Short answer: On a Mac, press Option + n then n for ñ, and Option + e then a vowel for á é í ó ú. On Windows, switch to the US-International layout and use AltGr + n for ñ, AltGr + vowel for accents, AltGr + 1 for ¡ and AltGr + / for ¿. On a phone, long-press the letter.
Spanish only needs eleven characters your US keyboard doesn’t have: ñ, the five acute vowels á é í ó ú, the diaeresis ü, and the two inverted marks ¿ and ¡. Copy them below, or set your keyboard up once and type them properly. If you write in more than one language, start at the foreign-language typing hub.
Need something outside the Spanish set? The full copy-and-paste symbol keyboard has every accent, currency sign and mark on one page.
Every Spanish character at a glance
| Character | Name | Windows (Alt code) | Mac | HTML entity | Unicode |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| á / Á | a acute | Alt + 0225 / 0193 | Option + e, then a | á / Á | U+00E1 / U+00C1 |
| é / É | e acute | Alt + 0233 / 0201 | Option + e, then e | é / É | U+00E9 / U+00C9 |
| í / Í | i acute | Alt + 0237 / 0205 | Option + e, then i | í / Í | U+00ED / U+00CD |
| ó / Ó | o acute | Alt + 0243 / 0211 | Option + e, then o | ó / Ó | U+00F3 / U+00D3 |
| ú / Ú | u acute | Alt + 0250 / 0218 | Option + e, then u | ú / Ú | U+00FA / U+00DA |
| ñ / Ñ | n with tilde | Alt + 0241 / 0209 | Option + n, then n | ñ / Ñ | U+00F1 / U+00D1 |
| ü / Ü | u with diaeresis | Alt + 0252 / 0220 | Option + u, then u | ü / Ü | U+00FC / U+00DC |
| ¿ | inverted question mark | Alt + 0191 | Shift + Option + ? | ¿ | U+00BF |
| ¡ | inverted exclamation | Alt + 0161 | Option + 1 | ¡ | U+00A1 |
| « » | angle quotes | Alt + 0171 / 0187 | Option + \ / Shift + Option + \ | « / » | U+00AB / U+00BB |
| ª º | feminine / masculine ordinal | Alt + 0170 / 0186 | Option + 9 / Option + 0 | ª / º | U+00AA / U+00BA |
Spanish uses only the acute accent on vowels — never grave (à) or circumflex (â). If you’re typing those, you’re typing French, not Spanish. The diaeresis appears in exactly one pattern: güe and güi (bilingüe, pingüino), where it tells you the u is pronounced.
Windows: the US-International layout
This is the setup worth doing once. It keeps your familiar QWERTY keys and adds Spanish characters to the right Alt key (AltGr).
- Open Settings → Time & language → Language & region.
- Click the ⋯ next to English → Language options.
- Under Keyboards, click Add a keyboard → United States-International.
- Switch layouts any time with Windows key + Space.
Then type:
| Want | Press |
|---|---|
| á é í ó ú | AltGr + a / e / i / o / u |
| Á É Í Ó Ú | AltGr + Shift + a / e / i / o / u |
| ñ / Ñ | AltGr + n / AltGr + Shift + n |
| ü / Ü | AltGr + y / AltGr + Shift + y |
| ¡ | AltGr + 1 |
| ¿ | AltGr + / |
US-International also turns ', ", `, ~ and ^ into dead keys: press ' then a and you get á. That’s convenient for Spanish and irritating for everything else — typing don’t now needs ' followed by a space. If that bothers you, use the AltGr combinations above and ignore the dead keys entirely, or add the full Spanish (Spain) layout instead and switch with Win + Space.
No layout change? Use Alt codes
Hold Alt, type the four digits from the table above on the numeric keypad, release. Alt + 0241 gives ñ. This needs a real numpad with Num Lock on — the number row won’t work. Laptops without a numpad should use US-International or the Word shortcuts below. The full Windows Alt code chart covers the rest.
Mac: Option dead keys
macOS needs no setup at all. Hold Option, press the accent key, release both, then type the letter:
- Option + e, then a vowel → á é í ó ú (hold Shift on the vowel for capitals)
- Option + n, then n → ñ
- Option + u, then u → ü
- Option + 1 → ¡
- Shift + Option + ? → ¿
You can also press and hold a letter key — holding n pops up an accent picker; press 1 or click ñ. And if you write Spanish daily, add the layout properly: System Settings → Keyboard → Text Input → Edit → + → Spanish, then switch with Control + Space.
iPhone and Android
Both phones handle Spanish with a long press, no setup needed:
- Long-press n → ñ. Long-press a, e, i, o, u → the accented options.
- Long-press ? → ¿. Long-press ! → ¡. (On iOS these live on the numbers/symbols keyboard — tap 123 first.)
For real writing, add the Spanish keyboard so autocorrect stops fighting you. iPhone: Settings → General → Keyboard → Keyboards → Add New Keyboard → Spanish, then tap the 🌐 globe key to switch. Android (Gboard): Settings → Languages → Add keyboard → Spanish, then swipe the space bar to switch. With Spanish active, the keyboard predicts accented words for you — typing manana offers mañana.
Chromebook
Add the input method: Settings → Advanced → Languages and inputs → Inputs → Add input methods, then pick Spanish or US International keyboard, and switch with Ctrl + Shift + Space. With US International active, the AltGr combinations work exactly as they do on Windows.
