Want to prove your über-prowess with the German language (writing, e.g., Änderungsschneiderei)? Find out here how to type umlauts on Windows (including umlaut shortcuts you can use to quickly type ö, ä, and ü even on a laptop keyboard).
First, Another Way to Write Börd
Bird is among the English words that do contain an umlaut, at least a spoken one.
For the ‘i’ in bird comes deceptively close in pronunciation to the German umlaut o. That umlaut o character did develop from an i brightening an o that came immediately before it in many a Middle High German word, of course.
Either way, let’s turn to actually writing boir… börd:
How to Type Umlauts on a Windows Keyboard
Easy: Using the U.S.-International Keyboard Layout
Time needed: 2 minutes
To enter the umlauts ä, ö and ü using Windows 11 and Windows 10 using any desktop or laptop keyboard:
- Do enable and switch to the United States-International keyboard layout.
How to switch: After you have added the U.S.-International keyboard layout, press Space while holding the Windows key until United States-International appears for the desired input language in the menu.
Vanilla U.S. keyboard: Using the plain U.S. keyboard layout for Windows, entering umlauts is less than straight forward; you can use the Unicode for the occasional umlaut (see below) or, perhaps better, copy and paste. - Press ".
- Now press the character to which you want to add the umlauts, A, a, O, o, U or u.
Almost as Easy: Using PowerToys Quick Accent
To type accented letters—including umlauts—swiftly on Windows using PowerToys Quick Accent:
- Enable Quick Accent. (See below.)
- Type the letter you want to turn into an umlaut, hold the key and immediately press Space.
Other keys: The right (→) and left arrow (←) keys also work by default (instead of Space).
Example: To typeö, press and hold O, then press Space. - Press Space (while you keep the letter’s key pressed) until the desired umlaut character highlights.
- Release the letter key to insert the umlaut.
More diacritics: How to Type Accents on Windows
Add and Enable Quick Accent with Microsoft PowerToys
To enable Quick Accent for Windows 11:
- Install Microsoft Windows PowerToys from Microsoft Store.
Winget: You can also runwinget install Microsoft.PowerToysin a Terminal window to install PowerToys using the Windows package manager - Open PowerToys.
- Select Quick Accent.
- Turn on Enable Quick Accent.
Cumbersome: Using Alt-Numpad Umlaut Keyboard Shortcuts
You can also type umlauts with a number; to enter ä, ö and ü using the Alt key and the number keyboard on Windows:
- Enable the numeric keypad.
The key: Press NumLock. - Press and hold the Alt key.
- Enter the number corresponding to the desired umlaut from the table just below.
Example: Forö, press 0 2 4 6. - Release the Alt key.
| Character | Umlaut | Umlaut Alt Key |
|---|---|---|
| a umlaut | ä | 0228 |
| A umlaut | Ä | 0196 |
| u umlaut | ü | 0252 |
| U umlaut | Ü | 0220 |
| o umlaut | ö | 0246 |
| O umlaut | Ö | 0214 |
In Microsoft Office for Windows
In Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and other apps in the Office family, you can use a special keyboard shortcut as well as the Symbols dialog to insert umlauts.
One-Off: Copy and Paste Umlauts
You can, of course, also copy and paste any umlaut character from here; use this table:
| Character | Umlaut |
|---|---|
| a umlaut | |
| A umlaut | |
| u umlaut | |
| U umlaut | |
| o umlaut | |
| O umlaut |
How to Type Umlauts on a Windows Keyboard: FAQ
My font does not support umlauts; what can I do?
If you have no access to the keyboard shortcuts or the US-International keyboard layout, and if even copying and pasting does not work because you use a font that will not display umlaut characters correctly, use the following substitutes:
| Character | Umlaut | ASCII Substitute |
|---|---|---|
| a umlaut | ä | ae |
| A umlaut | Ä | Ae |
| u umlaut | ü | ue |
| U umlaut | Ü | Ue |
| o umlaut | ö | oe |
| O umlaut | Ö | Oe |
Ligatures: German does not use æ and œ, for instance, as substitutes for umlauts. Such ligatures appear as their own characters in languages such as French, Danish, and Norwegian.
Finnish and Estonian: In these languages, ä, ö and ü cannot be substituted with their ASCII equivalents.
(How to type umlauts using the keyboard (including laptop keyboards) tested with Windows 11 Version 22H2–23H2 and Windows 10; first published September 2021, last updated October 2024)