Letter Accents: How to Type Accented Letters With ALT Codes, iPhone and iPad
Letter Accents: How to Type Accented Letters With ALT Codes, iPhone & iPad
Accented letters are used in languages around the world to show pronunciation, stress, vowel quality, or other distinctions. Common examples include á, é, í, ó, ú, ñ, ç, ü, å, ø and many more. Whether you are writing a name, translating a word, creating a document, filling out a form, or typing in another language, there are several easy ways to enter letters with accents.
If you simply need an accented character to copy and paste, the Letter Accents homepage provides a collection of accented letters from A through Z. The individual letter pages also provide character lists, typing instructions, ALT codes, and information about language usage.
What Are Letter Accents?
A letter accent, more technically called a diacritic, is a mark added to a letter. Common diacritics include the acute accent (´), grave accent (`), circumflex (ˆ), diaeresis or umlaut (¨), tilde (˜), cedilla (¸), caron (ˇ), macron (¯) and ring (˚).
The meaning of an accent depends on the language. For example, á is widely used in Spanish, while ä is an important vowel in German and Scandinavian languages. ç occurs in French, Portuguese, Catalan and Turkish, while ñ is a distinct letter in Spanish.
How to Copy and Paste Letter Accents
The easiest method when you do not know the keyboard shortcut is to copy the character you need. Visit the Letter Accents homepage, find the appropriate letter, and copy the accented character. The site also has a separate page for each letter of the alphabet.
For example, if you need an accented A, visit the a with accent page. For an accented B, use the accented b page, and for C, use the c accent page.
Once you have copied a character, paste it into your document, browser, email, social media post, search box, or other application using the normal paste command.
How to Type Letter Accents With ALT Codes on Windows
On Windows, many accented characters can be entered with an ALT code. Place the cursor where you want the character, make sure Num Lock is enabled, hold down the Alt key, type the required number on the numeric keypad, and then release Alt.
For example, commonly used Windows ALT codes include:
- ALT + 133 = à
- ALT + 160 = á
- ALT + 131 = â
- ALT + 0227 = ã
- ALT + 132 = ä
- ALT + 134 = å
- ALT + 130 = é
- ALT + 138 = è
- ALT + 136 = ê
- ALT + 137 = ë
- ALT + 164 = ñ
- ALT + 135 = ç
- ALT + 148 = ö
- ALT + 129 = ü
- ALT + 151 = ù
ALT codes can vary depending on the character, Windows input method, application and code page being used. For less common Unicode characters, the individual Letter Accents pages provide their corresponding character information and codes.
Example: ALT code for á
To type á using the commonly used Windows ALT code, hold Alt, type 160 on the numeric keypad, and release Alt.
You can also simply copy á from the a with accent page if you do not want to memorize the code.
The most common letter with accent is the E with Accent.
How to Type Accented Letters on Apple iPhone and iPad
On an iPhone or iPad, you normally do not need ALT codes. Apple’s on-screen keyboard provides accented versions of many letters directly.
- Open an app where you can type, such as Messages, Notes, Mail or Safari.
- Tap the text field to display the keyboard.
- Press and hold the base letter.
- Keep holding until the accented-letter choices appear.
- Slide your finger to the accented character you want.
- Release your finger to insert the character.
For example, press and hold a to see available A variations such as à, á, â, ä, ã and other supported forms. Press and hold e to access characters such as è, é, ê and ë.
The same press-and-hold technique works for many other letters. If the particular character you need is not offered by the keyboard, copying it from the appropriate Letter Accents page is a convenient alternative. See the Letter Accents homepage or choose the relevant letter below.
How to Type Accented Letters on Mac
On macOS, many common accents can be entered with the Option key. Another convenient method is to press and hold a letter to display the available accented versions.
For example, common combinations include:
- Option + E, followed by a letter, for an acute accent such as é.
- Option + `, followed by a letter, for a grave accent such as è.
- Option + I, followed by a letter, for a circumflex such as ê.
- Option + U, followed by a letter, for a diaeresis such as ë.
