French Keyboard Online: Type French Accents & Letters

About French letters

French uses the acute, grave, circumflex, diaeresis and cedilla, plus the œ ligature.

On Windows the US-International layout types accents with dead keys (press ' then e for é); on a Mac, Option+E then E gives é and the French layout puts é, è, ç and à on the number row.

Accents on capitals are correct French typography even though older keyboards made them hard to type.

Name	Unicode	Alt code	Word (Alt+X)	Mac	Word shortcut	HTML
A with Grave Accent	U+00E0	Alt+0224	00E0	Option+`, A	Ctrl+`, a	à
A with Circumflex	U+00E2	Alt+0226	00E2	Option+I, A	Ctrl+Shift+^, a	â
ae ligature	U+00E6	Alt+0230	00E6	Option+'	Ctrl+Shift+&, a	æ
C with Cedilla	U+00E7	Alt+0231	00E7	Option+C	Ctrl+,, c	ç
E with Acute Accent	U+00E9	Alt+0233	00E9	Option+E, E	Ctrl+', e	é
E with Grave Accent	U+00E8	Alt+0232	00E8	Option+`, E	Ctrl+`, e	è
E with Circumflex	U+00EA	Alt+0234	00EA	Option+I, E	Ctrl+Shift+^, e	ê
E with Diaeresis	U+00EB	Alt+0235	00EB	Option+U, E	Ctrl+Shift+:, e	ë
I with Circumflex	U+00EE	Alt+0238	00EE	Option+I, I	Ctrl+Shift+^, i	î
I with Diaeresis	U+00EF	Alt+0239	00EF	Option+U, I	Ctrl+Shift+:, i	ï
O with Circumflex	U+00F4	Alt+0244	00F4	Option+I, O	Ctrl+Shift+^, o	ô
oe ligature	U+0153	Alt+0156	0153	Option+Q	Ctrl+Shift+&, o	&oelig;
U with Grave Accent	U+00F9	Alt+0249	00F9	Option+`, U	Ctrl+`, u	ù
U with Circumflex	U+00FB	Alt+0251	00FB	Option+I, U	Ctrl+Shift+^, u	û
U with Diaeresis	U+00FC	Alt+0252	00FC	Option+U, U	Ctrl+Shift+:, u	ü
Y with Diaeresis	U+00FF	Alt+0255	00FF	Option+U, Y	Ctrl+Shift+:, y	ÿ
Capital A with Grave Accent	U+00C0	Alt+0192	00C0	Option+`, Shift+A	Ctrl+`, Shift+A	À
Capital A with Circumflex	U+00C2	Alt+0194	00C2	Option+I, Shift+A	Ctrl+Shift+^, Shift+A	Â
AE Ligature	U+00C6	Alt+0198	00C6	Option+Shift+'	Ctrl+Shift+&, Shift+A	Æ
Capital C with Cedilla	U+00C7	Alt+0199	00C7	Option+Shift+C	Ctrl+,, Shift+C	Ç
Capital E with Acute Accent	U+00C9	Alt+0201	00C9	Option+E, Shift+E	Ctrl+', Shift+E	É
Capital E with Grave Accent	U+00C8	Alt+0200	00C8	Option+`, Shift+E	Ctrl+`, Shift+E	È
Capital E with Circumflex	U+00CA	Alt+0202	00CA	Option+I, Shift+E	Ctrl+Shift+^, Shift+E	Ê
Capital E with Diaeresis	U+00CB	Alt+0203	00CB	Option+U, Shift+E	Ctrl+Shift+:, Shift+E	Ë
Capital I with Circumflex	U+00CE	Alt+0206	00CE	Option+I, Shift+I	Ctrl+Shift+^, Shift+I	Î
Capital I with Diaeresis	U+00CF	Alt+0207	00CF	Option+U, Shift+I	Ctrl+Shift+:, Shift+I	Ï
Capital O with Circumflex	U+00D4	Alt+0212	00D4	Option+I, Shift+O	Ctrl+Shift+^, Shift+O	Ô
OE Ligature	U+0152	Alt+0140	0152	Option+Shift+Q	Ctrl+Shift+&, Shift+O	&OElig;
Capital U with Grave Accent	U+00D9	Alt+0217	00D9	Option+`, Shift+U	Ctrl+`, Shift+U	Ù
Capital U with Circumflex	U+00DB	Alt+0219	00DB	Option+I, Shift+U	Ctrl+Shift+^, Shift+U	Û
Capital U with Diaeresis	U+00DC	Alt+0220	00DC	Option+U, Shift+U	Ctrl+Shift+:, Shift+U	Ü
Capital Y with Diaeresis	U+0178	Alt+0159	0178	Option+U, Shift+Y	Ctrl+Shift+:, Shift+Y	&Yuml;

Letter

Name

Unicode

Alt code

Word (Alt+X)

Mac

Word shortcut

HTML

A with Grave Accent

U+00E0

Alt+0224

00E0

Option+`, A

Ctrl+`, a

A with Circumflex

U+00E2

Alt+0226

00E2

Option+I, A

Ctrl+Shift+^, a

ae ligature

U+00E6

Alt+0230

00E6

Option+'

