How to Type Accents on Windows

Looking to steer clear of clichés during a tête-à-tête at the café? Better concentrate on the vis-à-vis—and on writing all those letters perhaps. Find out here how to type accents and accented letters on a Windows keyboard.

First, Reading the Ripples

Much like a butterfly’s flapped wings are pictured to change the weather in lands beyond sight, an island’s characteristic shoreline will paint a particular pattern in leeward and upwind ocean swells.

Unlike the butterfly effect, the wave shadows and refraction patterns around islands are a measure of order found in a chaotic system. Polynesian navigators have long used these signs for orientation.

Now, while you watch the clouds or seas, want to add characteristic upticks and waves to letters?

How to Type Accents on Windows

With the US-International Keyboard Layout (Fastest)

With PowerToys Quick Accent (Easiest)

To input letters with accent marks on Windows using PowerToys Quick Accent:

1. Install Microsoft PowerToys and turn on Quick Accent in it.
2. Press and hold the letter you want to insert with an accent diacritic.
   Example: Press and hold E to insert letters such as é, è or ê, for instance.
3. Now press Space immediately to bring up the Quick Accent menu.
4. Press Space until the desired accented character is highlighted.
   Finger down: Keep the letter’s key pressed all the while.
5. Release the letter (and Space) to insert the accent.
   

Other diacritics: How to Type Umlauts on a Windows Keyboard (incl. Laptop)

With Windows Alt Codes for Accents (Cumbersome and Interesting)

To input accented letters on Windows using their Alt-codes:

1. Turn on the numeric keypad.
   Here’s how: Press NumLock.
2. Press and hold Alt.
3. On the numeric keypad, enter the number corresponding to the desired letter from the table below.
   Example: For é, press 0233.
4. Release the Alt key.

Character	Accented A	Accent Alt Key
a grave	à	0224
A grave	À	0192
a acute	á	0225
A acute	Á	0193
a circumflex	â	0226
A circumflex	Â	0194
a tilde	ã	0227
A tilde	Ã	0195

Character	Accented E	Accent Alt Key
e grave	è	0224
E grave	È	0192
e acute	é	0225
E acute	É	0193
e circumflex	ê	0226
E circumflex	Ê	0194

Character	Accented I	Accent Alt Key
i grave	ì	0236
I grave	Ì	0204
i acute	í	0237
I acute	Í	0205
i circumflex	î	0238
I circumflex	Î	0206

Character	Accented N	Accent Alt Key
n tilde	ñ	0241
N tilde	Ñ	0209

Character	Accented O	Accent Alt Key
o grave	ò	0242
O grave	Ò	0210
o acute	ó	0243
O acute	Ó	0211
o circumflex	ô	0244
O circumflex	Ô	0212
o tilde	õ	0245
O tilde	Õ	0213

Character	Accented U	Accent Alt Key
u grave	ù	0249
U grave	Ù	0217
o acute	ú	0250
U acute	Ú	0218
u circumflex	û	0251
U circumflex	Û	0219

How to Type Accents on Windows: FAQ

Can I also find the accented characters using Windows Character Map

Yes.

To copy accented letters from Windows Character Map for pasting anywhere:

1. Open Character Map.
   Here’s how: Press Windows for the Start menu, for instance, and search for character map, then select the Character Map application.
2. Enable Advanced view.
3. Enter the type of accent you are looking to insert under Search for :.
   Example: Type grave to find characters with a grave accent, or circumflex for all characters with circumflex.
4. Click Search.
5. Highlight the desired accented letter in the results list.
6. Click Select.
7. Now click Copy to copy the character (from Characters to copy :) to the clipboard.
   

Can I insert an accent mark on its own?

Yes.

To input just the diacritic mark with the keyboard on Windows:

1. Switch to the US-International keyboard layout. (See above.)
2. Type the letter for the accent mark you want to enter:
   Press ` for the grave.
   Press Shift ` for the tilde.
   Press Shift 6 for the circumflex.
   Press AltGr ' for the acute.
3. Now press Space.
   Exception: The acute accent mark is directly entered with the key combination above.

(How to type accents tested with Windows 11 Version 22H2; updated April 2024)