will render.
You got the wrong mark. The circumflex (ŝ) and caron (š) are easy to confuse because both sit above the letter. Check the Unicode name or code point in the table rather than judging by the small on-screen shape.
An Alt code does nothing. Six of these variants have no Windows Alt code at all, so no number sequence will produce them, use Alt+X in Word or paste instead. For the three that do work, confirm Num Lock is on and that you typed on the keypad, including the leading zero.
A laptop has no number pad. Alt codes need the numeric keypad, which many laptops omit. Use the Function-key overlay if your model has one, or skip Alt codes entirely in favor of Alt+X, the character picker, or the copy buttons.
Search or file matching fails. This is usually the combining-mark issue above. Re-enter the character from a precomposed source such as these buttons, or normalize the text to NFC so both sides use the same single code point.
Quick examples
To place a lowercase caron S in Word, type 0161 and press Alt+X; to place its capital, type 0160 and press Alt+X. On Windows outside Word, the same two characters come from Alt+0154 and Alt+0138 on the keypad.
For a codeless variant like ś, the most reliable moves are pasting from the copy buttons, using Alt+X with 015B in Word, or opening the Insert Symbol menu and searching “s with acute.” In HTML you can also write ś for ś and Ś for Ś directly in your markup.
Related guides and resources
If you type accents across many letters, the complete guide to typing accented letters gathers every method in one place, and the on-screen accent keyboard tool lets you click characters straight into your clipboard. You can also browse more accented-letter guides for the whole collection.
Readers working through similar letters often want typing R with accents on Windows, Mac, and mobile, the every way to type T with an accent reference, the matching Q with accent guide, and typing U with accents. The P with an accent mark walkthrough follows the same structure as this page.
Frequently asked questions
Which S accents have a real Windows Alt code?
Only three: ß is Alt+0223, š is Alt+0154, and Š is Alt+0138. The acute, circumflex, and cedilla forms have no standard Windows Alt code, so use Word’s Alt+X method or paste them.
How do I type ś if it has no Alt code?
In Word, type 015B and press Alt+X. Elsewhere, insert it from your character picker, paste it from the copy buttons above, or write the HTML entity ś in web content.
Is ß the same as a double S?
No. ß (U+00DF) is its own lowercase letter with a dedicated code point and the HTML entity ß. It is not an S with an accent and it is not literally two S characters stored together.
Why does my accented S fail to match in search?
Your text probably uses a combining mark (two code points) while the search target uses the precomposed single code point, or vice versa. Normalizing both to NFC, or re-entering the glyph from a precomposed source, makes them match.
How do I tell ŝ and š apart?
The circumflex (ŝ) is a pointed hat and the caron (š) is its upside-down mirror. When the shapes are too small to judge, check the code point: ŝ is U+015D and š is U+0161.
What do I do on a laptop with no number pad?
Skip Alt codes, since they require the numeric keypad. Use Word’s Alt+X, the Windows Character Map, the Chromebook or macOS picker, or simply paste from the copy buttons at the top of this page.
Will these characters survive copy and paste between apps?
Yes. Once inserted, each precomposed S is ordinary Unicode text and moves cleanly through Notion, Slack, Discord, Canva, email, and documents, as long as the destination font includes the glyph.