# Program for entering accented letters? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 17, 2020, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/program-for-entering-accented-letters/851981 "2020-04-17T14:33:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2020, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/program-for-entering-accented-letters/851981/1 "2020-04-17T14:33:20Z")
There used to be a program called AllChars which made it easy to type accented letters. For example, if I hit Ctl and released it then typed 'e the result was an acute accented e. It stopped working after Win-7 and has not, as far as I can tell, been upgraded. Is there any good replacement? ---
**Author:** ![Chingon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chingon/32/17645_2.png) [@Chingon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chingon)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2020, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/program-for-entering-accented-letters/851981/2 "2020-04-17T14:38:53Z")
I use the built-in US International Keyboard on Windows 10. [http://www.techlanguage.com/tips/us\_international.html](http://www.techlanguage.com/tips/us_international.html) ---
**Author:** ![Ruken](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f475e1/32.png) [@Ruken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruken)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2020, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/program-for-entering-accented-letters/851981/3 "2020-04-17T14:54:55Z")
> [@Hari\_Seldon](#): > > There used to be a program called AllChars which made it easy to type accented letters. For example, if I hit Ctl and released it then typed 'e the result was an acute accented e. It stopped working after Win-7 and has not, as far as I can tell, been upgraded. Is there any good replacement? These sorts of shortcuts are built into MS Word, but I take it you’re looking for a more general solution? ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2020, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/program-for-entering-accented-letters/851981/4 "2020-04-17T15:05:42Z")
I used to go to a website that displayed tons of special characters you could just cut and paste them into other documents. I can’t find it now, and all the rest I just tried have images instead of a character table so you can’t just copy a letter. There must be something out there where you can just cut and paste like that, or make your own document to do it. ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2020, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/program-for-entering-accented-letters/851981/5 "2020-04-17T15:13:17Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > I used to go to a website that displayed tons of special characters you could just cut and paste them into other documents. I can’t find it now, and all the rest I just tried have images instead of a character table so you can’t just copy a letter. There must be something out there where you can just cut and paste like that, or make your own document to do it. There is a Character Map utility that does it, but it is hardly suitable for _typing_ text in a language that uses accented characters. For instance, consider something like French where something like one third of the words take at least one accent. It would be nuts to stop to cut and paste the right letter each time. ---
**Author:** ![lobotomyboy63](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobotomyboy63/32/2900_2.png) [@lobotomyboy63](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lobotomyboy63)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2020, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/program-for-entering-accented-letters/851981/6 "2020-04-17T15:14:35Z")
Ever use alt codes? [https://usefulshortcuts.com/alt-codes/accents-alt-codes.php](https://usefulshortcuts.com/alt-codes/accents-alt-codes.php) ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2020, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/program-for-entering-accented-letters/851981/7 "2020-04-17T15:18:19Z")
> [@lobotomyboy63](#): > > Ever use alt codes? > [ALT Codes for Foreign Language Letters with Accents](https://usefulshortcuts.com/alt-codes/accents-alt-codes.php) I’d love to, but I haven’t had a keyboard with a number pad for over a decade. ---
**Author:** ![Keeve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f07891/32.png) [@Keeve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Keeve)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2020, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/program-for-entering-accented-letters/851981/8 "2020-04-17T15:18:30Z")
On my Android phone, if I press and hold down a letter on the keyboard (instead of just tapping it), I get a small menu of various ways to accent that letter, and I can just tap whichever I want. Sounds like a nice idea for a pc keyboard too, but I haven’t seen it. ---
**Author:** ![lobotomyboy63](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobotomyboy63/32/2900_2.png) [@lobotomyboy63](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lobotomyboy63)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2020, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/program-for-entering-accented-letters/851981/9 "2020-04-17T15:25:09Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > I’d love to, but I haven’t had a keyboard with a number pad for over a decade. I’ve done it without. Look at your keyboard. You may see blue numbers M is 0, J is 1 K is 2… those work with Fn. So hold Alt + Fn + J, L, M (release) and you should get é ---
**Author:** ![lobotomyboy63](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobotomyboy63/32/2900_2.png) [@lobotomyboy63](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lobotomyboy63)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2020, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/program-for-entering-accented-letters/851981/10 "2020-04-17T15:27:20Z")
> [@Keeve](#): > > On my Android phone, if I press and hold down a letter on the keyboard (instead of just tapping it), I get a small menu of various ways to accent that letter, and I can just tap whichever I want. Sounds like a nice idea for a pc keyboard too, but I haven’t seen it. Cool, never knew that! Thanks! ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2020, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/program-for-entering-accented-letters/851981/11 "2020-04-17T15:31:38Z")
