How to type accents on Microsoft Word

Microsoft Word has its own Ctrl shortcuts for common accents, and the Alt+X trick turns any Unicode code into its character.

Example: typing é

Word keyboard shortcut

Press Ctrl+', then E. Press the first combination, release, then type the letter. This works in Word for Windows and in Outlook.

Alt+X Unicode trick

Type 00E9 where you want the letter.
Press Alt+X. Word turns the code into é.

Press Alt+X again to turn it back into the code. On a Mac, Word uses the macOS methods instead: Option+E, then E.

Insert Symbol

Go to Insert → Symbol → More Symbols.
Set "from" to Unicode (hex) and type 00E9 in Character code.
Click Insert. You can also assign a shortcut key here.

Alt code

With Num Lock on, hold Alt and type 0233 on the number pad.

Chart of accented letters on Microsoft Word

Letter	Guide	Lowercase	Uppercase
ó	o with acute	`Ctrl`+`'`, then `O`	`Ctrl`+`'`, then `Shift`+`O`
é	e with acute	`Ctrl`+`'`, then `E`	`Ctrl`+`'`, then `Shift`+`E`
í	i with acute	`Ctrl`+`'`, then `I`	`Ctrl`+`'`, then `Shift`+`I`
ú	u with acute	`Ctrl`+`'`, then `U`	`Ctrl`+`'`, then `Shift`+`U`
á	a with acute	`Ctrl`+`'`, then `A`	`Ctrl`+`'`, then `Shift`+`A`
ü	u with umlaut	`Ctrl`+`Shift`+`:`, then `U`	`Ctrl`+`Shift`+`:`, then `Shift`+`U`
à	a with grave	`Ctrl`+`, then `A`	`Ctrl`+`, then `Shift`+`A`
è	e with grave	`Ctrl`+`, then `E`	`Ctrl`+`, then `Shift`+`E`
ö	o with umlaut	`Ctrl`+`Shift`+`:`, then `O`	`Ctrl`+`Shift`+`:`, then `Shift`+`O`
ô	o with circumflex	`Ctrl`+`Shift`+`^`, then `O`	`Ctrl`+`Shift`+`^`, then `Shift`+`O`
â	a with circumflex	`Ctrl`+`Shift`+`^`, then `A`	`Ctrl`+`Shift`+`^`, then `Shift`+`A`
ä	a with umlaut	`Ctrl`+`Shift`+`:`, then `A`	`Ctrl`+`Shift`+`:`, then `Shift`+`A`
æ	ae ligature (ash)	`Ctrl`+`Shift`+`&`, then `A`	`Ctrl`+`Shift`+`&`, then `Shift`+`A`
ç	c with cedilla	`Ctrl`+`,`, then `C`	`Ctrl`+`,`, then `Shift`+`C`
ê	e with circumflex	`Ctrl`+`Shift`+`^`, then `E`	`Ctrl`+`Shift`+`^`, then `Shift`+`E`
ë	e with umlaut	`Ctrl`+`Shift`+`:`, then `E`	`Ctrl`+`Shift`+`:`, then `Shift`+`E`
î	i with circumflex	`Ctrl`+`Shift`+`^`, then `I`	`Ctrl`+`Shift`+`^`, then `Shift`+`I`
ï	i with umlaut	`Ctrl`+`Shift`+`:`, then `I`	`Ctrl`+`Shift`+`:`, then `Shift`+`I`
ò	o with grave	`Ctrl`+`, then `O`	`Ctrl`+`, then `Shift`+`O`
ù	u with grave	`Ctrl`+`, then `U`	`Ctrl`+`, then `Shift`+`U`
ý	y with acute	`Ctrl`+`'`, then `Y`	`Ctrl`+`'`, then `Shift`+`Y`
å	a with ring above	`Ctrl`+`Shift`+`@`, then `A`	`Ctrl`+`Shift`+`@`, then `Shift`+`A`
ì	i with grave	`Ctrl`+`, then `I`	`Ctrl`+`, then `Shift`+`I`
õ	o with tilde	`Ctrl`+`Shift`+`~`, then `O`	`Ctrl`+`Shift`+`~`, then `Shift`+`O`
ø	o with stroke	`Ctrl`+`/`, then `O`	`Ctrl`+`/`, then `Shift`+`O`
û	u with circumflex	`Ctrl`+`Shift`+`^`, then `U`	`Ctrl`+`Shift`+`^`, then `Shift`+`U`
ã	a with tilde	`Ctrl`+`Shift`+`~`, then `A`	`Ctrl`+`Shift`+`~`, then `Shift`+`A`
ð	Eth	00F0 then `Alt`+`X`	00D0 then `Alt`+`X`
ß	Sharp s (eszett)	`Ctrl`+`Shift`+`&`, then `S`	—
ñ	n with tilde	`Ctrl`+`Shift`+`~`, then `N`	`Ctrl`+`Shift`+`~`, then `Shift`+`N`
þ	Thorn	00FE then `Alt`+`X`	00DE then `Alt`+`X`
ÿ	y with umlaut	`Ctrl`+`Shift`+`:`, then `Y`	`Ctrl`+`Shift`+`:`, then `Shift`+`Y`
š	s with caron	0161 then `Alt`+`X`	0160 then `Alt`+`X`
ž	z with caron	017E then `Alt`+`X`	017D then `Alt`+`X`
č	c with caron	010D then `Alt`+`X`	010C then `Alt`+`X`
ū	u with macron	016B then `Alt`+`X`	016A then `Alt`+`X`
ā	a with macron	0101 then `Alt`+`X`	0100 then `Alt`+`X`
ē	e with macron	0113 then `Alt`+`X`	0112 then `Alt`+`X`
