How to Type U with Accent (ù, ú, û, ü) on Your Keyboard

Writing and speaking in a foreign language such as Spanish can be quite challenging as you have to consider accented letters such as ú and ü. These accented characters are important because they dictate the pronunciation and meaning of certain words, so it’s best not to ignore them. In this article, you will learn how to type the letter U with accent mark on your computer even if your keyboard doesn’t support those characters.

Accent marks (or diacritical marks) play a crucial role in both written and verbal communication because they are used to indicate a particular sound or to put stress into the pronunciation. For instance, the accented letter in café means that the pronunciation of é is different from the normal e. In some cases, accented letters also help to distinguish similar-looking words with different meanings, such as résumé and resume.

Knowing how important these accented letters are, you should take care to include them in your writings when the situation calls for it. The problem is that characters with accent marks are noticeably absent from standard QWERTY keyboards. Most people have no other recourse but to use keyboard shortcuts, or failing that, copy-and-paste the accented character from the web.

If you’re using the letter U with accent mark (ù, ú, û, ü) a lot, you’ll be pleased to know that there are viable alternatives to keyboard shortcuts such as the Character Map or Microsoft Word’s built-in symbol insertion tool. Of course, we will also teach you the Windows keyboard shortcuts or alt codes if you prefer memorizing them.

How to Type U with Accent on a Windows Keyboard

Perhaps the quickest way to type U with accent is through a combination of keystrokes or what is commonly known as a keyboard shortcut. In Windows, these shortcuts are also called “alt codes” because the technique involves the Alt key.

Each and every accented character has its own unique keyboard shortcut or alt key. For example, the lowercase u with acute accent (ú) has the keyboard shortcut Alt + 0250.

In the table below, we’ve laid out the Windows keyboard shortcuts or alt codes for the various accented U characters. Take the time to memorize these shortcuts if you use the letter U with accent often.

Now that you’re familiar with the different keyboard shortcuts or alt codes for the letter U with accent, it’s time to type them using your computer keyboard. Follow these steps to type U with accent on your Windows keyboard:

1. In your document or application, position the cursor or insertion point where you want the U with accent to appear.
2. Activate the numeric keypad by tapping the Num Lock key. The numeric keypad is located on the right portion of most Windows keyboards.
3. Press and hold the Alt key.
4. While pressing the Alt key, type the corresponding alt code on the numeric keypad. For example, if the alt code is Alt + 0249, just type 0, 2, 4 and 9 one after the other.
5. Release the Alt key and check that the correct U with accent has been inserted.

These Windows keyboard shortcuts or alt codes will work on virtually any desktop application such as Notepad and Microsoft Word, unless they are overridden by the application’s custom shortcuts.

However, some users may not be able to use these shortcuts because their keyboards don’t have a numeric keypad. In that case, you may have to use the Character Map or your application’s built-in symbol insertion feature. You can also copy the letter U with accent from this page and paste it into your document.

How to Type U with Accent on a Mac Keyboard

Mac users can also type U with accent using keyboard shortcuts. The difference between Windows and Mac keyboard shortcuts is that the latter uses the Option key instead of the Alt key.

If you want to know the various Mac keyboard shortcuts for U with accent, check out the table below.

Here’s how to type the letter U with accent mark on your Mac computer or MacBook (refer to the table above for the corresponding keyboard shortcuts):

1. In your document or application, position the cursor where you wish the accented U character to appear.
2. On the Mac keyboard, press and hold the Option key and then tap any of these keys that correspond to your chosen accent mark:
   • ` (backtick) to type ù (u with grave)
   • E to type ú (u with acute)
   • I to type û (u with circumflex)
   • U to type ü (u with umlaut)
3. Release the Option key and then tap the U key.
4. Verify that the correct U with accent has been inserted.

Note: To type the capital or uppercase U with accent (Ù, Ú, Û, Ü), just tap the Caps Lock key before performing the steps above.

How to Type U with Accent in Microsoft Word

If you prefer not to use keyboard shortcuts to type U with accent, you’re in luck because Microsoft Word provides an easy way to do it. Thanks to the symbol insertion feature, you can quickly type or insert any symbol or special character into your document.

