How to Type â (A with circumflex) on iPhone

Published August 29, 2026, 2 min read

Typing â (a with circumflex) on iPhone takes a few seconds once you know the trick. The short answer is Hold a. Read on for step-by-step instructions, the uppercase Â and what to do when a method does not work.

â on iPhone: Hold a

Â on iPhone: Hold a

Or copy it:

Method 1: Long-press the letter

Open the keyboard in any app.
Touch and hold the a key.
Slide your finger to â and lift it.

â is on the long-press menu of the default English keyboard and Gboard shows a similar set.

Method 2: Add the French keyboard

Open Settings → General → Keyboard → Keyboards.
Tap Add New Keyboard and choose French.
Tap the globe key to switch while typing.

Method 3: Text Replacement

Go to Settings → General → Keyboard → Text Replacement, tap +, paste â as the phrase and type a shortcut such as aci. The shortcut syncs to your Mac through iCloud.

How to type the capital Â

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

Long-press the letter

Open the keyboard in any app.
Touch and hold the A key (with Shift on).
Slide your finger to Â and lift it.

Â is on the long-press menu of the default English keyboard and Gboard shows a similar set.

Add the French keyboard

Open Settings → General → Keyboard → Keyboards.
Tap Add New Keyboard and choose French.
Tap the globe key to switch while typing.

About the letter â

â is Unicode U+00E2, named LATIN SMALL LETTER A WITH CIRCUMFLEX. It is used in French, Portuguese, Romanian, Welsh and Vietnamese. A small caret (^) above a vowel. In French it often marks a vanished s (forêt from forest), in Portuguese a closed vowel, in Welsh a long vowel, and in Vietnamese a distinct vowel (â, ê, ô). See the â character page for every code and shortcut.

Troubleshooting

If no menu appears when you touch and hold, make sure you are not using a third-party keyboard that disables it.
Text Replacement shortcuts need a space or punctuation after them to expand.
Some apps with custom keyboards, such as games, do not support accents.

Frequently asked questions

What is the shortcut for â on iPhone?

Hold a.

Can I just copy and paste â?

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 â?

U+00E2. In HTML it is â.

Related guides

All accent shortcuts for iPhone