How to Type ă (A with breve) on Mac

Published July 10, 2026, 2 min read

ă is a with breve, a letter used in Romanian and Vietnamese. On Mac, the quickest way to get it is Option + 0103 (Unicode Hex Input). This guide covers every method that works, including the capital Ă and fixes for common problems.

ă on Mac: Option + 0103 (Unicode Hex Input)

Ă on Mac: Option + 0102 (Unicode Hex Input)

Or copy it:

Method 1: Press and hold

Hold down the A key.
A row of accented versions appears above the cursor.
If ă is in the row, press the number under it or click it.

If nothing appears, press-and-hold is turned off. Run defaults write -g ApplePressAndHoldEnabled -bool true in Terminal and log out and back in.

Method 2: Unicode Hex Input

Open System Settings → Keyboard → Text Input → Edit, click +, and add Unicode Hex Input.
Switch to it from the input menu in the menu bar.
Hold Option and type 0103. ă appears when you release Option.

This works for every letter on this site, including ones with no Option shortcut.

Method 3: Character Viewer

Press Ctrl+Cmd+Space, search for "latin small letter a with breve", and double-click ă.

How to type the capital Ă

The uppercase form works the same way with Shift added where a letter is typed.

Press and hold

Hold down the A key with Shift.
A row of accented versions appears above the cursor.
If Ă is in the row, press the number under it or click it.

If nothing appears, press-and-hold is turned off. Run defaults write -g ApplePressAndHoldEnabled -bool true in Terminal and log out and back in.

Unicode Hex Input

Open System Settings → Keyboard → Text Input → Edit, click +, and add Unicode Hex Input.
Switch to it from the input menu in the menu bar.
Hold Option and type 0102. Ă appears when you release Option.

This works for every letter on this site, including ones with no Option shortcut.

About the letter ă

ă is Unicode U+0103, named LATIN SMALL LETTER A WITH BREVE. It is used in Romanian and Vietnamese. A small cup above a letter. Romanian uses ă, Turkish ğ, Vietnamese ă, and Esperanto ŭ. See the ă character page for every code and shortcut.

Troubleshooting

If holding a key repeats the letter, press-and-hold is off. Turn it back on with the Terminal command above.
Option shortcuts depend on the keyboard layout. They work on US and ABC; other layouts move them.
If Option+E shows a highlighted ´ but no letter appears, you pressed a letter that cannot take that accent.

Frequently asked questions

What is the shortcut for ă on Mac?

Option + 0103 (Unicode Hex Input).

Can I just copy and paste ă?

Yes. Click the copy button above, then paste with Ctrl+V on Windows and Chromebook, Cmd+V on a Mac, or touch and hold and choose Paste on a phone.

What is the Unicode code for ă?

U+0103. In HTML it is ă.

Related guides

All accent shortcuts for Mac