Type European languages (accents/umlauts) on English computer keyboards

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< Up	Life / Computer / European
Type Western European languages a computer in the UK


Sections:	ANSI codes
	Shortcuts / combined keys
	Alternative keyboards
	HTML code
	Software
	Links

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ANSI CODES

While you hold down the "Alt" key (on the left of the space bar on the keyboard), type a four-digit number from the table below (you must use the keys on the "numeric keypad", which is on the right of the keyboard, and the "Num Lock" light must be on). The character should appear when the "Alt" key is released. For example, to enter the character à you press the "Alt" key and type 0224 on the numeric keypad. Note that the codes for capital letters (upper case) are 32 less than the codes for small letters (lower case), so for À press "Alt" and type 0192 (192 = 224-32).

à 0224 0192	á 0225 0193	â 0226 0194	ã 0227 0195	ä 0228 0196	å 0229 0197	æ 0230 0198	ç 0231 0199
è 0232 0200	é 0233 0201	ê 0234 0202	ë 0235 0203	ì 0236 0204	í 0237 0205	î 0238 0206	ï 0239 0207
ð 0240 0208	ñ 0241 0209	ò 0242 0210	ó 0243 0211	ô 0244 0212	õ 0245 0213	ö 0246 0214	ø 0248 0216
ù 0249 0217	ú 0250 0218	û 0251 0219	ü 0252 0220	ý 0253 0221	þ 0254 0222	EUROPEAN CHARACTERS Alt + #### Small letters Capital letters
¿ 0191	¡ 0161	« 0171	» 0187	ÿ 0255	ß 0223

To open this table in a new window (so that you can see it when typing a message), click here

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SHORTCUTS / COMBINED KEYS

Some computers / programs allow the most common characters to be entered using a shortcut, which is a combination of several keys. For example, try using <Ctrl + Shift + a> or <Alt Gr + a> to obtain à. To enter characters with umlauts (ä, ö or ü), try typing <Ctrl + ;> then release these keys and type the vowel (a, o or u).

The symbol for the euro (€) is obtained on a British keyboard by pressing the "Alt Gr" key and 4 at the same time. If this doesn't work, use the letter E.

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ALTERNATIVE KEYBOARDS

To install the keyboard layout for another language on a British PC running Windows:
Start - Settings - Control Panel - Keyboard - Language or Input Locales - Add; select language and click OK

A program can be downloaded for free which will allow you to display a virtual keyboard on the screen which shows the places of the new letters on the keyboard.
For instructions, see: http://office.microsoft.com/downloads/2000/viskeyboard.aspx
Once installed, you can display a visual keyboard as follows:
Start - Programs - Microsoft Office Tools - Microsoft Visual Keyboard

To buy a keyboard with both English and Russian Cyrillic characters, see: http://www.geocities.com/russianuk1/NEWKEYBOARDPAGE.html

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HTML CODE

To show à in a web page written using HTML, type "à" in the code. For other European characters, replace "agrave" with the letters shown in the table below (always remember to put a "&" before and a ";" after this).

à agrave	á aacute	â acirc	ã atilde	ä auml	å aring	æ aelig	ç ccedil
è egrave	é eacute	ê ecirc	ë euml	ì igrave	í iacute	î icirc	ï iuml
ð eth	ñ ntilde	ò ograve	ó oacute	ô ocirc	õ otilde	ö ouml	ø oslash
ù ugrave	ú uacute	û ucirc	ü uuml	ý yacute	þ thorn	EUROPEAN CHARACTERS IN HTML &#; replace # with letters shown
¿ iquest	¡ iexcl	« laquo	» raquo	ÿ yuml	ß szlig

SOFTWARE

A tool for inputting European characters called LangPad can be bought from WISCO Computing: http://www.langpad.com

LINKS

Return to the Computer page: Life/Computer
UK links for people from Western Europe: Links/WestEurope
UK links for people from Eastern Europe: Links/EastEurope

Home page: Home

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