The fastest way to add accents on Mac
On a Mac, hold down the letter key you want to accent until a menu appears showing accent options. For example, hold e and a small popup shows é, è, ê, ë and others. Tap the number or letter shown next to the accent you want, or click it with your trackpad. This works for any letter that has accented versions.
If the menu doesn't appear, your Mac may have a setting turned off. Go to System Settings > Keyboard, and make sure "Press and hold key to show accents" is toggled on. On older Macs running earlier versions of macOS, this setting may be called "Enable key repeat" instead, and you'll need to turn it off for the accent menu to work.
This method works in almost every Mac application — email, word processors, web browsers, notes apps. The accent menu appears in the same way regardless of what program you're using.
Key Takeaways
- Hold down any letter key until an accent menu pops up, then select the accented version you need by number or click.
- If the menu doesn't appear, check System Settings > Keyboard and toggle "Press and hold key to show accents" on.
- On very old Macs, you may need to turn off "Enable key repeat" instead to make the accent menu work.
- The accent menu method works in all Mac applications without any special setup per program.
Using keyboard shortcuts for common accents
If you type accents frequently, keyboard shortcuts are faster than the hold-and-select method. These shortcuts work in any Mac application. Hold Option (also called Alt) and press a key, then release both and press the letter you want accented.
The most common shortcuts are: Option + e, then the letter gives you an acute accent (é, á, í, ó, ú). Option + ` (the backtick, top left of the keyboard), then the letter gives you a grave accent (è, à, ì, ò, ù). Option + i, then the letter gives you a circumflex (ê, â, î, ô, û). Option + u, then the letter gives you an umlaut (ë, ä, ï, ö, ü).
For the tilde (ñ, ã, õ), hold Option + n, then press the letter. These shortcuts are the same across all Macs and all applications, so once you memorize them, you can use them anywhere.
A full reference of Mac accent shortcuts
| Accent Type | Keyboard Shortcut | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| Acute (é) | Option + e, then letter | é, á, í, ó, ú |
| Grave (è) | Option + `, then letter | è, à, ì, ò, ù |
| Circumflex (ê) | Option + i, then letter | ê, â, î, ô, û |
| Umlaut (ë) | Option + u, then letter | ë, ä, ï, ö, ü |
| Tilde (ñ) | Option + n, then letter | ñ, ã, õ |
| Cedilla (ç) | Option + c | ç |
The cedilla is slightly different — you only press Option + c, and it produces ç directly. You don't need to press a second letter. If you need a capital accented letter, hold Shift while pressing the letter after the accent shortcut. For example, Option + e, then Shift + e gives you É.
When the accent menu is too slow
The hold-and-select method works well for occasional accents, but if you're typing in another language regularly, the keyboard shortcuts are much faster. You don't have to wait for the menu to appear or move your hand to click an option — you just press the key combination and keep typing.
If you find yourself using the same accent repeatedly, consider whether a keyboard shortcut would save you time. Most people who type in French, Spanish, or Portuguese regularly memorize the acute and grave shortcuts within a few days of use.
Adding accents in special situations
In some applications like Microsoft Word or Google Docs, you can also insert accented letters through the Insert menu. Word has an Insert > Special Characters option, and Google Docs has Insert > Special Characters. These methods are slower than keyboard shortcuts and are mainly useful if you forget the shortcut or need an accent that isn't on your keyboard.
If you're copying and pasting text that already has accents, no special steps are needed — the accents come along with the text. This is the easiest method if you're working with text from another source.
Troubleshooting when accents aren't working
If keyboard shortcuts produce the wrong character or nothing at all, your keyboard layout may be set to something other than U.S. or your language's standard layout. Check System Settings > Keyboard > Input Sources and make sure the correct keyboard layout is selected and active. If you have multiple keyboard layouts installed, the wrong one may be active.
If the hold-and-select menu still doesn't appear after toggling the setting in System Settings, restart your Mac. Sometimes the setting doesn't take effect until you restart. If it still doesn't work after a restart, try toggling the setting off and back on again.
On very new Macs with the latest macOS, the setting location may have moved slightly. If you can't find "Press and hold key to show accents" in Keyboard settings, search for "accent" in System Settings and it should take you to the right place.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I need to install anything to type accents on Mac?
No. Accents are built into macOS and work on every Mac without downloading or installing anything. You just need to know the keyboard shortcut or use the hold-and-select method.
Can I type accents on an external keyboard connected to my Mac?
Yes. The keyboard shortcuts and hold-and-select method work the same way on external keyboards as they do on the built-in Mac keyboard. The only difference is that some external keyboards may feel different when you hold a key, but the accent menu will still appear.
What if I need an accent that isn't in the hold menu?
Use the keyboard shortcut for that accent type instead. The hold menu shows the most common accents for each letter, but the shortcuts cover all standard accents. If you need something very unusual, use Insert > Special Characters in your application to search for it by name.
Will these shortcuts work on an iPad or iPhone?
No. iPad and iPhone have their own accent systems. On those devices, you hold a letter and a similar menu appears, but the keyboard shortcuts are different. The Mac shortcuts only work on Mac computers.
Can I create a custom keyboard shortcut for accents I use often?
Yes, but it's more complicated than the built-in shortcuts. You can use System Settings > Keyboard > Text Replacements to create a custom shortcut that types an accented letter when you type a specific combination. For example, you could make typing "ae" automatically produce "é". This is useful if you have a very specific need, but the standard shortcuts are usually faster to learn.