ARCHIVED: In Mac OS X, how can I type foreign language characters?
In Mac OS X, to type many common diacritics and accent
marks, you can use the Option
key. For others, you may
need to switch keyboard layouts or install additional fonts. You can
use the Keyboard Viewer with both methods to see what characters you
can currently type.
On this page:
Option key combinations
This table shows the most common keystrokes for typing accented
characters. Keystrokes with the [letter]
placeholder
require two sets of keypresses; first, type the Option
key
combination, and then type the letter you want to modify.
Keystroke | Character |
---|---|
Option-e [letter] |
acute (e.g., á) |
Option-` [letter] |
grave (e.g., è) |
Option-i [letter] |
circumflex (e.g., ô ) |
Option-u [letter] |
umlaut or dieresis (e.g.,
ï )
|
Option-n [letter] |
tilde (e.g., ñ ) |
Option-q |
oe ligature ( œ ) |
Option-c |
cedilla ( ç ) |
Option-Shift-/ (forward slash) |
upside-down
question mark ( ¿ )
|
Option-1 (the number 1) |
upside-down
exclamation point ( ¡ )
|
Keyboard layout configuration
To configure additional keyboard layouts in Mac OS X 10.5 or later:
- From the Apple menu, select .
- In System Preferences, from the menu, select (10.6 and later) or (10.5).
- From the Using the Keyboard Viewer. tab (10.6 and later) or tab (10.5), in the list of languages and keyboard layouts, check the ones you would like to use. If you would like to use the Keyboard Viewer, check it near the top of the list. For details, see
- Close System Preferences.
Once you have chosen other keyboard layouts, a flag will appear on the right side of the menu bar representing the current layout. To use a different layout, click the flag, and then select it from the pull-down menu. In 10.6 and later, if you click
, but no additional languages, it will display the icon instead of a flag.Using the Keyboard Viewer
You can use the Keyboard Viewer to see how modifier keys and different keyboard layouts affect the characters you type:
- From the Apple menu, select .
- In System Preferences, from the menu, select (10.6 and later) or (10.5).
- Select the tab (10.6 and later) or tab (10.5), and then check (10.6 and later) or (10.5). A flag or the icon should appear in the menu bar in the upper right corner of your screen. The type of flag you see depends on the default language you select.
- Click the new icon in the menu bar, and from the menu that drops down, select .
The Keyboard Viewer
window
contains a virtual keyboard that shows the characters associated with
different keys. Here, you can see what characters are created when you
hold down modifier keys like Option
, Shift
,
and Command
.
Many fonts in OS X contain special characters for additional diacritics. To access these special characters:
- Within the application you are currently using, open the Font panel (usually from a option in the application's menus).
- Click the gear widget button:
- From the menu that appears, select .
This is document anhf in the Knowledge Base.
Last modified on 2018-01-18 13:53:37.