How to Type E with Accent (é, è, ê, ë) on Your Keyboard

If you frequently use French or Spanish letters with accent marks, such as é, you might be wondering how to type these characters, considering that they are notably absent from most computer keyboards. However, you can type the letter e with an accent in your documents using keyboard shortcuts and other insertion methods, and this article will teach you how.

Accent marks or diacritical marks placed on vowels such as “e” are used to indicate a specific sound or to put stress into the pronunciation. For example, the loanword résumé is often pronounced as [rez-oo-mey], as opposed to resume which is normally pronounced as [ri-zoom]. The addition of accent marks to the vowel tells the reader to pronounce the word differently and to distinguish it from similar words without diacritical marks.

In the Latin alphabet, there are four accent or diacritical marks that are commonly used: grave, acute, circumflex, and umlaut. For this article, we will not be dealing with each individual diacritic and how they are used in the context of speech and language, but only how to produce the accented characters on your computer or mobile phone.

If you ever need to type or insert the letter e with an accent mark, such as é or è, don’t worry because we’ve got you covered. You will learn how to type these characters on your Windows or Mac device, as well as using popular word processing software such as Microsoft Word and Google Docs.

How to Type E with Accent on a Windows Keyboard

Typing e with an accent using your Windows keyboard is fairly simple and involves a combination of keystrokes or what we call a keyboard shortcut. Each accented letter has a unique keyboard shortcut or alt code. For example, the small e with grave accent (è) has the alt code Alt + 0232 while the capital E with grave accent (È) has the alt code Alt + 0200.

Below is a list of Windows keyboard shortcuts or alt codes for each accented e letter for both lowercase and uppercase characters:

Follow these steps to type e with an accent mark using its corresponding alt code or keyboard shortcut:

1. Open your document or application (e.g. Microsoft Word) and place the insertion point where you want to type e with an accent.
2. Activate the numeric keypad by tapping the Num Lock key. It’s usually located on the right part of the Windows keyboard.
3. Press and hold the Alt key, and then type the alt code of your desired character on the numeric keypad. For example, if you want to type e with circumflex (ê), type 0235.
4. Check and confirm that the letter e with accent has been inserted into your document.

The beauty of this method is that it works with all Windows applications, even those without built-in character insertion tools. So as long as you remember these keyboard shortcuts, you can freely type or insert the letter e with accent.

How to Type E with Accent on a Mac Keyboard

Mac users can type accented letters using keyboard shortcuts as well. The way this works in Mac is that you will have to hold down the Option key along with a specific key (such as e and i), and then press the e or E key to type the accented e letter.

Below is a list of Mac keyboard shortcuts for each accented e letter for both lowercase and uppercase characters:

Here are the steps to type e with an accent using keyboard shortcuts on your Mac computer:

1. Open your document and place the insertion point or cursor where you want the character to appear.
2. On your keyboard, hold down the Option key and then tap any of the following keys:
   • ` to type è (e with grave)
   • e to type é (e with acute)
   • i to type ê (e with circumflex)
   • u to type ë (e with umlaut)
3. Release the Option key and then tap the letter e key again.
4. Check and confirm that the letter e with accent has been inserted into your document.

Note: If you want to type the uppercase or capital E with an accent, you have to press the Caps Lock key before performing the aforementioned steps.

How to Type E with Accent in Microsoft Word

Sometimes, memorizing the keyboard shortcuts can be so tiring. Fortunately for you, Microsoft Word provides a quick and easy way to type accented e characters without having to remember any alt codes. Word has a built-in character insertion feature that lets you choose from a library of symbols and special characters for easy placement into your document.

Start by placing the insertion point or cursor where you want the letter e with an accent to appear in the document. Click the Insert tab on the menu bar.

On the right side of the toolbar, click the Symbol button. A dropdown menu with all the recently used symbols will appear. Click More Symbols.

