Typing Special Characters in MS Word
The key combinations below will only work in Microsoft Word 2000, 2003 and 2007. Additional symbols can be inserted via the "Insert" menu or tab. To produce these or other symbols in other Windows applications, try using the U.S. International keyboard layout or Alt codes.
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Accented Letters
The keyboard shortcuts listed below will work with any vowel (referred to below as "V"), with some exceptions listed in the notes column. To use the keyboard shortcuts, enter the key or key combination listed before the comma, and then press the final key. Hold down the Shift key when typing the final key if a capital letter is needed.
| Accent | Example | Keyboard Shortcut | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Acute |
ó Ó |
Ctrl+', V |
' = apostrophe key |
|
Circumflex |
ô Ô |
Ctrl+Shift+^, V |
|
|
Grave |
ò Ò |
Ctrl+`, V |
|
|
Tilde |
ñ Ñ |
Ctrl+Shift+~, V |
Only with n,N,o,O,a,A |
|
Umlaut |
ö Ö |
Ctrl+:, V |
: = colon key |
Other Foreign Characters
To produce an uppercase symbol, hold down the Shift key when typing the final character in the key combination.
| Character | Name | Keyboard Shortcut |
|---|---|---|
|
¡ |
Beginning exclamation mark |
Ctrl+Alt+Shift+1 |
|
¿ |
Beginning question mark |
Ctrl+Alt+Shift+? |
|
Ç,ç |
French C cedille |
Ctrl+Alt+,, C |
|
Œ,œ |
French oe liagature |
Ctrl+Shift+&, o |
|
ß |
German Sharp/Double S |
Ctrl+Shift+&, s |
|
Ø,ø |
O slash |
Ctrl+/, o |
|
Å,å |
A with ring/Angstrom Sign |
Ctrl+Shift+@, a |
|
Æ,æ |
AE ligature |
Ctrl+Shift+&, a |
|
Ð,ð |
Icelandic/Old English eth |
Ctrl+', d |