ī	i with macron	012B then `Alt`+`X`	012A then `Alt`+`X`
ō	o with macron	014D then `Alt`+`X`	014C then `Alt`+`X`
ă	a with breve	0103 then `Alt`+`X`	0102 then `Alt`+`X`
ą	a with ogonek	0105 then `Alt`+`X`	0104 then `Alt`+`X`
ć	c with acute	0107 then `Alt`+`X`	0106 then `Alt`+`X`
ď	d with caron	010F then `Alt`+`X`	010E then `Alt`+`X`
đ	d with stroke	0111 then `Alt`+`X`	0110 then `Alt`+`X`
ę	e with ogonek	0119 then `Alt`+`X`	0118 then `Alt`+`X`
ě	e with caron	011B then `Alt`+`X`	011A then `Alt`+`X`
ń	n with acute	0144 then `Alt`+`X`	0143 then `Alt`+`X`
ň	n with caron	0148 then `Alt`+`X`	0147 then `Alt`+`X`
ť	t with caron	0165 then `Alt`+`X`	0164 then `Alt`+`X`
ż	z with dot above	017C then `Alt`+`X`	017B then `Alt`+`X`
ĉ	c with circumflex	0109 then `Alt`+`X`	0108 then `Alt`+`X`
ċ	c with dot above	010B then `Alt`+`X`	010A then `Alt`+`X`
ė	e with dot above	0117 then `Alt`+`X`	0116 then `Alt`+`X`
ĝ	g with circumflex	011D then `Alt`+`X`	011C then `Alt`+`X`
ğ	g with breve	011F then `Alt`+`X`	011E then `Alt`+`X`
ġ	g with dot above	0121 then `Alt`+`X`	0120 then `Alt`+`X`
ģ	g with cedilla	0123 then `Alt`+`X`	0122 then `Alt`+`X`
ĥ	h with circumflex	0125 then `Alt`+`X`	0124 then `Alt`+`X`
ħ	h with stroke	0127 then `Alt`+`X`	0126 then `Alt`+`X`
ĩ	i with tilde	0129 then `Alt`+`X`	0128 then `Alt`+`X`
į	i with ogonek	012F then `Alt`+`X`	012E then `Alt`+`X`
ı	Dotless i	0131 then `Alt`+`X`	—
ĵ	j with circumflex	0135 then `Alt`+`X`	0134 then `Alt`+`X`
ķ	k with cedilla	0137 then `Alt`+`X`	0136 then `Alt`+`X`
ĺ	l with acute	013A then `Alt`+`X`	0139 then `Alt`+`X`
ļ	l with cedilla	013C then `Alt`+`X`	013B then `Alt`+`X`
ľ	l with caron	013E then `Alt`+`X`	013D then `Alt`+`X`
ł	l with stroke	0142 then `Alt`+`X`	0141 then `Alt`+`X`
ņ	n with cedilla	0146 then `Alt`+`X`	0145 then `Alt`+`X`
ő	o with double acute	0151 then `Alt`+`X`	0150 then `Alt`+`X`
œ	oe ligature (ethel)	`Ctrl`+`Shift`+`&`, then `O`	`Ctrl`+`Shift`+`&`, then `Shift`+`O`
ŕ	r with acute	0155 then `Alt`+`X`	0154 then `Alt`+`X`
ř	r with caron	0159 then `Alt`+`X`	0158 then `Alt`+`X`
ś	s with acute	015B then `Alt`+`X`	015A then `Alt`+`X`
ŝ	s with circumflex	015D then `Alt`+`X`	015C then `Alt`+`X`
ş	s with cedilla	015F then `Alt`+`X`	015E then `Alt`+`X`
ũ	u with tilde	0169 then `Alt`+`X`	0168 then `Alt`+`X`
ŭ	u with breve	016D then `Alt`+`X`	016C then `Alt`+`X`
ů	u with ring above	016F then `Alt`+`X`	016E then `Alt`+`X`
ű	u with double acute	0171 then `Alt`+`X`	0170 then `Alt`+`X`
ų	u with ogonek	0173 then `Alt`+`X`	0172 then `Alt`+`X`
ŵ	w with circumflex	0175 then `Alt`+`X`	0174 then `Alt`+`X`
ŷ	y with circumflex	0177 then `Alt`+`X`	0176 then `Alt`+`X`
ź	z with acute	017A then `Alt`+`X`	0179 then `Alt`+`X`
ĕ	e with breve	0115 then `Alt`+`X`	0114 then `Alt`+`X`
ĭ	i with breve	012D then `Alt`+`X`	012C then `Alt`+`X`
ĸ	Kra	0138 then `Alt`+`X`	—
ŀ	l with middle dot	0140 then `Alt`+`X`	013F then `Alt`+`X`
ŋ	Eng	014B then `Alt`+`X`	014A then `Alt`+`X`
ŏ	o with breve	014F then `Alt`+`X`	014E then `Alt`+`X`
ŗ	r with cedilla	0157 then `Alt`+`X`	0156 then `Alt`+`X`
ţ	t with cedilla	0163 then `Alt`+`X`	0162 then `Alt`+`X`
ŧ	t with stroke	0167 then `Alt`+`X`	0166 then `Alt`+`X`

Frequently asked questions

What is the easiest way to type accents on Microsoft Word?

Microsoft Word has its own Ctrl shortcuts for common accents, and the Alt+X trick turns any Unicode code into its character.

Can I copy and paste accents instead?

Yes. Click any letter on this site to copy it, then paste it with Ctrl+V or Cmd+V.