Without a layout change, use the Unicode shortcut: Ctrl + Shift + U, type the hex code (f1 for ñ, bf for ¿), then press Enter or Space.
Linux
Three options, in order of how often you’ll use them:
- Add the layout: Settings → Keyboard → Input Sources → + → Spanish, or English (US, intl. with dead keys). Switch with Super + Space.
- Compose key: enable it in Keyboard settings, then Compose, ~, n → ñ and Compose, ‘, a → á. Readable and easy to remember.
- Unicode entry: Ctrl + Shift + U, then the hex code, then Enter.
Word and Google Docs
Microsoft Word has built-in shortcuts that work on any layout, no numpad required:
| Character | Word shortcut |
|---|---|
| á é í ó ú | Ctrl + ‘ (apostrophe), release, then the vowel |
| ñ | Ctrl + Shift + ~, release, then n |
| ü | Ctrl + Shift + :, release, then u |
| ¿ | Ctrl + Alt + Shift + ? |
| ¡ | Ctrl + Alt + Shift + ! |
Press the letter promptly after releasing the shortcut, or Word gives you the plain letter. These are Word for Windows and Mac only — Word on the web doesn’t support them, and neither does Google Docs. In Docs, use Insert → Special characters (search “n tilde”), your OS layout, or the tool at the top of this page. Word also does f1 then Alt + X to convert any hex code into its character.
The Spanish (ES) layout, if you go all in
A physical or software Spanish layout puts everything on dedicated keys: Ñ sits right of L, the ´ acute dead key sits right of P (press it, then a vowel), and ¡ / ¿ share the key right of the apostrophe — unshifted gives ¡, Shift gives ¿. Latin American layouts follow the same pattern. The trade-off: symbols you use for code move around, so @ becomes AltGr + 2 and \ becomes AltGr + °.
Spanish characters in HTML and CSS
UTF-8 pages handle Spanish directly — <meta charset="utf-8"> and you can type ñ straight into your markup. Entities are only needed for legacy encodings or when you want the source unambiguous:
html
<p>Mañana será otro día. ¿Vale?</p>Renders
Mañana será otro día. ¿Vale?
In CSS content, use the escaped code point with no semicolon: content: "\00BF"; gives ¿. In URLs, ñ percent-encodes as %C3%B1 — WordPress handles this automatically, but keep slugs unaccented (/manana/, not /mañana/) for clean links.
Troubleshooting
| Problem | Fix |
|---|---|
| Alt codes do nothing | You’re using the number row. Alt codes need the numeric keypad with Num Lock on — see why Alt codes don’t work |
| Apostrophes vanish after switching to US-International | ' is now a dead key. Press ‘ then Space for a real apostrophe, or use the AltGr combinations instead |
| Option + n gives nothing on Mac | It’s a dead key — nothing shows until you press the second key. Option + n, then n |
| ñ turns into n on my phone | Autocorrect is set to English only. Add the Spanish keyboard so it predicts Spanish words |
| Accented letters show as � or boxes | Encoding, not typing — the page isn’t UTF-8. See symbols showing as boxes |
| ¿ won’t type in Google Docs | Docs has no accent shortcuts. Use your OS layout, Insert → Special characters, or copy it above |
| Uppercase Ñ or Á won’t appear | Add Shift to the letter, not the shortcut: Option + n, then Shift + n |
Which method should you use?
| If you… | Do this |
|---|---|
| Need one word right now | Copy it from the grid above |
| Write Spanish occasionally on Windows | Add US-International, use AltGr |
| Write Spanish occasionally on Mac | Option dead keys — nothing to install |
| Write Spanish daily | Add the full Spanish layout and learn the key positions |
| Work mainly in Word | The Ctrl shortcuts — they need no layout change |
| Type on a phone | Long-press, plus the Spanish keyboard for prediction |
Writing other languages too? See how to type in French and how to type in Portuguese, or browse every accent and diacritic.
Frequently asked questions
How do I type ñ on a keyboard without a Spanish layout?
On Windows, press Alt + 0241 on the numeric keypad, or add the US-International layout and press AltGr + n. On a Mac, press Option + n, release, then press n. On a phone, long-press the n key.
How do I type the upside-down question mark ¿?
On a Mac, press Shift + Option + ?. On Windows, press Alt + 0191 on the numeric keypad, or AltGr + / with the US-International layout. In Word, press Ctrl + Alt + Shift + ?. On a phone, long-press the ? key.
Does Spanish use any accent besides the acute?
No. Spanish marks vowels with the acute accent only — á, é, í, ó, ú — plus the tilde on ñ and the diaeresis on ü. Grave (à) and circumflex (â) accents belong to other languages.
When do I need ü in Spanish?
Only in the combinations güe and güi, as in bilingüe and pingüino. The diaeresis signals that the u is pronounced rather than silent. Without it, gue and gui have a hard g sound and a silent u.
Why don’t my Alt codes work for Spanish accents?
Alt codes require the numeric keypad with Num Lock on — the number row above the letters will not work. On a laptop without a numpad, use the US-International layout, the Word shortcuts, or copy the character you need.
Do I need to change my keyboard to type in Spanish?
No. Copying characters, long-pressing on a phone, or using Word’s built-in shortcuts all work without any change. Adding the US-International or Spanish layout is worth it only if you write Spanish regularly.
Written by Igor R. Tested on Windows 11, macOS, iOS, Android, ChromeOS and Linux. Last updated August 2026. Character code points follow the Unicode Standard.