3 ways to Insert or Type Accents in Google Docs (Letters with Accent Marks)
An Accent is a diacritical mark used to indicate stress or placed below or above a letter (or a vowel) to indicate a special pronunciation.
Due to improved keyboard controls on devices, typing or putting accents on letters (accented letters) becomes very easy.
Whether using a desktop (be it Windows or Mac), laptop, or even a mobile device, you can easily type accents in Google Docs with some cool tricks and techniques you’ll learn in this article.
Some specialized keyboards allow you to type these accented letters easily.
However, if you don’t use these special Accent keyboards, you’ll need some of the techniques in this article to type any letter with an accent in Google Docs on any device.
Without further ado, let’s get started.
How To Insert Accents in Google Docs using the ‘Special Characters’ tool (for both Windows and Mac)
One of the easy ways you can use to get accents in Google Docs is the ‘Special Characters’ tool.
The special characters tool allows Google docs users to insert any symbol into documents, including accented letters and many other special symbols.
Obey the instructions below to insert Accents in Google docs using this Special Character’s tool.
- Open the Google docs where you want to insert the Accent.
- Go to Insert > Special Characters.
3. The ‘Special Character’ window will Appear. Search for the Accent name in the search bar. For instance, if you want to insert ‘e with grave,’ type that in the search bar as seen in the screenshot below.
4. Alternatively, use the drawing pad below the search bar to draw the accent you want to insert.
5. After locating the character, simply double-click on it to insert it into your Google docs.
These are the steps you may use to insert Symbols and Accents in Google docs.
This process may look tedious for some. That’s why we included shortcuts for all the accented letters.
So if you happen to use a particular accented letter, all you need to do is take note of the shortcut and use it as and when the need arises.
How To Type Accents in Google Docs (On Windows)
There are several approaches to typing or inserting accented letters into Google Docs using a Windows PC or Laptop.
Since these characters are not readily available on the keyboard, using their alt codes is the simplest way to type them on Windows.
In this section, I’ll show you how to type accents in windows using the characters’ alt codes.
Using the Accents Alt Code Shortcuts
Each accented letter has an alt code which you can use to type it on Google Docs using your Windows PC. You’ll learn the alt code to all the accented characters in a moment. For now, let’s look at the steps.
To type letters with accents in Google Docs, obey the following instruction:
- Open your Google Docs.
- Identify the alt code of the accented letter you want to type. The alt codes are listed just below these instructions.
- Turn on your Num Lock. Press Fn+NmLk to enable the Num Lock on laptops without the numeric keypad.
- Hold down the Alt key on your keyboard.
- Whilst still holding on to the Alt key, press the character’s alt code.
- For example, to type e with an acute accent (é), press and hold the Alt key, then type the alt code 0233 on the numeric keypad.
- Now release the Alt key.
You should see the accented letter inserted into your Google Docs document as soon as you release the Alt key.
Below are the alt codes for the various accented letters.
Letters with Acute accents Alt Codes In Google Docs
| Description | Symbol | Alt Codes |
| A acute – Uppercase | Á | Alt 0193 |
| a acute – Lowercase | á | Alt 0225 |
| E acute – Uppercase | É | Alt 0201 |
| e acute – Lowercase | é | Alt 0233 |
| I acute – Uppercase | Í | Alt 0205 |
| i acute – Lowercase | í | Alt 0237 |
| O acute – Uppercase | Ó | Alt 0211 |
| o acute – Lowercase | ó | Alt 0243 |
| U acute – Uppercase | Ú | Alt 0218 |
| u acute – Lowercase | ú | Alt 0250 |
| Y acute – Uppercase | Ý | Alt 0221 |
| y acute – Lowercase | ý | Alt 0253 |
Letters with Grave accents Alt Codes In Google Docs
| Description | Symbol | Alt Codes |
| A grave – Uppercase | À | Alt 0192 |
| a grave – Lowercase | à | Alt 0224 |
| E grave – Uppercase | È | Alt 0200 |
| e grave – Lowercase | è | Alt 0232 |
| I grave – Uppercase | Ì | Alt 0204 |
| i grave – Lowercase | ì | Alt 0236 |
| O grave – Uppercase | Ò | Alt 0210 |
| o grave – Lowercase | ò | Alt 0242 |
| U grave – Uppercase | Ù | Alt 0217 |
| u grave – Lowercase | ù | Alt 0249 |
Letters with Circumflex accents Alt Codes In Google Docs
| Description | Symbol | Alt Codes |
| A circumflex – Uppercase | Â | Alt 0194 |
| a circumflex – Lowercase | â | Alt 0226 |
| E circumflex – Uppercase | Ê | Alt 0202 |
| e circumflex – Lowercase | ê | Alt 0234 |
| I circumflex – Uppercase | Î | Alt 0206 |
| i circumflex – Lowercase | î | Alt 0238 |
| O circumflex – Uppercase | Ô | Alt 0212 |
| o circumflex – Lowercase | ô | Alt 0244 |
| U circumflex – Uppercase | Û | Alt 0219 |
| u circumflex – Lowercase | û | Alt 0251 |
Letters with Tilde accents Alt Codes In Google Docs
| Description | Symbol | Alt Codes |
| A tilde – Uppercase | Ã | Alt 0195 |
| a tilde – Lowercase | ã | Alt 0227 |
| N tilde – Uppercase | Ñ | Alt 165 |
| n tilde – Lowercase | ñ | Alt 164 |
| O tilde – Uppercase | Õ | Alt 0213 |
| o tilde – Lowercase | õ | Alt 0245 |
Letters with Umlaut Accents Alt Codes In Google Docs
| Description | Symbol | Alt Codes |
| A umlaut – Uppercase | Ä | Alt 0196 |
| a umlaut – Lowercase | ä | Alt 0228 |
| E umlaut – Uppercase | Ë | Alt 0203 |
| e umlaut – Lowercase | ë | Alt 0235 |
| I umlaut – Uppercase | Ï | Alt 0207 |
| i umlaut – Lowercase | ï | Alt 0239 |
| O umlaut – Uppercase | Ö | Alt 0214 |
| o umlaut – Lowercase | ö | Alt 0246 |
| U umlaut – Uppercase | Ü | Alt 0220 |
| u umlaut – Lowercase | ü | Alt 0252 |
| Y umlaut – Uppercase | Ÿ | Alt 0159 |
| y umlaut – Lowercase | ÿ | Alt 0255 |
Note: Using the alt code approach means that you have a lot to learn. And as we all know, learning these alt codes will take a lot of practice as there are many alt codes to remember. However, you can create and print a cheat sheet for quick reference if you happen to type accents frequently.