- Option + N, followed by a letter, for a tilde such as ñ.
For uncommon characters, macOS Character Viewer can also be used to find and insert Unicode characters.
Letter Accent Pages: A Through Z
Letter Accents has a dedicated page for every letter from A through Z. Each page is useful when you want to find all of the accented forms of a particular letter, copy a character, or look up typing information.
- a with accent
- accented b
- c accent
- d with accent
- e with accent
- f with accent
- g with accent
- h with accent
- i with accent
- j with accent
- k with accent
- l with accent
- m with accent
- n with accent
- o with accent
- p with accent
- q with accent
- r with accent
- s with accent
- t with accent
- u with accent
- v with accent
- w with accent
- x with accent
- y with accent
- z with accent
Popular Accented Letters to Copy
Here are some of the accented characters people commonly need:
A: à á â ã ä å ā ă ą ǎ
C: ç ć ĉ ċ č
E: è é ê ë ē ĕ ė ę ě
I: ì í î ï ĩ ī ĭ į
N: ñ ń ņ ň ǹ ṅ
O: ò ó ô õ ö ō ŏ ő ơ
S: ś ŝ ş š ș
U: ù ú û ü ũ ū ŭ ů ű
Y: ý ÿ ŷ ȳ ỳ
Z: ź ż ž ẑ
Why Use an Accented Letter?
Accents can be important because removing a diacritic may change the pronunciation, spelling, or meaning of a word. They are particularly important when writing people’s names, geographic names, foreign-language words, quotations and multilingual content.
For example, cafe and café differ in spelling, while senor and señor are not interchangeable in Spanish. Similarly, names such as Dvořák, François, Łódź and Müller contain characters that should be preserved when the correct spelling is important.
ALT Codes vs. Copy and Paste vs. iPhone
| Method | Best for | How it works |
|---|---|---|
| Windows ALT codes | Frequent Windows users | Hold Alt and enter the character’s numeric code using the numeric keypad. |
| iPhone/iPad | Apple mobile devices | Press and hold the base letter and select the accented version. |
| Mac | Mac keyboard users | Use Option-key combinations, press-and-hold accents, or Character Viewer. |
| Copy and paste | Occasional or uncommon characters | Copy the required character from the appropriate Letter Accents page. |
Find Every Letter Accent in One Place
If you need an accented letter but do not know its keyboard shortcut, start with the Letter Accents homepage. From there, you can browse the alphabet and open the dedicated page for the letter you need.
The individual pages are especially useful for less common characters because they collect the available accented forms of a letter in one place instead of requiring you to search for each character separately.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I copy an accented letter?
Open the Letter Accents homepage or the appropriate letter page, find the character you need, copy it, and paste it wherever you need it.
How do I type accents on an iPhone?
Press and hold the base letter on the iPhone keyboard. When the accented choices appear, slide to the character you want and release.
How do I type accents on an iPad?
The standard iPad on-screen keyboard works similarly: press and hold the base letter, select the accented character, and release.
How do I type accented letters on Windows?
For characters supported by the Windows ALT-code system, hold Alt, enter the numeric code on the numeric keypad, and release Alt. For other Unicode characters, copying from a character reference page can be simpler.
Where can I find ALT codes for a particular letter?
Open the corresponding Letter Accents page. The dedicated pages provide the accented characters for that letter along with typing information and character codes.
What if I cannot find an accent on my keyboard?
Use the Letter Accents homepage or one of the A–Z pages to locate and copy the character. This is particularly useful for uncommon accented letters that are not available through a normal keyboard shortcut.
Complete A–Z Letter Accent Directory
Use these pages to go directly to the letter you need:
Conclusion
There are several simple ways to enter letters with accents. Windows users can use ALT codes for supported characters, Mac users can use Option shortcuts or the press-and-hold character picker, and iPhone and iPad users can press and hold a letter on the on-screen keyboard. When you need an uncommon character or simply want the quickest solution, copying and pasting from Letter Accents is an easy alternative.
For a complete collection of accented characters and links to the individual A–Z pages, visit the Letter Accents homepage.