To type U with accent in Microsoft Word, here’s what you need to do. Open the document where you want the letter to appear, if you haven’t done so already. Afterward, click the Insert tab on the menu bar as shown on the screenshot image below.

Next, click the Symbol button on the rightmost portion of the toolbar. A dropdown menu will appear, so click More Symbols.

You can now insert any symbol or special character into your Word document. If you have trouble locating the accented U characters, just click the “Subset” dropdown field and select “Latin-1 Supplement.” You should be able to find the accented U letters in both lowercase and uppercase.

To insert the letter U with an accent mark, just click it to highlight it, and then click Insert.

Take note that once you’ve inserted a symbol or character using the Symbol dialog in Word, it will be shown in your list of recently used symbols. This means that it’s quicker to insert the letter U with accent the next time around by simply clicking Insert and then Symbol.

As an alternative, you can also assign custom shortcut keys for your frequently used characters. To do this, just click the character on the Symbol dialog, and then click Shortcut Key. From there, you can assign a new shortcut key.

How to Type U with Accent in Google Docs

Some people are using Google Docs and for good reason. Unlike Microsoft Word, Google Docs is a free and web-based, so there’s no software to install except your device’s browser. But just like Word, Google Docs allows you to insert symbols and special characters with just a few clicks.

To start, open the Google Docs document where you want the letter U with accent to be inserted. Click Insert on the menu bar and then select Special characters on the dropdown menu.

You now have the option to insert any symbol or character into your document. To find the letter U with accent mark, click the “Symbol” dropdown box and then select “Latin.” Alternatively, you can search for a specific character by typing its name on the “Search by keyword” field. For example, type “u with acute” to find “ú”.

Simply click the accented U character to insert into your Google Docs document.

How to Insert U with Accent Using Character Map

Another way to insert U with accent is through the Character Map application. It’s a small piece of software that lets you copy any symbol and special character in Windows. You don’t have to download this application because it comes bundled with every Windows installation.

To launch Character Map, click the Windows Start button at the bottom-left corner of the screen, and then navigate to Windows Accessories and click Character Map. You can also launch the application by typing “Character Map” on the taskbar’s search box.

Once the Character Map is open, look for the accented U characters that you want to copy. When you’ve located your preferred character, click it to highlight it, and then click Select. Click Copy to copy the character to your clipboard.

Next, go back to your document or application, and then paste your copied character by tapping Ctrl + V on your keyboard, or by right-clicking with your mouse and selecting Paste.

If you have trouble finding the letter U with accent, you can search for it by checking the “Advanced view” box. Enter the name of the character (such as “u with grave”) in the “Search for” field and click Search.

How to Type U with Accent on Your Android Phone

Do you need to type U with accent on your smartphone? You don’t have to install a mobile app because the default Android keyboard Gboard supports characters with accent marks.

Typing U with accent on your Android phone is so quick easy. Just long-press the u (lowercase) or U (uppercase) key, and when a popup bubble appears, slide your finger over the accented character that you want to insert (your chosen letter will be highlighted). Lift your finger and the character will then be inserted into your document or application.

How to Type U with Accent on the iPhone or iPad

Typing accented letters on your iPhone or iPad works the same way as on Android. To insert the letter U with accent mark, simply long-press the u (lowercase) or U (uppercase) key until a popup bubble appears. Slide your finger over your preferred character and then stop pressing to insert it.

How to Type U with Accent as HTML Code

If you’re a web designer, developer or programmer, you may find this list of HTML codes for accented U characters useful.

Copy and Paste U with Accent

If nothing works for you, you can copy the letter U with accent from this page. Just click the appropriate box below and then paste the character into your document by tapping Ctrl + V, or by clicking the right mouse button and selecting Paste.

U with Grave:

U with Acute:

U with Circumflex:

U with Umlaut or Diaeresis:

Parting Words

Now that you already know how to type U with accent mark on your computer or smartphone, it’s time to put your knowledge into good use in your communications and correspondence. Keyboard shortcuts are still the easiest and fastest way to type accented letters, but some applications such as Microsoft Word allow you to insert these characters with just a few clicks. If you don’t want to go through all the trouble, you can always copy the character from this page and paste it into your document.