How to type Vietnamese letters ă â đ ê ô ơ ư

Vietnamese combines a base vowel, a vowel modifier (ă, â, ê, ô, ơ, ư) and one of five tone marks, giving over a hundred precomposed letters. The đ with a stroke is a separate consonant.

How to type Vietnamese letters on Windows

Alt codes

Hold Alt, type the code on the numeric keypad with Num Lock on, then release Alt. The number row above the letters does not work.

ă đ ơ ư ả ạ ằ ắ ẳ ẵ ặ ầ ấ ẩ ẫ ậ ẻ ẽ ẹ ề ế ể ễ ệ ỉ ĩ ị ỏ ọ ồ ố ổ ỗ ộ ờ ớ ở ỡ ợ ủ ũ ụ ừ ứ ử ữ ự ỳ ỷ ỹ ỵ have no classic Alt code. Use the layout, the symbol panel, or Alt+X in Word for those.

Add the Vietnamese keyboard layout

Go to Settings → Time & Language → Language & region, add Vietnamese (or open Options under your language and add a keyboard), and choose Vietnamese Telex. Switch layouts with Win+Space. Vietnamese is usually typed with an input method rather than a layout. With Telex, you type the tone after the vowel: aa gives â, aw gives ă, ow gives ơ, dd gives đ, and s f r x j add the sắc, huyền, hỏi, ngã and nặng tones. Windows 10 and later include Vietnamese Telex; on a Mac add the Vietnamese Telex input source.

US-International dead keys

If you would rather keep a US layout, add United States-International. Press the accent key, release it, then press the letter:

• Shift+6 (^) then the letter for the circumflex (gives â)
• ` then the letter for the grave (gives à)
• ' then the letter for the acute (gives á)
• Shift+` (~) then the letter for the tilde (gives ã)
• AltGr+A gives á directly
• AltGr+E gives é directly
• AltGr+I gives í directly
• AltGr+O gives ó directly
• AltGr+U gives ú directly

Emoji and symbol panel

Press Win+., open the Symbols tab (Ω) and choose Latin symbols, or search the letter's name. Works in every app and needs no numpad.

Almost everyone types Vietnamese with an input method: Telex (aa = â, aw = ă, dd = đ, s/f/r/x/j for tones) or VNI (numbers for tones). Windows, macOS, iOS and Android all include a Vietnamese Telex keyboard.

How to type Vietnamese letters on a Mac

Press and hold

Hold a letter key for a second and a menu of accented forms appears; press the number under the one you want. On the English keyboard this covers â ê ô à á ã è é ì í ò ó õ ù ú, but not ă đ ơ ư ả ạ ằ ắ ẳ ẵ ặ ầ ấ ẩ ẫ ậ ẻ ẽ ẹ ề ế ể ễ ệ ỉ ĩ ị ỏ ọ ồ ố ổ ỗ ộ ờ ớ ở ỡ ợ ủ ũ ụ ừ ứ ử ữ ự ỳ ý ỷ ỹ ỵ.

• Hold A for à á â ä æ ã å ā
• Hold E for è é ê ë ē ė ę
• Hold O for ô ö ò ó œ ø ō õ
• Hold I for î ï í ī į ì
• Hold U for û ü ù ú ū

Option dead keys

Press the Option combination, release it, then press the letter:

• Option+I, A gives â
• Option+I, E gives ê
• Option+I, O gives ô
• Option+`, A gives à
• Option+E, A gives á
• Option+N, A gives ã
• Option+`, E gives è
• Option+E, E gives é
• Option+`, I gives ì
• Option+E, I gives í
• Option+`, O gives ò
• Option+E, O gives ó
• Option+N, O gives õ
• Option+`, U gives ù
• Option+E, U gives ú
• Option+E, Y gives ý

The breve and dot below are not on the US layout. Add ABC Extended (System Settings → Keyboard → Input Sources), which adds dead keys: Option+B for the breve, Option+X for the dot below.

Vietnamese input source and Character Viewer

For regular Vietnamese typing add Vietnamese (Telex or VNI) under System Settings → Keyboard → Input Sources and switch with Control+Space. For a one-off letter, press Control+⌘+Space to open the Character Viewer, search the letter's name and double-click it.

Unicode has precomposed forms for every combination, so they paste correctly anywhere.

How to type Vietnamese letters on iPhone, iPad and Android

1. Press and hold the base letter (A, E, O, I, U).
2. A pop-up shows the accented forms, including â ê ô à á.
3. Slide your finger onto the one you want and release. Gboard on Android works the same way.

To add the keyboard on iPhone go to Settings → General → Keyboard → Keyboards → Add New Keyboard → Vietnamese (Telex) and switch with the globe key. On Android open Gboard → Settings → Languages → Add keyboard → Vietnamese (Telex). For a letter you type often, save a shortcut under Text Replacement (iPhone) or the Personal dictionary (Gboard).

Word, Excel and Google Docs

Microsoft Word

Word has built-in accent shortcuts. Press the combination, release it, then type the letter:

• Ctrl+Shift+^, a gives â
• Ctrl+Shift+^, e gives ê
• Ctrl+Shift+^, o gives ô
• Ctrl+`, a gives à
• Ctrl+', a gives á
• Ctrl+Shift+~, a gives ã
• Ctrl+`, e gives è
• Ctrl+', e gives é
• Ctrl+`, i gives ì
• Ctrl+', i gives í
• Ctrl+`, o gives ò
• Ctrl+', o gives ó
• Ctrl+Shift+~, o gives õ
• Ctrl+`, u gives ù
• Ctrl+', u gives ú
• Ctrl+', y gives ý

For any letter, type its Unicode hex code and press Alt+X: 0103 → ă, 00E2 → â, 0111 → đ, 00EA → ê, and so on (the table above has every code). Insert → Symbol → More Symbols lists them under Latin-1 Supplement and Latin Extended-A. With AutoCorrect (File → Options → Proofing) you can make Word replace a code of your choosing, such as a~, with ă as you type.

Excel and Google Sheets

Alt codes and paste work in cells. For a formula, use =UNICHAR(259) in Excel or =CHAR(259) in Google Sheets to get ă.

Google Docs

Use Insert → Special characters and search the letter's name, or draw it in the sketch box. Docs accepts Alt codes on Windows and Option dead keys on a Mac, and Tools → Preferences → Substitutions can auto-replace a short code with the letter.

Vietnamese punctuation and other marks

Beyond the letters, Vietnamese text uses ₫ (đồng). Click to copy; the codes work the same way as for letters.

Frequently asked questions