# How to type Finnish ä and ö on an English keyboard Type Finnish ä, ö, Ä and Ö on a US keyboard. Compare Mac, Windows and Linux shortcuts and layouts, then see how Typeet adds the missing dots. Finnish writing needs **ä** and **ö**, with **Ä** and **Ö** for capitals. These are separate letters, not optional marks. A student typing *hyvää päivää* or an employee writing *työ* needs them even when the laptop came with an English keyboard. The Finnish alphabet also includes **å**, mostly used in Swedish names and text. Keep it in names such as *Åbo*. The everyday Finnish problem is usually **ä** and **ö**, but a complete typing method should let you enter all three. Names and loanwords can require other accents too. ## On a Mac ### Press and hold, or use Option Hold a for **ä** or o for **ö** and select the matching menu item. The A menu also offers **å** on the usual US input source. Menus are slow for long text and do not work in every app. On the standard US layout, use these Option shortcuts: - Option + U, then a gives **ä**. - Option + U, then o gives **ö**. - Option + U, then Shift + A gives **Ä**. - Option + U, then Shift + O gives **Ö**. - Option + A gives **å**. Release Option + U before you type the vowel. That first step selects the two-dot mark; it does not type the letter. Option + Shift + A gives **Å** directly. Use Keyboard Viewer to check your layout. Apple's [accent guide](https://support.apple.com/guide/mac-help/mh27474/mac) explains the menu and dead-key methods. ### Add an input source or pick a character Open System Settings → Keyboard → Text Input → Edit and add a Finnish input source. The Finnish layout puts ä, ö and å on direct keys, but US brackets, quotes and other punctuation move. Check the active source when you return to English. Character Viewer inserts letters, but interrupts typing. Unicode Hex Input is another built-in input source: select it, hold Option and enter 00E4 for **ä**. Codes are hard to remember. ## On Windows ### United States-International and national layouts In Windows 11, open Settings → Time & language → Language & region. Open your language's options, add a keyboard and pick United States-International. Switch layouts with Windows + Space. Type ", release it, then a for **ä** or o for **ö**. Use Shift on the vowel for **Ä** or **Ö**. For **å** in Swedish names, press AltGr + W (the right Alt key plus W). Dead keys wait for another character. To enter a literal quote or accent mark, follow that dead key with Space. A Finnish layout gives letters direct positions, but changes US punctuation. ### Alt codes and character tools Hold Alt, type the code on the numeric keypad, then release Alt: **ä** 0228; **ö** 0246; **Ä** 0196; **Ö** 0214; **å** 0229; **Å** 0197. Keep the leading zero and enable Num Lock if needed. These are Windows Western character codes, not universal Unicode shortcuts. The top number row will not work; many laptops lack a number pad. Search Start for Character Map to copy a letter. The touch keyboard also offers accented choices when you hold a letter on screen; its choices depend on the active layout. Both interrupt typing. In Word for Windows, type 00E4, then press Alt + X for **ä**. Word also has Insert → Symbol. These methods do not work in every app. Microsoft's [character-code guide](https://support.microsoft.com/word/insert-ascii-or-unicode-character-codes-in-word) lists codes and their limits. ## On Linux Add a Finnish layout in GNOME's Keyboard settings or KDE's keyboard layout settings. US international variants keep the main US letters and add dead keys or AltGr combinations. Check the variant's layout display. National layouts move punctuation; dead keys change quotes. Assign an unused key to Compose in your desktop's keyboard options, then press these keys in order: Compose, ", a gives **ä**; Compose, ", o gives **ö**; Compose, ", A gives **Ä**; Compose, o, a gives **å**. Compose needs setup and several keystrokes per letter. In GTK apps, Ctrl + Shift + U, then 00E4 and Enter enters **ä**. This Unicode method is not universal across Linux apps. Copy letters from GNOME Characters or KDE's KCharSelect if installed. KDE Plasma 6.7 and later can also show a press-and-hold menu when Plasma Keyboard is the virtual keyboard. ## Write Finnish with the US layout [Typeet](/) restores missing letters when you finish a word with a space or punctuation. You keep the English US layout and enter the word without its special letters. For example: You type: > Voisitko ostaa leipaa ja maitoa kotimatkalla? Typeet writes: > Voisitko ostaa leipää ja maitoa kotimatkalla? You type: > Lauantaina mennaan mummolaan, tuletko mukaan? Typeet writes: > Lauantaina mennään mummolaan, tuletko mukaan? It checks Finnish and English word-frequency lists and uses nearby words to choose a spelling. It does not fix typing errors or grammar. Check names and words with several spellings. On held-out Tatoeba sentences, Typeet added **99.0% of missing letters** for Finnish. In that test, 99.6% of all words were correct and 100% of English words stayed unchanged. Its list contains 263,694 words. Results vary. A separate test of *Seitsemän veljestä* by Aleksis Kivi used 80,921 words with the special letters removed and got 97.7% of words right. Press Backspace immediately after an unwanted fix to undo it. After ten undos of the same word, Typeet leaves that word alone. To switch to another spelling just after a word, press Option + Backspace on Mac or Ctrl + Backspace on Windows and Linux. Typeet works in mail, Slack, Word, browsers and other apps. Terminals and password managers are excluded by default; exclude more in Settings › Apps. Nothing you type is stored or sent anywhere. Processing stays on your computer. Typeet requires macOS 13 or later, Windows 10 or later, or Linux (.deb and .rpm packages, as an IBus input method on Wayland and X11). On Mac it asks for Accessibility permission on first launch. It is free for 14 days, then costs $19 once. Regional prices can be lower. ## Questions ### How do I type ä and ö on a US Mac? Press Option + U, release both keys, then A for ä or O for ö. Use Shift with the final vowel for Ä or Ö. ### Are a and o acceptable instead of ä and ö? They are different letters. Sää and saa are different Finnish words, so removing the dots can change the meaning. Use the correct spelling in finished work. ### Can I write English in the same message? Yes. Typeet checks both languages and the sentence. Undo an unwanted fix with Backspace immediately afterward.