How to Type å (A with ring above) on Mac

Published August 11, 2026, 2 min read

Need å on Mac for a name, an address or a word in another language? You do not have to copy it from a website every time. The fastest method is Option+A, and there are a few backups below for when that one is not available.

å on Mac: Option+A

Å on Mac: Option+Shift+A

Or copy it:

Method 1: Option key shortcut

Press Option+A. It is a single key combination. This works in every app on the standard US and ABC keyboard layouts.

Method 2: Press and hold

Hold down the A key.
A row of accented versions appears above the cursor.
If å 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 3: 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 00E5. å appears when you release Option.

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

Method 4: Character Viewer

Press Ctrl+Cmd+Space, search for "latin small letter a with ring above", and double-click å.

How to type the capital Å

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

Option key shortcut

Press Option+Shift+A. It is a single key combination. This works in every app on the standard US and ABC keyboard layouts.

Press and hold

Hold down the A key with Shift.
A row of accented versions appears above the cursor.
If Å 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.

About the letter å

å is Unicode U+00E5, named LATIN SMALL LETTER A WITH RING ABOVE. It is used in Swedish, Norwegian, Danish and Finnish. A small circle above a letter. å is a separate vowel in Swedish, Norwegian, Danish and Finnish, and ů marks a long u in Czech. See the å 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 å on Mac?

Option+A.

Can I just copy and paste å?

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 å?

U+00E5. In HTML it is å.

Related guides

All accent shortcuts for Mac