Entering Special Characters

In Any Application

The universal way to access special characters in Windows is through the Character Map app.

  1. In the Windows search bar, start typing “character map” until it appears in the results. Then click on it.

    Windows search results for “character map”

    Initial Character Map screen, with advanced view on

In Microsoft Word

Accented Characters in Microsoft Office Applications

In any Microsoft Office application, you can use the following keyboard shortcuts to produce common accented letters.

Desired Symbol Shortcut Key Combination
à, è, ì, ò, ù, À, È, Ì, Ò, Ù Ctrl+` (accent grave), the letter
á, é, í, ó, ú, ý, Á, É, Í, Ó, Ú, Ý Ctrl+’ (apostrophe), the letter
â, ê, î, ô, û, Â, Ê, Î, Ô, Û Ctrl+Shift+^ (caret), the letter
ã, ñ, õ, Ã, Ñ, Õ Ctrl+Shift+~ (tilde), the letter
ä, ë, ï, ö, ü, ÿ, Ä, Ë, Ï, Ö, Ü, Ÿ Ctrl+Shift+: (colon), the letter
å, Å Ctrl+Shift+@ (At), a or A
æ, Æ Ctrl+Shift+& (ampersand), a or A
œ, Œ Ctrl+Shift+& (ampersand), o or O
ç, Ç Ctrl+, (comma), c or C
ð, Ð Ctrl+’ (apostrophe), d or D
ø, Ø Ctrl+/, o or O
¿ Alt+Ctrl+Shift+?
¡ Alt+Ctrl+Shift+!
ß Ctrl+Shift+&, s