8 letters · 5 languages

Letters with the tilde

A wavy line. Spanish ñ, Portuguese nasal vowels ã and õ, and Estonian õ all use it.

Shortcuts for the tilde
Mac (US layout)
Option+N
Mac (ABC Extended)
Option+N
Word (Windows)
Ctrl+Shift+~
Combining mark
U+0303

Press the shortcut, release, then type the letter.

Lowercase · click to copy

ã Alt+0227
ẽ U+1EBD
ĩ U+0129
ñ Alt+0241
õ Alt+0245
ũ U+0169
ṽ U+1E7D
ỹ U+1EF9

Uppercase

à Alt+0195
Ẽ U+1EBC
Ĩ U+0128
Ñ Alt+0209
Õ Alt+0213
Ũ U+0168
Ṽ U+1E7C
Ỹ U+1EF8

Every letter with the tilde: codes and shortcuts

Windows Alt codes exist only for letters in the Latin-1 range. For the others, type the hex code in Word and press Alt+X, or copy the letter from the grid above.

Letter Name Unicode Alt code Word (Alt+X) Mac Word shortcut HTML
Capital A with Tilde U+00C3 Alt+0195 00C3 Option+N, Shift+A Ctrl+Shift+~, Shift+A Ã
A with Tilde U+00E3 Alt+0227 00E3 Option+N, A Ctrl+Shift+~, a ã
Capital E with Tilde U+1EBC — 1EBC — — Ẽ
E with Tilde U+1EBD — 1EBD — — ẽ
Capital I with Tilde U+0128 — 0128 — — Ĩ
I with Tilde U+0129 — 0129 — — ĩ
Capital N with Tilde U+00D1 Alt+0209 00D1 Option+N, Shift+N Ctrl+Shift+~, Shift+N Ñ
N with Tilde U+00F1 Alt+0241 00F1 Option+N, N Ctrl+Shift+~, n ñ
Capital O with Tilde U+00D5 Alt+0213 00D5 Option+N, Shift+O Ctrl+Shift+~, Shift+O Õ
O with Tilde U+00F5 Alt+0245 00F5 Option+N, O Ctrl+Shift+~, o õ
Capital U with Tilde U+0168 — 0168 — — Ũ
U with Tilde U+0169 — 0169 — — ũ
Capital V with Tilde U+1E7C — 1E7C — — Ṽ
V with Tilde U+1E7D — 1E7D — — ṽ
Capital Y with Tilde U+1EF8 — 1EF8 — — Ỹ
Y with Tilde U+1EF9 — 1EF9 — — ỹ

How to type the tilde on Windows

Alt codes. Hold Alt and type the four-digit code on the numeric keypad, then release. Every letter in the Latin-1 range (à through ÿ) has one; the tables on this page list them. Codes only work on the numpad, so laptops without one need another method.

United States-International layout. Add it under Settings → Time & Language → Language → your language → Options. It turns ', `, ^, ~ and " into dead keys: press the mark, then the letter. Typing ' then e gives é. To type the plain mark, press it followed by Space.

Emoji and symbol panel. Press Win+., open the Symbols tab (Ω) and choose Latin symbols, or search by name.

Touch keyboard. On a touchscreen or with the on-screen keyboard, press and hold a letter to see its accented forms.

How to type the tilde on a Mac

Press and hold. Hold the base letter for a second and a pop-up shows its accented forms. Press the number under the one you want, or click it. This works in every app and covers most European letters.

Option dead keys. On the US layout: Option+E for acute, Option+` for grave, Option+I for circumflex, Option+N for tilde and Option+U for umlaut. Press the combination, release, then type the letter.

Character Viewer. Press Control+⌘+Space, search for the letter by name (for example "a with tilde") and double-click it.

How to type the tilde on iPhone and Android

Press and hold the base letter on the keyboard. A row of accented versions pops up; slide your finger to the one you want and release. This works on the iOS keyboard, Gboard and the Samsung keyboard, and covers every common European accent. For rarer letters, add the language's keyboard under Settings → General → Keyboard → Keyboards (iOS) or Gboard → Languages (Android).

How to type the tilde in Microsoft Word

Word has its own shortcuts that work on any keyboard, no numpad needed. Press the shortcut, release, then type the letter:

AccentShortcut, then letterExample
AcuteCtrl + 'Ctrl+' then e → é
GraveCtrl + `Ctrl+` then a → à
CircumflexCtrl + Shift + ^Ctrl+Shift+^ then o → ô
TildeCtrl + Shift + ~Ctrl+Shift+~ then n → ñ
UmlautCtrl + Shift + :Ctrl+Shift+: then u → ü
CedillaCtrl + ,Ctrl+, then c → ç
RingCtrl + Shift + @Ctrl+Shift+@ then a → å
Stroke (ø)Ctrl + /Ctrl+/ then o → ø
æ, œ, ßCtrl + Shift + &Ctrl+Shift+& then a → æ

For any other letter, type its Unicode hex code and press Alt+X. On a Mac, the Option dead keys above work inside Word too.

How to type the tilde in Google Docs

Docs has no accent shortcuts of its own, so use the operating system method (Alt codes, US-International, Option dead keys, press and hold). Alternatively, open Insert → Special characters, choose Latin, and search for the letter, or add a language keyboard under Tools → Preferences.

Frequently asked questions

What is the tilde accent? +

A wavy line. Spanish ñ, Portuguese nasal vowels ã and õ, and Estonian õ all use it.

Which languages use the tilde? +

Spanish, Portuguese, Estonian, Vietnamese, Filipino.

How do I type ã on Windows? +

Hold Alt and type 0227 on the numeric keypad. Without a numpad, use the US-International layout, press Win + . for the symbol panel, or in Word type 00E3 and press Alt + X.

How do I type ã on a Mac? +

Press Option+N, A. You can also hold the A key and pick it from the pop-up.

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