Keyboard shortcuts
| Letter | Windows (Alt code) | Mac |
|---|---|---|
| é É | Alt + 0233 / 0201 | Option + E, then E |
| è È | Alt + 0232 / 0200 | Option + `, then E |
| ê Ê | Alt + 0234 / 0202 | Option + I, then E |
| ë Ë | Alt + 0235 / 0203 | Option + U, then E |
| ę Ę | — | Press and hold E, or use the Polish layout |
| ě Ě | — | Press and hold E, or use the Czech layout |
Mac: On a Mac, press and hold the letter to pick an accent, or use the shortcut in the table: hold Option and press the first key, let go, then type the letter. Add Shift to the letter for a capital.
Windows: On Windows, turn on Num Lock, hold Alt and type the four-digit code on the numeric keypad. Letters without an Alt code need that language's keyboard layout (Settings > Time & language > Language & region), or you can copy them from this page.
iPhone and Android: On iPhone and Android, press and hold the base letter, then slide to the accented version.
Which e accent do you need?
The e takes more accents than any other letter. Each one belongs to different languages:
- é (acute accent): the most common. French (café, été), Spanish (café, inglés), Portuguese (café), Italian (perché), Catalan and Czech.
- è (grave accent): French (mère, très, voilà) and Italian (è, "is"), and Catalan (cafè).
- ê (circumflex): French (forêt, fête, être) and Portuguese (você, três).
- ë (diaeresis): French (Noël), Dutch (België, ideeën) and Albanian, where ë is its own letter and the most frequent vowel.
- ę (ogonek): Polish (się, będę). ě (háček): Czech (děkuji, město).
é or è in French?
French uses é at the end of a syllable and in past participles (parlé, mangé), where it sounds like the "ay" in "say" without the glide. It uses è before a silent final syllable or a consonant + e (mère, père, très), where it sounds like the e in "bet".
In Italian, almost every final accented e is è (caffè, è), except a short list with é: perché, poiché, affinché, né and sé.
Frequently asked questions
How do I type é on a keyboard?
On Windows, hold Alt and type 0233 on the numeric keypad (0201 for É). On a Mac, press Option + E, let go, then press E. On a phone, press and hold the e key and choose é. Or click é on this page and copy it.
What is the e with an accent called?
é is "e acute" (e accent aigu in French), è is "e grave", ê is "e circumflex" and ë is "e diaeresis" or "e umlaut".
Why doesn't Alt + 130 give me the right letter?
Three-digit codes like Alt + 130 come from an old DOS code page and can give different results by program. The four-digit codes starting with 0 (Alt + 0233 for é) are the reliable ones on modern Windows.
How do I type ę or ě?
They have no Windows Alt code. Add the Polish (for ę) or Czech (for ě) keyboard layout, press and hold E on a Mac or phone, or copy them from this page.