How to Type ö (O with umlaut) on Excel

Published August 31, 2026, 2 min read

Typing ö (o with umlaut) on Excel takes a few seconds once you know the trick. The short answer is =UNICHAR(246). Read on for step-by-step instructions, the uppercase Ö and what to do when a method does not work.

ö on Excel: =UNICHAR(246)

Ö on Excel: =UNICHAR(214)

Or copy it:

Method 1: UNICHAR formula

Type =UNICHAR(246) in a cell to get ö. To check a letter, =UNICODE("ö") returns 246. Both work in Excel 2013 and later and in Google Sheets.

Method 2: CHAR formula on Windows

=CHAR(246) also returns ö 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+0246 on Windows or Option+U, then O on a Mac.

Method 4: Find and replace accented text

Use =SUBSTITUTE(A1,"ö","o") 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 Ö

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

UNICHAR formula

Type =UNICHAR(214) in a cell to get Ö. To check a letter, =UNICODE("Ö") returns 214. Both work in Excel 2013 and later and in Google Sheets.

CHAR formula on Windows

=CHAR(214) also returns Ö 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 ö

ö is Unicode U+00F6, named LATIN SMALL LETTER O WITH DIAERESIS. It is used in German, Hungarian, Turkish, Swedish, Finnish, Icelandic, Dutch and Estonian. 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 ö 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 ö on Excel?

=UNICHAR(246).

Can I just copy and paste ö?

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 ö?

U+00F6. In HTML it is ö.

Related guides

All accent shortcuts for Excel