How to type accents in Microsoft Word (shortcuts and Alt+X)
Word's built-in accent shortcuts for é, ñ, ç, ü and ß, plus Alt+X for any Unicode letter, Insert Symbol, AutoCorrect and what changes in Excel and PowerPoint.
Updated · 6 min read
Word is the one application with a full accent system of its own, which means you never need the numeric keypad inside it. That matters because Windows Alt codes only work on a real numeric keypad with Num Lock switched on, and most laptops no longer have one. The shortcuts below come straight from Microsoft’s own documentation and have been checked row by row.
The Ctrl shortcuts
The pattern is always the same: press the combination, release it completely, then type the letter. Type a capital letter for the capital form.
| Result | Press, then the letter |
|---|---|
| à è ì ò ù | Ctrl and backtick |
| á é í ó ú ý | Ctrl+' |
| â ê î ô û | Ctrl+Shift+^ |
| ã ñ õ | Ctrl+Shift+~ |
| ä ë ï ö ü ÿ | Ctrl+Shift+: |
So é is Ctrl+' then e, and Ñ is Ctrl+Shift+~ then N. On a US keyboard the symbols in that table are shifted characters, so ^ is Shift+6, ~ is Shift and backtick, and : is Shift+;. In practice you are holding Ctrl and Shift and pressing the unshifted key.
Several letters have their own combination rather than belonging to an accent family.
| Character | Press | Then |
|---|---|---|
| å | Ctrl+Shift+@ | a |
| æ | Ctrl+Shift+& | a |
| œ | Ctrl+Shift+& | o |
| ß | Ctrl+Shift+& | s |
| ç | Ctrl+, | c |
| ð | Ctrl+' | d |
| ø | Ctrl+/ | o |
| ¿ | Alt+Ctrl+Shift+? | |
| ¡ | Alt+Ctrl+Shift+! |
That set covers Spanish, French, Italian, Portuguese and German in full. It does not cover Polish, Czech, Turkish or Hungarian, which is what the next method is for.
Alt+X: any character, from its number
Type a Unicode hex code and press Alt+X. Word replaces the code with the character in place. Press Alt+X again and it toggles back to the code, which is a useful way to check what a mysterious character actually is.
| Character | Type | Character | Type |
|---|---|---|---|
| ł | 0142 | č | 010D |
| ą | 0105 | ř | 0159 |
| ę | 0119 | ě | 011B |
| ć | 0107 | ů | 016F |
| ś | 015B | ő | 0151 |
| ż | 017C | ű | 0171 |
| ń | 0144 | ğ | 011F |
| ź | 017A | ı | 0131 |
| ș | 0219 | ă | 0103 |
| ț | 021B | đ | 0111 |
The ordinary letters have codes too, so 00E9 then Alt+X gives é and 00F1 gives ñ.
There is one gotcha. Word grabs as many hex-looking characters before the cursor as it can, so if the code follows a digit or a letter A to F you may get the wrong character. Microsoft’s own fix is to prefix the code with U+: typing 1U+B5 and pressing Alt+X reliably gives 1µ, whereas 1B5 and Alt+X gives a completely different letter. Selecting just the code before pressing Alt+X works too.
Alt+X is available in Word, classic Outlook, OneNote, Publisher and Visio. It is not available in Excel or PowerPoint.
Insert Symbol, and how to read the dialogue
Go to Insert, then Symbol, then More Symbols. Scroll or pick a subset, click a character and press Insert.
The part people miss is the bottom of that dialogue. There is a Character code box and a from dropdown next to it. If the dropdown says Unicode (hex), the number shown is the one to use with Alt+X. If it says Symbol (decimal) or ASCII, the number is the one to use with Alt and the numeric keypad. That single field tells you which method applies to any character in the list.
Two buttons in the same dialogue are worth knowing. Shortcut Key lets you assign your own combination to a character you use constantly. AutoCorrect creates a text replacement, so you can make e/ turn into é automatically as you type. AutoCorrect entries are shared across Office, so one entry covers Word, Outlook and PowerPoint.
