How to Type ê (E with circumflex) on Excel

Published August 21, 2026, 2 min read

The letter ê does not have its own key on an English keyboard, but Excel still makes it easy to type. Use =UNICHAR(234), or pick one of the other methods in this guide. ê appears in French, Portuguese, Welsh and Vietnamese.

ê on Excel: =UNICHAR(234)

Ê on Excel: =UNICHAR(202)

Or copy it:

Method 1: UNICHAR formula

Type =UNICHAR(234) in a cell to get ê. To check a letter, =UNICODE("ê") returns 234. Both work in Excel 2013 and later and in Google Sheets.

Method 2: CHAR formula on Windows

=CHAR(234) also returns ê on Windows, because it uses the Windows-1252 code page. On a Mac CHAR uses a different code page, so prefer UNICHAR.

Method 3: Keyboard methods inside a cell

Double-click the cell, then use Alt+0234 on Windows or Option+I, then E on a Mac.

Method 4: Find and replace accented text

Use =SUBSTITUTE(A1,"ê","e") to strip this accent from a column, for example when cleaning names for an email system that does not accept accents.

How to type the capital Ê

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

UNICHAR formula

Type =UNICHAR(202) in a cell to get Ê. To check a letter, =UNICODE("Ê") returns 202. Both work in Excel 2013 and later and in Google Sheets.

CHAR formula on Windows

=CHAR(202) also returns Ê on Windows, because it uses the Windows-1252 code page. On a Mac CHAR uses a different code page, so prefer UNICHAR.

About the letter ê

ê is Unicode U+00EA, named LATIN SMALL LETTER E WITH CIRCUMFLEX. It is used in French, Portuguese, Welsh, Vietnamese and Afrikaans. 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 ê character page for every code and shortcut.

Troubleshooting

UNICHAR is not available in Excel 2010 and earlier.
CSV files saved as plain "CSV" may lose accents. Save as "CSV UTF-8".
If accents show as question marks after import, set the file origin to 65001: Unicode (UTF-8) in the import wizard.

Frequently asked questions

What is the shortcut for ê on Excel?

=UNICHAR(234).

Can I just copy and paste ê?

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 ê?

U+00EA. In HTML it is ê.

Related guides

All accent shortcuts for Excel