How to Type Accents on Windows (4 Ways)

Windows gives you four reliable ways to type accented letters: switch to the US-International keyboard layout and use dead keys, use Alt codes on the numeric keypad, pick characters from the emoji and symbol panel with Windows + ., or type a Unicode code point in Microsoft Word and press Alt + X. Copy one now if you are in a hurry:

Which method is best depends on how often you need accents. If you write in Spanish, French, German or Portuguese every day, install US-International once and never think about it again. If you need é twice a month, an Alt code or the symbol panel is less disruptive. Both approaches are covered below, along with the traps each one has.

Method 1: the US-International keyboard layout

This is the method serious multilingual typists use. US-International keeps every key exactly where it is on a normal US keyboard, but turns five punctuation keys into dead keys: keys that do not print anything on their own and instead add an accent to the letter you type next.

Adding the layout

The layout ships with Windows, so nothing needs downloading. Open Settings and go to your language settings — on Windows 11 that is Time & language > Language & region, and on Windows 10 it is Time & Language > Language. Open the options for English (United States), choose Add a keyboard, and pick United States-International. The wording moves between Windows versions, but the path is always Settings, then language, then the keyboard list for that language.

Once it is installed, a language button appears in the taskbar next to the clock. Windows + Space cycles between your installed layouts, so you can flip to US-International for one paragraph and back again.

Using the dead keys

Press the dead key, release it, then press the letter. Nothing appears until the second key.

Capitals work the same way: press the dead key, then Shift + the letter, for É or Ñ. The acute dead key also produces the cedilla when followed by c, giving ç. If you press a dead key followed by a letter that has no accented form — ' then t, say — Windows simply prints both characters, so you are never stuck.

The apostrophe problem, and how to fix it

This is the one thing that puts people off US-International, and it has a one-key solution. Because the apostrophe and quotation mark are now dead keys, typing don't gives you don followed by a pause, and then the t appears with nothing before it, or the apostrophe jumps onto the next vowel.

Press the spacebar after the dead key to get the plain punctuation mark. So:

• ' then Space gives a plain apostrophe '
• " then Space gives a plain quotation mark "
• ` then Space gives a plain backtick `
• ^ then Space gives a plain caret ^
• ~ then Space gives a plain tilde ~

It takes about a day to become automatic. There is one practical exception worth knowing: the apostrophe followed by a consonant that takes no accent already prints normally, so most of the time don't types itself correctly anyway. The spacebar rule matters most in code, where ' and " are followed by letters that do accept accents.

The right Alt key (AltGr) also produces extra characters on this layout. Rather than memorize a list, open the On-Screen Keyboard (search for it in the Start menu) and hold AltGr — the display updates to show exactly what each key will produce on your machine.

Method 2: Alt codes

Alt codes need no setup but need a numeric keypad. Turn on Num Lock, hold Alt, type the number on the keypad, release Alt. The number row above the letters does not work. Where two codes are listed, both produce the same character; the shorter one comes from code page 437 and the leading-zero one from Windows-1252, and some programs accept only the second.

The Alt code finder has the rest, including the circumflex and diaeresis versions of every vowel, ø, å, æ and œ.

Method 3: the emoji and symbol panel

Press Windows + . (or Windows + ;) to open the panel, then switch to the Symbols tab — the one marked with a Greek omega. Accented Latin letters are grouped there alongside punctuation, currency and math signs. Click a character and it drops into your text at the cursor.

This needs no keypad and no layout change, which makes it the right answer on a laptop when you need a single accent and nothing more. Windows Character Map (search the Start menu for Character Map, or run charmap) does the same job with a search box, which is quicker when you know the character’s name.

Method 4: Word’s Alt+X

In Microsoft Word, type the hexadecimal code point and press Alt + X immediately afterwards. Word replaces the code with the character:

• 00E9 then Alt + X gives é
• 00F1 then Alt + X gives ñ
• 00FC then Alt + X gives ü

The shortcut toggles, so pressing Alt + X with the cursor after an existing character turns it back into its code — a fast way to identify an accent someone else typed. Word’s Insert > Symbol > More Symbols dialog reaches the same characters if you would rather browse. Outside Word, Alt+X does not exist; the other three methods do.

Picking the right method

Why it is not working

• The Alt code does nothing. Num Lock is off, or you used the top-row numbers. On laptops with an embedded keypad, hold Fn as well. Browsers and chat apps are the most likely places for a code to fail — try the leading-zero version.
• The dead key prints the punctuation instead of accenting. You are still on the standard US layout. Check the language button in the taskbar, or press Windows + Space to switch.
• Your quotation marks are behaving oddly. That is US-International working as designed. Add a space after the apostrophe or quote mark to get the plain character.
• The whole keyboard moved. You installed a national layout, not US-International. US-International keeps every key in its usual place; a Spanish or German layout does not.
• The letter shows as a box. The font lacks that glyph. This is unusual for accented Latin letters and usually points to a decorative or icon font.
• Accents vanish when saving or uploading. The receiving system is storing text in a legacy encoding rather than UTF-8.

Language-specific guides

Each language has its own habits, its own capital-letter conventions and its own set of characters that Windows does not make obvious:

• Spanish accents — á é í ó ú, ñ, ü, and the inverted ¿ and ¡.
• French accents — the grave, circumflex and cedilla, plus œ and the guillemets.
• German umlauts — ä ö ü and the eszett ß.
• Every accented e — é è ê ë in one place, the single most searched accent of all.

The complete set, with code points and HTML entities for each one, is in the accented letters category. If you would rather not type at all, the accent keyboard lets you build a line of text by clicking characters and copy the result in one go.

Frequently asked questions

How do I type é on a Windows laptop with no numeric keypad?

Use the emoji and symbol panel: press Windows + ., open the Symbols tab and pick the character. Installing the US-International layout is the better long-term fix, since it needs no keypad either — ' then e gives é.

Does the US-International layout change where the letters are?

No. Every letter, number and symbol stays exactly where it is on a US keyboard. The only change is that five punctuation keys become dead keys, and the right Alt key gains extra characters.

How do I type a normal apostrophe after installing US-International?

Press the apostrophe key and then the spacebar. The same rule applies to the quotation mark, backtick, caret and tilde.

Do Alt codes work in every program?

No. They are most reliable in desktop applications such as Word and Notepad, and least reliable in browsers and some chat clients. If a code fails, try the leading-zero form, then fall back on the symbol panel.

Is there a difference between Windows 10 and Windows 11 for this?

Not in what the methods do. Alt codes, dead keys, the symbol panel and Alt+X behave identically. Only the Settings menu wording and layout differ, so the path to Add a keyboard looks slightly different on each version.