How to Type ñ (n With a Tilde) on Any Device

Quick answer: On Windows, hold Alt and type 0241 on the numeric keypad for ñ (Alt + 0209 for Ñ). On a Mac, press Option + N, release, then press N. On a phone, press and hold the n key. Or copy it here:

The ñ (called eñe in Spanish) is an n with a tilde. It is a separate letter of the Spanish alphabet, placed right after n, and it spells the “ny” sound in words like año (year), mañana (tomorrow) and España. Dropping the tilde changes the word: año and ano mean very different things. The lowercase letter is Unicode U+00F1 and the capital Ñ is U+00D1. For quick one-off typing, the SymbolHero Accent Keyboard has ñ and Ñ buttons alongside every Spanish accent.

ñ and Ñ shortcuts at a glance

How to type ñ on Windows

Alt code

1. Make sure Num Lock is on.
2. Hold Alt and type 0241 on the numeric keypad.
3. Release Alt and ñ appears.

Use Alt + 0209 for Ñ. The three-digit codes Alt + 164 (ñ) and Alt + 165 (Ñ) come from the older DOS code page 437 and also work in most programs. The number keys above the letters will not work; you need the keypad. The Alt code finder lists the rest of the Spanish letters.

US-International layout (no keypad needed)

The United States-International layout is the most comfortable option if you write Spanish regularly on a laptop. The tilde key becomes a dead key: press Shift + ` to “arm” the tilde, then press N and you get ñ. With the same layout, Right Alt + N types ñ in one step. To type a plain ~ symbol, press the tilde key and then Space.

Add it in Settings under Time & language > Language & region: open the options for your language and add the United States-International keyboard. Switch layouts with Windows + Space. If you would rather have the physical Spanish arrangement (with a dedicated ñ key to the right of L), add the Spanish keyboard layout instead, but note that many punctuation keys move.

Emoji and symbol panel or Character Map

Press Windows + . and open the Symbols tab to find ñ among the Latin symbols. Or open Character Map from the Start menu, select ñ and click Copy.

How to type ñ on a Mac

1. Press Option + N. A tilde appears with a highlight.
2. Release, then press N for ñ or Shift + N for Ñ.

Alternatively, press and hold the N key until a small menu appears, then choose ñ. The same Option + N dead key also produces ã and õ for Portuguese.

How to type ñ in Word, Excel and Google Docs

• Word: type 00F1 and press Alt + X (or 00D1 for Ñ). You can also use Insert > Symbol > More Symbols.
• Excel: =UNICHAR(241) returns ñ and =UNICHAR(209) returns Ñ.
• Google Docs: Insert > Special characters, then search “n tilde”.

How to type ñ on iPhone and Android

Press and hold the n key on the on-screen keyboard. A popup shows ñ (and on some keyboards ń and other variants); slide to ñ and let go. If you add a Spanish keyboard in your phone’s settings, ñ gets its own key and autocorrect will add Spanish accents for you as well.

How to write ñ in HTML

In a UTF-8 page you can type ñ directly. Escaped forms are:

• ñ, ñ or ñ for ñ
• Ñ, Ñ or Ñ for Ñ

Need a URL-encoded or JavaScript version? Paste ñ into the Unicode converter.

ñ vs n + combining tilde

Unicode can represent ñ in two ways: as the single precomposed character U+00F1, or as a plain n followed by the combining tilde U+0303. Both look the same, but software that doesn’t normalize text may treat them as different strings, which can break searches, sorting and password fields. Keyboard shortcuts and the copy button above produce the single-character form. If a word refuses to match, paste it into the Unicode lookup to see which code points it contains.

Troubleshooting

• Alt + 0241 types nothing or the wrong thing: Num Lock is off, or you used the top row. On laptops without a keypad, use US-International or the symbol panel.
• You get ~n instead of ñ: the regular US layout is active. Switch to US-International with Windows + Space.
• Tildes and quotes behave oddly: on US-International, ~, ', ", ` and ^ wait for the next key. Press Space afterward to type the mark on its own.
• ñ shows as ñ on a web page: the text was saved as UTF-8 but read as Windows-1252 (or Latin-1). Declare <meta charset="utf-8"> and save the file as UTF-8.
• Domain names and file names: ñ is allowed in internationalized domain names and modern file systems, but some older systems still strip or reject it. Test before relying on it.

Related characters

• ñ n with tilde and Ñ capital N with tilde
• Other Spanish letters: á, é, í, ó, ú, ü
• Spanish punctuation: ¿ and ¡
• Portuguese tilde letters: ã and õ
• Browse all accented Latin letters

FAQ

What is the Alt code for ñ?

Alt + 0241 (or Alt + 164) on the numeric keypad. For Ñ, use Alt + 0209 (or Alt + 165).

What is ñ called?

In Spanish it is called eñe. In English it is usually described as “n with a tilde.” The squiggle itself is the tilde.

Is ñ a separate letter?

Yes, in Spanish ñ is its own letter of the alphabet and sorts after n in dictionaries. In Unicode it is also its own character, U+00F1.

How do I type ñ on a Chromebook?

ChromeOS offers international English keyboard layouts in its language and input settings; with one enabled, the tilde works as a dead key much like on Windows. The quickest fallback is the copy button at the top of this page or the online accent keyboard.