Word for Mac
None of the Ctrl combinations above exist on the Mac; Microsoft’s international characters documentation has no Mac section at all. Neither does Alt+X. What you use instead is the macOS system method, which works inside Word because the operating system composes the character before Word ever sees it: Option+E then e for é, Option+N then n for ñ, Option+C for ç. The full set is in How to type accents on a Mac (Option key and press-and-hold).
Three Word for Mac specifics. Typing (c) autocorrects to the copyright sign, Option+R gives the registered sign and Option+2 gives the trademark sign. Option+Space is a nonbreaking space. And watch out for Shift+Option with the minus key: outside Word that is the em dash, but inside Word it is remapped to a nonbreaking hyphen. Use Insert then Advanced Symbol, or let AutoFormat convert two hyphens between words.
What works where in Office
| App | Ctrl accent shortcuts | Alt+X | Alt codes on the keypad |
|---|---|---|---|
| Word | yes | yes | yes |
| Classic Outlook | yes | yes | yes |
| New Outlook for Windows | no | no | yes |
| Excel | no | no | yes |
| PowerPoint | no | no | yes |
| OneNote, Publisher, Visio | no | yes | yes |
New Outlook for Windows dropped the accent shortcuts, and Ctrl+/ now toggles a numbered list rather than producing ø. Microsoft’s guidance there is to use Alt codes. If you have the US-International layout installed, AltGr+L gives ø and Shift+AltGr+L gives the capital.
Excel has neither method. Alt codes work in cells, but only values up to 255, because Excel’s parser is eight bit. For anything beyond that use =UNICHAR(233) to get é or =UNICHAR(322) to get ł, then copy and paste the result as a value. Insert then Symbol also works.
PowerPoint has neither. Microsoft’s own Alt+X page states that PowerPoint cannot convert Unicode codes to characters. Use Alt codes, Insert then Symbol, the Win+. panel or AutoCorrect entries created under File, then Options, then Proofing.
A faster habit than any of these
If you write in an accented language every day, install the US-International keyboard layout and forget the app-specific shortcuts entirely. The apostrophe becomes an acute dead key and the right Alt key becomes a second layer, and it behaves identically in Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, your browser and everything else. The US International keyboard layout explained walks through the setup and the one habit you need to unlearn.
Related guides
How to type accents on Windows (Alt codes and layouts) covers the operating system methods that work everywhere including inside Word, and Alt codes for accented letters: the complete verified list is the full verified code reference. How to type accents on a laptop without a numeric keypad is for laptops without a keypad. How to type accents in Google Docs covers the equivalent in Docs, which has no shortcut of its own. For developers exporting from Word to the web, HTML entity, Unicode and CSS codes for accented letters lists the entity forms, and Remove accents from text strips accents when a downstream system cannot handle them. Every shortcut on this page was verified against Microsoft’s published documentation and the underlying code page tables.
FAQ
What is the Word shortcut for é?
Press Ctrl and the apostrophe together, release both, then press E. The same shortcut followed by A, I, O or U gives á, í, ó and ú.
Does Alt+X work in Excel and PowerPoint?
No. Microsoft's own documentation says PowerPoint cannot convert Unicode codes to characters, and Alt+X does not work inside Excel cells either. Use Alt codes or Insert Symbol in those apps.
Why have the accent shortcuts stopped working in Outlook?
The new Outlook for Windows dropped them. Ctrl and the forward slash now toggles a numbered list instead of producing ø. Use Alt codes, the US-International layout or the Win+. panel there.
How do I type Polish ł or Czech ř in Word?
Type the Unicode number and press Alt+X. 0142 then Alt+X gives ł, and 0159 then Alt+X gives ř. These letters have no Windows Alt code.
Do the Ctrl shortcuts work in Word for Mac?
No. The Ctrl combinations are Windows only. On a Mac use the Option key dead keys, such as Option and E followed by the letter.
By language: Spanish, French, German, Portuguese, Polish