How to Type Spanish Accents and ¿ ¡ on Any Keyboard

Quick answer: On a Mac, press Option + E then a vowel for á é í ó ú, Option + N then N for ñ, Option + Shift + / for ¿ and Option + 1 for ¡. On Windows, switch to the US-International layout and type ' before a vowel, or use Alt codes like Alt + 0225 for á. Copy them here:

áa with Acute (á)U+E1CopyDetails
ée with Acute (é)U+E9CopyDetails
íi with Acute (í)U+EDCopyDetails
óo with Acute (ó)U+F3CopyDetails
úu with Acute (ú)U+FACopyDetails
ñn with Tilde (ñ)U+F1CopyDetails
¿Inverted Question MarkU+BFCopyDetails
¡Inverted Exclamation MarkU+A1CopyDetails

Spanish needs only a small set of special characters: the five vowels with an acute accent (á, é, í, ó, ú), ü, ñ, and the inverted punctuation marks ¿ and ¡. If you only need them now and then, open the SymbolHero Accent Keyboard, type your sentence, click the Spanish letters where they belong, and copy the result. If you write Spanish every day, set up one of the keyboard methods below; it takes two minutes.

Spanish accent marks: every shortcut

Capitals: on a Mac and with US-International, hold Shift on the letter. The Windows Alt codes for capitals are 0193 (Á), 0201 (É), 0205 (Í), 0211 (Ó), 0218 (Ú), 0220 (Ü) and 0209 (Ñ). All Alt codes are typed on the numeric keypad while holding Alt; codes with a leading zero come from Windows-1252 and three-digit codes from the DOS code page 437. Search any of them in the Alt code finder.

How to type Spanish accents on Windows

US-International layout

This is the method most bilingual typists use on a US keyboard. After you add the United States-International layout, a few keys wait for the next letter instead of typing immediately:

• ' (apostrophe) + vowel: á, é, í, ó, ú
• Shift + ` (~) + N: ñ
• Shift + ' (") + U: ü
• Right Alt + /: ¿ and Right Alt + 1: ¡

The right Alt key also types the accented vowels in one step (Right Alt + A = á, and so on for e, i, o, u) and Right Alt + N = ñ. To type a plain apostrophe or quotation mark, press the key followed by Space.

To add the layout: open Settings, go to Time & language > Language & region, open your language’s options, and add the United States-International keyboard. Press Windows + Space to switch between layouts.

Spanish or Latin American layout

If you write mostly in Spanish, Windows also offers Spanish and Latin American layouts with a physical ñ key and dedicated keys for ¿, ¡ and the accent. They move several punctuation keys, so try them before committing.

Alt codes and built-in pickers

With a numeric keypad, Alt codes from the table work in almost every program. Without one, press Windows + . and use the Symbols tab, or copy characters from Character Map.

How to type Spanish accents on a Mac

The US Mac keyboard already includes everything Spanish needs:

1. For an accented vowel, press Option + E, release, then type the vowel.
2. For ñ, press Option + N, release, then type N.
3. For ü, press Option + U, release, then type U.
4. For ¿ press Option + Shift + /; for ¡ press Option + 1.

Hold Shift on the letter in step 1–3 for a capital. You can also press and hold any vowel or N to pick the accented version from a popup.

Word, Google Docs, and phones

• Microsoft Word: type the code point and press Alt + X: 00E1 á, 00E9 é, 00ED í, 00F3 ó, 00FA ú, 00F1 ñ, 00BF ¿, 00A1 ¡. Word’s Spanish proofing tools can also suggest missing accents if you set the document language to Spanish.
• Google Docs: Insert > Special characters, then search “inverted question” or “a acute”.
• iPhone and Android: press and hold a vowel or n for accented versions. Hold ? and ! on the symbols keyboard for ¿ and ¡. Adding a Spanish keyboard enables Spanish autocorrect, which adds most accents automatically.

When Spanish uses accent marks

This guide is about typing, but a quick refresher helps explain why the accents matter:

• Stress: the written accent (tilde) marks a stressed syllable that breaks the default stress rules, as in canción, árbol and teléfono.
• Meaning: some pairs of words are told apart only by the accent: tú (you) / tu (your), sí (yes) / si (if), él (he) / el (the).
• Questions and exclamations: question words take an accent (¿Qué?, ¿Dónde?, ¿Cómo?).
• ü (diéresis): used in güe and güi to show the u is pronounced, as in pingüino and vergüenza.
• Capitals keep their accents: the Real Academia Española says accents should be written on capital letters too (Álvaro, ÉXITO).

Using ¿ and ¡ correctly

Spanish opens questions and exclamations with an inverted mark and closes them with the normal one: ¿Cómo estás?, ¡Qué bien!. The opening mark goes where the question or exclamation actually starts, which is not always the start of the sentence: Si llueve, ¿vienes?. Both marks are separate Unicode characters: ¿ is U+00BF (INVERTED QUESTION MARK) and ¡ is U+00A1 (INVERTED EXCLAMATION MARK). Don’t substitute an upside-down symbol from another script; screen readers and search engines won’t treat it as punctuation.

Troubleshooting

• Alt codes type nothing: use the numeric keypad with Num Lock on, not the top number row.
• You get ‘a instead of á: the regular US layout is active; switch to US-International with Windows + Space.
• Apostrophes disappear: that’s the dead key waiting for a letter. Press Space after ' for a normal apostrophe.
• Accents show as á or ñ: the text is UTF-8 being read with a different encoding. Save and serve files as UTF-8.
• Not sure which character you pasted? Paste it into the Unicode lookup to see its exact code point.

Related characters

• Vowels: á, é, í, ó, ú, ü
• Capitals: Á, É, Í, Ó, Ú
• ñ and Ñ
• ¿ inverted question mark and ¡ inverted exclamation mark
• Spanish quotation marks: « »
• All accented letters and punctuation

FAQ

How do I type an upside-down question mark?

Mac: Option + Shift + /. Windows: Alt + 0191 on the keypad, or Right Alt + / with US-International. On phones, hold the ? key.

What is the Alt code for á?

Alt + 0225 (or Alt + 160). Capital Á is Alt + 0193.

Does Spanish ever use a grave accent (à)?

Not in standard modern Spanish. Spanish accent marks on vowels are always acute (á, é, í, ó, ú), plus the diaeresis on ü.

Is it wrong to leave out accents in Spanish?

In informal chat people often skip them, but in standard written Spanish accents are part of correct spelling and can change meaning.