> [@Keeve](#): > > On my Android phone, if I press and hold down a letter on the keyboard (instead of just tapping it), I get a small menu of various ways to accent that letter, and I can just tap whichever I want. Sounds like a nice idea for a pc keyboard too, but I haven’t seen it. Typically, using the Compose key or international layout the way the OP describes one types the accent before the letter, but it is legitimate to want it the other way around, and such input methods exist. Emacs calls it “postfix”, for example. ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2020, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/program-for-entering-accented-letters/851981/12 "2020-04-17T15:43:13Z")
@OP besides the suggestions above, you could check whether “freecompose” still works under recent Windows. ETA scratch that, try [WinCompose](http://wincompose.info) ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2020, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/program-for-entering-accented-letters/851981/13 "2020-04-17T15:53:26Z")
Option u, then u gives ü on a Mac. There are a bunch of these. `s â ñ. Use keyboard viewer to find them. ---
**Author:** ![Steven\_Maven](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steven_maven/32/3272_2.png) [@Steven\_Maven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steven_Maven)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2020, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/program-for-entering-accented-letters/851981/14 "2020-04-17T15:55:36Z")
> [@Keeve](#): > > On my Android phone, if I press and hold down a letter on the keyboard (instead of just tapping it), I get a small menu of various ways to accent that letter, and I can just tap whichever I want. Sounds like a nice idea for a pc keyboard too, but I haven’t seen it. This technique also works on my iPhone 8, including the inverted punctuation marks “¡” and “¿” in Spanish. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2020, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/program-for-entering-accented-letters/851981/15 "2020-04-17T15:57:25Z")
> [@lobotomyboy63](#): > > I’ve done it without. Look at your keyboard. You may see blue numbers M is 0, J is 1 K is 2… those work with Fn. > > So hold Alt + Fn + J, L, M (release) and you should get é Interesting, but I don’t have those either. Why can’t they make the regular number keys work this way? ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2020, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/program-for-entering-accented-letters/851981/16 "2020-04-17T17:19:12Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > Interesting, but I don’t have those either. What device are you typing on? Knowing that might help. If you don’t have too many of these characters, typing the Alt- (Opt- on Mac) is often the fastest way. I printed[this page, which lists the most common ones](https://www.pgdp.net/c/faq/charwin.pdf), on cardstock and keep it near my computer. I use it fairly often, and have even memorized a few of them. ---
**Author:** ![bibliophage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bibliophage/32/7615_2.png) [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2020, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/program-for-entering-accented-letters/851981/17 "2020-04-17T18:23:44Z")
I usually use the Windows English International (ENG-INTL) keyboard for things like accented letters. Switching back and forth between that and the standard US keyboard (ENG-US) is easy with the Win+Space shortcut. Another option is to download AutoHotkey. You could program it, for example, to replace (on the fly) the text **e-aigu** with é and **e-grave** with è. I don’t actually use AHK for accented letters, but I use it for Greek letters and other symbols. For example, I have programmed it to replace **gxi** with the Greek letter ξ and **1/2** with ½. ---
**Author:** ![harmonicamoon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/65b543/32.png) [@harmonicamoon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/harmonicamoon)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2020, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/program-for-entering-accented-letters/851981/18 "2020-04-17T18:43:43Z")
> [@Steven\_Maven](#): > > This technique also works on my iPhone 8, including the inverted punctuation marks “¡” and “¿” in Spanish. Also works on my iMac desktop keyboard. ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2020, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/program-for-entering-accented-letters/851981/19 "2020-04-17T19:03:51Z")
I used to use–or try to use–WinCompose but it rarely worked. You were supposed to be able to rt-alt 'e to get acute e, but mostly I got 'e instead. I never heard of autohotkey; maybe I will look into it. I don’t use Word. I could program my editor to do fancy things, but that wouldn’t work when I was posting here for example. Most of my writing is in TeX where /'e will produce an acute e. The trouble with using the number keypad, aside from the fact that I mostly have it locked out, is that then I would have to remember the key sequences, a total pain. Ah for the days of All-Chars. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2020, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/program-for-entering-accented-letters/851981/20 "2020-04-17T20:39:32Z")
> [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](#): > > What device are you typing on? Knowing that might help. > > If you don’t have too many of these characters, typing the Alt- (Opt- on Mac) is often the fastest way. I printed[this page, which lists the most common ones](https://www.pgdp.net/c/faq/charwin.pdf), on cardstock and keep it near my computer. I use it fairly often, and have even memorized a few of them. Isn’t that page the same as using the number pad? Which I don’t have on either a Dell or Mac laptop or on the ergonomic keyboard for my PC desktop. [The OPT and OPT+SHIFT combination](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Option_key) on a Mac will produce many common accented characters. But I don’t see any equivalent of that on a PC without a number pad. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/program-for-entering-accented-letters/851981.md?page=2)