How to type Accents in Google Docs (on Mac)
Typing accents in Google Docs on Mac is a lot easier with shortcuts. There are some combinations of keys for typing any accented letter on Mac. Let’s look at how to use each of these shortcuts.
Typing Letters with grave accents in Google Docs on Mac
Obey the following steps to type any letter with the grave accent mark on top of it:
- Open your Google Docs document.
- Press [Option]+[`] on your keyboard.
- Then press the letter to be accented.
For example, to type è (e with the grave accent), press and hold [OPTION], then press the [`] grave accent key. Release the two keys and then type [e]. The ‘e’ with grave should be inserted into your work. The same technique can be used to type à, ì, ò and ù.
The [`] mark is called the grave accent, and the key for typing this mark is the key on top of the [Tab] key and before the [1] key.
Letters with grave accent shortcuts are listed in the table below:
| Symbol | Description | Shortcut on Mac |
| à | a grave | [OPTION]+[`] then a |
| è | e grave | [OPTION]+[`] then e |
| ì | i grave | [OPTION]+[`] then i |
| ò | o grave | [OPTION]+[`] then o |
| ù | u grave | [OPTION]+[`] then u |
Typing Letters with acute accents on Mac
Obey the following steps to type any letter with the acute accent mark on top of it:
- First of all, press [Option]+[e] on your keyboard.
- Then press the letter to be accented.
For example, to type é (e with the acute accent), press and hold OPTION, then press the e key. Release the two keys and then type e. The letter é should be inserted for you. The same technique can be used to type á, í, í, ó, ú and ý.
Letters with acute accent shortcuts are listed in the table below:
| Symbol | Description | Shortcut on Mac |
| á | a acute | [OPTION]+[e] then a |
| é | e acute | [OPTION]+[e] then e |
| í | i acute | [OPTION]+[e] then i |
| ó | o acute | [OPTION]+[e] then o |
| ú | u acute | [OPTION]+[e] then u |
| ý | y acute | [OPTION]+[e] then y |
Typing Letters with circumflex accents on Mac
Obey the following steps to type any letter with the circumflex accent mark on top of it:
- First of all, press [Option]+[i] on your keyboard.
- Then press the letter to be accented.
For example, to type ê (e with the circumflex accent), press and hold the [OPTION] key, then press the [i] key. Release the two keys and then type e. The letter ê should be inserted into your work. The same technique can be used to type â, î, ô and û.
Letters with circumflex accent shortcuts are listed in the table below:
| Symbol | Description | Shortcut on Mac |
| â | a circumflex | [OPTION]+[i] then a |
| ê | e circumflex | [OPTION]+[i] then e |
| î | i circumflex | [OPTION]+[i] then i |
| ô | o circumflex | [OPTION]+[i] then o |
| û | u circumflex | [OPTION]+[i] then u |
Typing Letters with the tilde accents on Mac
Obey the following steps to type any letter with the tilde accent mark on top of it:
- First of all, press [Option]+[n] on your keyboard.
- Then press the letter to be accented.
For example, to type ã (a with the tilde accent), press and hold the [OPTION] key, then press the [n] key. Release the two keys and then type a. The letter ã should be inserted into your work. The same technique can be used to type ñ and õ.
Letters with tilde accent shortcuts for Mac are listed in the table below:
| Symbol | Description | Shortcut on Mac |
| ã | a tilde | [OPTION]+[n] then a |
| ñ | n tilde | [OPTION]+[n] then n |
| õ | o tilde | [OPTION]+[n] then o |
Letters with umlaut accents on Mac
Obey the following steps to type any letter with the umlaut accent mark on top of it:
- First of all, press [Option]+[u] on your keyboard.
- Then press the letter to be accented.
For example, to type ë (e with the umlaut accent), press and hold the [OPTION] key, then press the [u] key. Release the two keys and then type e. The letter ë should be inserted into your work. The same technique can be used to type ä, ï, ö, ü and ÿ.
Letters with umlaut accent shortcuts are listed in the table below:
| Symbol | Description | Shortcut on Mac |
| ä | a umlaut | [OPTION]+[u] then a |
| ë | e umlaut | [OPTION]+[u] then e |
| ï | i umlaut | [OPTION]+[u] then i |
| ö | o umlaut | [OPTION]+[u] then o |
| ü | u umlaut | [OPTION]+[u] then u |
| ÿ | y umlaut | [OPTION]+[u] then y |
These are the easy ways to type letters with accents in Google docs for Mac.
Conclusion
Thanks so much for taking the time to read up to this point. I hope you learned.
You can save this page as a reference page and return to it whenever you need to type Accents in Google Docs and don’t know how.
Let me know in the comments section below which method worked best for you.