How to Type æ (Ae ligature (ash)) on LaTeX

Published August 25, 2026, 2 min read

The letter æ does not have its own key on an English keyboard, but LaTeX still makes it easy to type. Use \ae, or pick one of the other methods in this guide. æ appears in French, Norwegian, Danish and Icelandic.

æ on LaTeX: \ae

Æ on LaTeX: \AE

Or copy it:

Method 1: LaTeX command

Write \ae in text mode. Load \usepackage[T1]{fontenc} for correct hyphenation and copy-paste from the PDF.

Method 2: Type the character directly

Since 2018 pdfLaTeX reads UTF-8 by default, so you can paste æ into your source. On Overleaf, set the compiler in Menu → Compiler.

How to type the capital Æ

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

LaTeX command

Write \AE in text mode. Load \usepackage[T1]{fontenc} for correct hyphenation and copy-paste from the PDF.

Type the character directly

Since 2018 pdfLaTeX reads UTF-8 by default, so you can paste Æ into your source. On Overleaf, set the compiler in Menu → Compiler.

About the letter æ

æ is Unicode U+00E6, named LATIN SMALL LETTER AE. It is used in French, Norwegian, Danish, Icelandic and Faroese. See the æ character page for every code and shortcut.

Troubleshooting

Accents on i and j need the dotless forms \i and \j in old LaTeX; modern LaTeX handles this automatically.
If the letter is missing in the PDF, the font lacks it. Switch to XeLaTeX or LuaLaTeX with a broader font.
Wrap commands in braces when the next character is a letter: \'{e}x, not \'ex.

Frequently asked questions

What is the shortcut for æ on LaTeX?

\ae.

Can I just copy and paste æ?

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 æ?

U+00E6. In HTML it is æ.

Related guides

All accent shortcuts for LaTeX