How to Type ë (E with umlaut) on Excel

Published August 20, 2026, 2 min read

ë is e with umlaut, a letter used in French, Dutch, Welsh and Albanian. On Excel, the quickest way to get it is =UNICHAR(235). This guide covers every method that works, including the capital Ë and fixes for common problems.

ë on Excel: =UNICHAR(235)

Ë on Excel: =UNICHAR(203)

Or copy it:

Method 1: UNICHAR formula

Type =UNICHAR(235) in a cell to get ë. To check a letter, =UNICODE("ë") returns 235. Both work in Excel 2013 and later and in Google Sheets.

Method 2: CHAR formula on Windows

=CHAR(235) also returns ë 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+0235 on Windows or Option+U, then E on a Mac.

Method 4: Find and replace accented text

Use =SUBSTITUTE(A1,"ë","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 Ë

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

UNICHAR formula

Type =UNICHAR(203) in a cell to get Ë. To check a letter, =UNICODE("Ë") returns 203. Both work in Excel 2013 and later and in Google Sheets.

CHAR formula on Windows

=CHAR(203) also returns Ë 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 ë

ë is Unicode U+00EB, named LATIN SMALL LETTER E WITH DIAERESIS. It is used in French, Dutch, Welsh, Albanian and Afrikaans. Two dots above a letter. As a German umlaut it changes the vowel sound (ä, ö, ü); as a diaeresis in French, Dutch, Spanish or English (naïve, Noël) it shows that a vowel is pronounced separately. See the ë 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 ë on Excel?

=UNICHAR(235).

Can I just copy and paste ë?

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 ë?

U+00EB. In HTML it is ë.

Related guides

All accent shortcuts for Excel