How to Type I with Accent (ì, í, î, ï) on Your Keyboard

You might think that typing “i” with an accent on your computer is difficult or even impossible due to its absence from standard QWERTY keyboards. Nothing could be farther from the truth, however. Through the use of keyboard shortcuts and special software, you can easily type “i” with accent in your document when the need arises.

Accent marks (or diacritical marks) are an important part of communication especially when dealing with foreign languages such as Spanish and French. Accent marks serve a definite purpose such as to add stress to the pronunciation or to indicate a particular sound for vowels such as “a” and “e”. For example, the accent mark in the word naïve indicates that the vowel is pronounced in a separate syllable.

As much as possible, you should place accent marks when the occasion calls for it, so as to minimize confusion and misunderstanding. However, accented characters such as “i” with accent are missing from most computer keyboards, forcing many people to omit these characters altogether. You don’t have to do the same because it’s actually very easy to type accented characters using any keyboard.

Diacritical marks that are commonly used with the “i” letter are acute accent, grave accent, circumflex, and diaeresis or umlaut. For this article, we will not be dealing with each individual accent mark and how they are used in written and verbal language. We will only discuss how to type or insert “i” with accent using keyboard shortcuts (i.e. alt codes) and software such as Character Map.

How to Type I with Accent on a Windows Keyboard

For Windows PC and laptop users, typing “i” with accent can be done using a combination of keystrokes or what we call keyboard shortcuts. Sometimes called alt codes, these shortcuts involve pressing the Alt key and then a series of numbers on the numeric keypad to produce the desired result.

For example, to type ì (i with grave accent), you will have to use the alt code Alt + 0236.

Check out the table below for the various accented “i” characters along with their corresponding keyboard shortcuts or alt codes.

So how do you type “i” with accent using these keyboard shortcuts? Follow these steps to quickly type or insert the accented “i” character into your document:

1. On your document or application, place the cursor or insertion point where you want the “i” with accent to appear.
2. Activate the numeric keypad by tapping the Num Lock key. The numeric keypad is usually located on the right portion of the Windows keyboard.
3. Press and hold the Alt key.
4. While pressing the Alt key, tap the alt code on the numeric keypad. For example, to type í (i with acute accent), tap 0237.
5. Release the Alt key and check that the correct “i” with accent has been inserted into your document.

That’s basically how keyboard shortcuts work for characters with accent marks. Make sure that the numeric keypad (or number pad) was activated before attempting the aforementioned steps. Most Windows keyboards have a LED indicator that shows whether the numeric keypad is active or inactive.

If your keyboard doesn’t have a numeric keypad, don’t worry because you can still type “i” with accent. You can either use your word processor’s symbol insertion tool, or you can open Character Map to copy and paste your desired symbol or character.

How to Type I with Accent on a Mac Keyboard

Since Mac is totally different from Windows, the Mac keyboard shortcuts for “i” with accent are also different. Instead of alt codes with numbers, the keyboard shortcuts for Mac are comprised of the Option key along with another key (such as “e” or “u”), plus the “i” key.

Here’s a table of Mac keyboard shortcuts for “i” with accent characters:

Follow these steps to type “i” with accent using your Mac keyboard:

1. On your document or application, place the insertion point where you want the “i” with accent to appear.
2. On your Mac keyboard, press and hold the Option key and then tap any of these keys that correspond to your preferred accent:
   • ` (backtick) to type ì (i with grave)
   • E to type í (i with acute)
   • I to type î (i with circumflex)
   • U to type ï (i with umlaut or diaeresis)
3. Release the Option key and tap the letter “i” key.
4. Check that the correct “i” with accent has been inserted.

Note: To type the uppercase or capital “I” with accent (Ì, Í, Î, Ï), just press the Caps Lock key before performing the aforementioned steps.

How to Type I with Accent in Microsoft Word

One of the most powerful features of Microsoft Word is its symbol insertion tool, which allows you to find and insert any symbol and special character supported by your computer. With this tool, you don’t have to memorize keyboard shortcuts; simply choose your preferred character and insert it quickly into your document.

Inserting “i” with accent in Microsoft Word is so quick and easy. First, click Insert on the menu bar (refer to the screenshot image below for its exact location).

Afterwards, click Symbol on the right side of the toolbar. A dropdown menu will then appear. Click More Symbols.

You can now select the accented “i” character that you want to insert into your document. If you have a hard time locating the letter “i” with accent, simply click the “Subset” dropdown field and select “Latin-1 Supplement.”