Ctrl+Shift+&, a

C with Cedilla

U+00E7

Alt+0231

00E7

Option+C

Ctrl+,, c

E with Acute Accent

U+00E9

Alt+0233

00E9

Option+E, E

Ctrl+', e

E with Grave Accent

U+00E8

Alt+0232

00E8

Option+`, E

Ctrl+`, e

E with Circumflex

U+00EA

Alt+0234

00EA

Option+I, E

Ctrl+Shift+^, e

E with Diaeresis

U+00EB

Alt+0235

00EB

Option+U, E

Ctrl+Shift+:, e

I with Circumflex

U+00EE

Alt+0238

00EE

Option+I, I

Ctrl+Shift+^, i

I with Diaeresis

U+00EF

Alt+0239

00EF

Option+U, I

Ctrl+Shift+:, i

O with Circumflex

U+00F4

Alt+0244

00F4

Option+I, O

Ctrl+Shift+^, o

oe ligature

U+0153

Alt+0156

0153

Option+Q

Ctrl+Shift+&, o

&oelig;

U with Grave Accent

U+00F9

Alt+0249

00F9

Option+`, U

Ctrl+`, u

U with Circumflex

U+00FB

Alt+0251

00FB

Option+I, U

Ctrl+Shift+^, u

U with Diaeresis

U+00FC

Alt+0252

00FC

Option+U, U

Ctrl+Shift+:, u

Y with Diaeresis

U+00FF

Alt+0255

00FF

Option+U, Y

Ctrl+Shift+:, y

Capital A with Grave Accent

U+00C0

Alt+0192

00C0

Option+`, Shift+A

Ctrl+`, Shift+A

Capital A with Circumflex

U+00C2

Alt+0194

00C2

Option+I, Shift+A

Ctrl+Shift+^, Shift+A

AE Ligature

U+00C6

Alt+0198

00C6

Option+Shift+'

Ctrl+Shift+&, Shift+A

Capital C with Cedilla

U+00C7

Alt+0199

00C7

Option+Shift+C

Ctrl+,, Shift+C

Capital E with Acute Accent

U+00C9

Alt+0201

00C9

Option+E, Shift+E

Ctrl+', Shift+E

Capital E with Grave Accent

U+00C8

Alt+0200

00C8

Option+`, Shift+E

Ctrl+`, Shift+E

Capital E with Circumflex

U+00CA

Alt+0202

00CA

Option+I, Shift+E

Ctrl+Shift+^, Shift+E

Capital E with Diaeresis

U+00CB

Alt+0203

00CB

Option+U, Shift+E

Ctrl+Shift+:, Shift+E

Capital I with Circumflex

U+00CE

Alt+0206

00CE

Option+I, Shift+I

Ctrl+Shift+^, Shift+I

Capital I with Diaeresis

U+00CF

Alt+0207

00CF

Option+U, Shift+I

Ctrl+Shift+:, Shift+I

Capital O with Circumflex

U+00D4

Alt+0212

00D4

Option+I, Shift+O

Ctrl+Shift+^, Shift+O

OE Ligature

U+0152

Alt+0140

0152

Option+Shift+Q

Ctrl+Shift+&, Shift+O

&OElig;

Capital U with Grave Accent

U+00D9

Alt+0217

00D9

Option+`, Shift+U

Ctrl+`, Shift+U

Capital U with Circumflex

U+00DB

Alt+0219

00DB

Option+I, Shift+U

Ctrl+Shift+^, Shift+U

Capital U with Diaeresis

U+00DC

Alt+0220

00DC

Option+U, Shift+U

Ctrl+Shift+:, Shift+U

Capital Y with Diaeresis

U+0178

Alt+0159

0178

Option+U, Shift+Y

Ctrl+Shift+:, Shift+Y

&Yuml;

How to switch your keyboard to French

Windows

Open Settings → Time & Language → Language & region, add French (or open the options for your language and add the French (France) or United States-International keyboard). Switch layouts with Win+Space. The current layout is shown next to the clock.

Mac

Open System Settings → Keyboard → Input Sources → Edit, click +, and add French or ABC Extended. Switch with Control+Space or from the input menu in the menu bar. Turn on Show Input menu in menu bar to see which layout is active.

iPhone and iPad

Open Settings → General → Keyboard → Keyboards → Add New Keyboard and choose French. Switch by holding the globe key on the keyboard.

Android

In Gboard, open Settings → Languages → Add keyboard and choose French (France). Switch by holding the space bar or tapping the globe key.

Frequently asked questions

How do I type French letters on an English keyboard? +

Press and hold the base letter on a Mac or phone to see accented versions, use the Option dead keys on a Mac, the US-International layout or Alt codes on Windows, or click the letters on this page to build your text and copy it.

Which keyboard layout should I add for French? +

Windows: French (France) or United States-International. Mac: French or ABC Extended. iPhone: French. Android (Gboard): French (France).

Will French characters copied from here work in Word, Google Docs and social media? +

Yes. They are standard Unicode characters, so they paste as real text into any app that supports Unicode, which includes Word, Docs, Excel, WhatsApp, Instagram and email.

Do French letters have Alt codes? +

Many do. The table on this page lists the Windows Alt code for each letter that has one; letters without a code can be typed in Word by entering the Unicode hex value and pressing Alt+X.

French keyboard online