You can now see the Symbol dialog box containing the symbols and special characters you can insert in Word. Quickly locate the accented e characters by selecting “Latin-1 Supplement” on the Subset dropdown field.

After locating the character that you wish to insert, click to highlight it, and then click Insert to place it in your document.

Take note that after you have inserted a character, it will now be available in your list of recently used symbols. So just click Insert > Symbol on the toolbar and then select the character to quickly insert it.

You can also assign a custom shortcut key by clicking the Shortcut Key button on the Symbol dialog box. Press your new shortcut key and then click Assign.

How to Type E with Accent in Google Docs

If you use Google Docs as your word processor, you’ll be happy to know that you can also type accented characters without using alt codes or keyboard shortcuts.

Open your Google Docs document and place the cursor where you wish to insert the character. Click the Insert tab on the menu bar, and on the dropdown menu, select Special Characters.

On the Insert Special Characters dialog box, click the “Symbol” dropdown field and then select “Latin”. Look for the e with accent character that you want, and then click it to insert into your document.

If you have trouble finding the letter e with accent, you can search for it by typing its name on the “Search by keyword” field. For example, to search for “É”, just type “capital e with acute.”

How to Insert E with Accent Using Character Map

Another way to quickly type characters with accent marks is through the use of the Character Map, a small application that lets you to copy and paste any symbol or special character in Windows. You can use the Character Map if you don’t know the keyboard shortcuts or if your application doesn’t have a character insertion feature.

To launch the Character Map, click the Windows Start button on the bottom-left corner of the screen. Scroll down the list of applications, click Windows Accessories, and then select Character Map.

On the Character Map dialog box, find the letter e with accent that you want to copy. After locating it, click the character to highlight it, and then click the Select button. Afterwards, click Copy.

You are now ready to paste the character into your document. Place the cursor or insertion point where you wish to insert the character, and then hit Ctrl + V on your keyboard to paste it. You can also right-click using your mouse and select Paste.

If you have difficulties in locating the letter e with accent, you can tick the Advanced View checkbox at the bottom of the Character Map dialog. In the “Search for” field, enter the name of the character. For example, “capital e with grave” for “È”. Click Search and your preferred character will be shown, ready for copying and pasting.

How to Type E with Accent on Your Android Phone

The default Android keyboard Gboard supports characters with accent marks, so you don’t need to install another keyboard application for the purpose of typing accented letters.

To type e with an accent on your Android smartphone, simply long-press the e (lowercase) or E (uppercase) key. A popup bubble will appear with all the accented e characters (è, é, ê, ë).

While still pressing the screen, move your finger over the character that you wish to insert (this is indicated by a colored circle). Lift your finger to stop pressing, and check that the character has been inserted into your document or application.

How to Type E with Accent on the iPhone or iPad

Inserting the letter e with accent on your iPhone or iPad is similar to that on Android. Just long-press the e lowercase) or E (uppercase) key and a popup bubble will appear along with the accented e characters (é, è, ë, ê).

While still pressing the screen, move your finger over the character that you want to insert (this is indicated by a colored box). Lift your finger to stop pressing, and verify that the character has been inserted into your application or document.

How to Type E with Accent Marks as HTML Code

If you’re a web designer or developer who needs to include the letter e with accent to your website, you can do it by using HTML codes, a list of which is shown below.

Copy and Paste E with Accent

Don’t want to learn the various keyboard shortcuts? You can instantly copy the letter e with accent by clicking the appropriate box below. After copying, paste the character into your document by hitting Ctrl + V, or by right-clicking using your mouse and selecting Paste.

E with Grave:

E with Acute:

E with Circumflex:

E with Umlaut:

Final Words

As you can see, typing the letter e with an accent is not hard at all. Aside from the various keyboard shortcuts for Windows and Mac computers, you can use the character insertion feature of Microsoft Word and Google Docs to quickly type or insert characters with accent marks. And if all else fails, you can simply copy the accented e letters on this page and paste it into your document.