Once you’ve found the accented character that you want to insert, click it to highlight it, and then click the Insert button. Check that the correct “i” with accent has been inserted into your document.

After inserting a symbol or character this way, it will be added to your list of recently used symbols. So the next time you want to type “i” with accent in Word, just click Insert and then Symbols. Your recently used symbols will be shown, ready for insertion into your document.

You can also assign a custom shortcut key that works only in Microsoft Word. For example, the default shortcut key for î (i with circumflex) in Word is Ctrl + ^, I. You can change this shortcut by clicking Shortcut Key and then assigning a new shortcut key that you can remember better. Pretty useful if you use a particular symbol or character a lot.

How to Type I with Accent in Google Docs

Many people are starting to use Google Docs to create documents because it’s free and runs on any browser. Although not as powerful and versatile as Microsoft Word, Google Docs still does a pretty decent job particularly when it comes to inserting symbols and characters. Just like Word, Google Docs allows you to insert “i” with accent with its built-in character insertion tool.

To type the letter “i” with accent in Google Docs, start by clicking the Insert on the menu bar. On the subsequent dropdown menu, click Special characters.

You will now see the “Insert special characters” dialog box with all the symbols and characters that you can insert in Google Docs. To find the letter “i” with accent, click the “Symbol” dropdown field and then select “Latin.”

Finally, click the accented “i” character that you want to type in Google Docs. Be sure to check that correct letter has been inserted into your document.

If you have a hard time finding your preferred symbol or character, just type its name in the “Search by keyword” field. For example, to search for ì, just type “i with grave” (don’t type “i with accent” because Google Docs doesn’t recognize it).

How to Insert I with Accent Using Character Map

What if your keyboard doesn’t have a numeric keypad or your application doesn’t have a symbol insertion tool? No worries because you can still insert accented characters using the Character Map, a small utility that lets you copy and paste any symbol or character in Windows. This software comes bundled with every Windows computer so you don’t need to download and install it.

To open the Character Map, start by clicking the Windows Start button (it’s the Windows logo at the bottom-left corner of the screen). On the Windows Start menu, scroll down the list of applications and click Windows Accessories. From there, click Character Map.

Tip: You can quickly launch the Character Map by typing “Character Map” in the Windows search box on the taskbar.

On the Character Map, click the accented “i” character that you want to copy. Click Select and then click Copy to copy it to your clipboard.

Go back to your document and then paste the copied character by right-clicking with your mouse and selecting Paste, or by typing Ctrl + V.

By the way, if you can’t find the symbol or character that you want to copy, just check “Advanced view” and type the name of the character (e.g. “i with acute”) in the “Search for” field. Click Search and the correct character will be shown for you to copy.

How to Type I with Accent on Your Android Phone

You don’t have to use keyboard shortcuts on your smartphone because most Android keyboards, such as Gboard, support characters with accent marks. There’s no need to install a third-party application either.

To type “i” with accent on your smartphone, activate the Android keyboard and then long-press the “i” or “I” key. A floating bubble will pop up, showing the available accented “i” characters. Move your finger or stylus over your chosen character (ì, í, î, or ï), and then stop pressing to finally insert it into your document or application.

How to Type I with Accent on the iPhone or iPad

Just like Android phones, iOS devices like the iPhone and iPad have native support for accented characters. To type “i” with accent on your iPhone or iPad, simply long-press the “i” or “I” key. Choose your accented letter by moving your finger over it, and then stop pressing to insert the character into your document or application.

How to Type I with Accent as HTML Code

Web designers, developers and programmers can incorporate accented characters into their websites and software. Below are the HTML codes for the various “i” with accent letters.

Copy and Paste I with Accent

If you’re just here to copy and paste the letter “i” with accent, we’ve provided an easy and convenient way for you to do so. Just click the appropriate box and the character will be instantly copied to your clipboard. Go back to your document and paste your copied character by right-clicking with your mouse and selecting Paste, or by typing Ctrl + V.

I with Grave:

I with Acute:

I with Circumflex:

I with Umlaut or Diaeresis:

Parting Words

Thanks to keyboard shortcuts, it’s easy to type characters with accent marks despite their absence from standard computer keyboards. The only drawback is that these shortcuts are difficult to memorize. Nevertheless, there are alternative methods for typing accented characters that don’t rely on rote memory, such as the use of the Character Map. And if you don’t want to mess around with these methods, you can simply copy the character from this page.