Mac special characters
Find the keys for °, €, #, é, and every other Option-key character, or click to copy one.
Click any character to copy it. Keys are shown for the US keyboard layout.
Type it with the keyboard
Accented letters
Press the keys, let go, then type the letter. For é, press ⌥E, then E.
- ⌥` then a letter à è ì ò ù À È Ò
- ⌥E then a letter á é í ó ú Á É Ó
- ⌥U then a letter ä ë ï ö ü ÿ Ä Ë Ö
- ⌥I then a letter â ê î ô û Â Ê Ô
- ⌥N then a letter ã õ ñ Ã Õ
Symbols with no shortcut
How the Option key works
Every key on a Mac keyboard types a second character when you hold ⌥ (Option), and a third with ⌥ ⇧. So ⌥G types ©, and ⌥⇧8 types °. Which character depends on your keyboard layout; the US and British layouts differ for a few, like £, €, and #.
Accents
Some Option combinations add an accent to the next letter instead of typing a character. Press ⌥E, let go, then press E to get é. You can also hold down a letter key in most apps to see its accented versions.
Finding any other character
- Press ⌃⌘Space, or fn (Globe) on recent keyboards, to open the Character Viewer.
- Type the character’s name, like “arrow” or “check”, and double-click it to insert it.
Which layout do I have?
Open System Settings → Keyboard and look under Text Input. Keys on this page are named by their position on a US keyboard, which matches British keyboards for letters and numbers.
Updated 25 September 2026