Writing about a crème brûlée recipe in Microsoft Word will be easy. But while you are typing accented letters in Google Docs, you may feel a little baffled about how to get the appropriate letters with the correct accent symbols!
However, there are always tricks to make the task a bit easier. But some of you may not know about the options you have. Therefore, we’ve prepared this article just for you.
Here we’ll tell you how to add an accent mark in Google Docs in different ways. So without wasting much time, let’s get started!
How to Type Accented Letters in Google Docs
- Open your document.
- Click where you wish to type the letter.
- Press the key combination for the letter you want.
Our guide continues below with more about working with Google Docs accented letters and placing accent marks over the letters in your document.
How to Add Accent Over a Letter on Google Docs – All You Need to Know
Now it is time to tell you about all the tricks you can use to type accents in Google Docs. From French accents to Spanish, you will be able to write any language you want.
If you have to type a specific accent regularly, it would be best to memorize the keyboard shortcuts for that accent. For example, if you have to write about French cuisine or work on your Spanish homework every day then constantly needing to consult a cheat sheet will become tiresome whenever you need the (frequently-used) accented characters. In that case, memorization will be the most efficient way to get your accented letters inserted into your document.
But Windows and Mac work differently when it comes to keyboard shortcuts. Let us tell you about Windows first, and then we’ll talk about Mac.
How to Use Keyboard Shortcut for Windows to Type Accents
Let’s take a look at the keystroke combinations to type accented alphabets in Windows.
Add Grave Accents
The accent Grave is generally seen in European languages such as Dutch, Italian, and French. Remember, you have to keep the ALT key pressed and then type the code on the number pad.
- Accented a (à) = 0224
- Accented A (À) = 0192
- Accented e (è) = 0232
- Accented E (È) = 0200
- Accented i (ì) = 0236
- Accented I (Ì) = 0204
- Accented o (ò) = 0242
- Accented O (Ò) = 0210
- Accented u (ù) = 0249
- Accented U (Ù) = 0217
Add Acute Accents
The Acute accent is seen in Latin or Greek-based letters. Moreover, they are available in Spanish too. Here is how you type these accents in Docs.
- Accented a (á) = 0225
- Accented A (Á) = 0193
- Accented e (é) = 0233
- Accented E (É) = 0201
- Accented i (í) = 0237
- Accented I (Í) = 0205
- Accented o (ó) = 0243
- Accented O (Ó) = 0211
- Accented u (ú) = 0250
- Accented U (Ú) = 0218
- Accented y (ý) = 0253
- Accented Y (Ý) = 0221
- Upside down question mark = 0191
And like the previous one, you have to keep the ALT key pressed and then type these codes at the same time.
Add Circumflex Accents
If you want to create any document in Spanish, you will need these Tilde accents. Well, they are common in the English and Portuguese languages too. So here are the codes you need to type to write these accents on the Docs.
- Accented a (ã) = 0227
- Accented A (Ã) = 0195
- Accented n (ñ) = 0241
- Accented N (Ñ) = 0209
- Accented o (õ) = 0245
- Accented O (Õ) = 0213
How to Use Keyboard Shortcut for Mac to Type Accented Letters
Here are the keyboard shortcuts for Mac that you can use for typing letters with accents in Google Docs. In this case, you have to press Option + E and the Shift keys most of the time.
- Á = Option+e, Shift+a
- Á = Option+e, a
- É = Option+e, Shift+e
- é = Option+e, e
- Í = Option+e, Shift+i
- í = Option+e, i
- Ó = Option+e, Shift+o
- ó = Option+e, o
- Ú = Option+e, Shift+u
- ú = Option+e, u
- Ü = Option+u, Shift+u
- Ñ = Option+n, Shift+n
- ñ = Option+n, n
- ¡ = Option+1
- « = Option+\
- » = Shift+Option+\
- ¿ = Shift+Option+?
The next section of this guide discusses another method that you can use when you are learning how to add an accent mark in Google Docs.
How to Use Google Input Tools to Type Accents
Here are the instructions on how to insert accents in Google Docs by using Google Input Tools. It is the most simple method and you can easily find it in Google Chrome extensions or Google’s website.
- First of all, go to Google Input Tools and pick the Special Characters option. You will find it on the right side of the window after you have gone to the website and click the “Try It” button..
- After choosing Special Characters, three options will pop up in front of you. You can search the letter, refine the menu options, or draw the character if you don’t know how it looks.
- Now, pick the box that matches the alphabet you want to put in your document, and then, you can close the box.
- When you are done closing the characters box, choose the letter and copy it.
- After copying, go back to your Google doc and paste it using Edit > Paste. And that’s how you do it!
You can also access the Google Input Tools menu by clicking the Insert tab at the top of the window, then selecting the Special characters option. You can then type a letter into the search bar and choose one of the accented options. I have searched for “a” in the picture below.
When you find the character with the accent that you want to put in your document you can simply click on it to add the character to the document.
This may be the easiest method for how to add an accent mark in Google Docs because it doesn’t require you to remember any unusual keyboard shortcuts.
How to Use Google Docs Add-Ons to Type Accents
To make things easier, you can also get Google Docs add-ons for typing an accented letter. For this method, you have to get an add-on from Google Chrome Extension that supports accented alphabet. Let’s use the “Easy Accent” add-on as an example to show you how to do it.
- Firstly, you have to install the add-on and open the document you want to edit. And then, follow this direction, Add-ons > Easy Accents – Docs > Easy Accents – Start.
- Next, you need to pick a language from the drop-down menu. You will find this option in the side panel.
- Now, point the cursor at the spot where you want to insert the alphabet. After that, click the corresponding key, and if you want an uppercase alphabet, just press the Shift key while typing that letter.
Note that using a Google Docs add on from the Google Chrome Web store might be a good option if you need to add accent marks on a regular basis. If you add accents a lot, then it could even be worth the optional premium subscription that some of these accent letter add ons require for those add ons to work their best.
Change Your Language In Google Docs
When you have to write several pages in different languages or need to use accents regularly, changing the Docs language will be a good idea. To do this, you just have to open Google Docs, access the File option, select Language, and pick your preferred one. You can always go back to your default language later once you are done using the special character options from the other keyboard language that you selected.
Furthermore, if you are using Windows, you can always get the International Keyboard. It is a layout that will help you to type letters with accents pretty easily.
In this way, you can type faster, and you don’t have to memorize any codes!
The Bottom Line
So hopefully, you’ve learned how to add an accent mark in Google Docs. After reading this article, you don’t have to type café with the wrong spelling!
Though learning the codes may seem a little complicated at first, you’ll get a hold of it with practice. And you can always try the other methods we mentioned to type effortlessly whenever you want.
Kermit Matthews is a freelance writer based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania with more than a decade of experience writing technology guides. He has a Bachelor’s and Master’s degree in Computer Science and has spent much of his professional career in IT management.
He specializes in writing content about iPhones, Android devices, Microsoft Office, and many other popular applications and devices.