# How to type Italian accents on an English keyboard Type à, è, é, ì, ò, ù and capital È on an English keyboard. Compare Mac, Windows and Linux shortcuts, then see Typeet restore missing accents. Italian commonly needs **à, è, é, ì, ò** and **ù**. A US keyboard hides all six, including **È** at the start of a sentence. If you study Italian or write to an Italian office, you need a method that lets you write *perché* and *città* without stopping to copy a letter. The grave accent in **è** and the acute accent in **é** are different. *Caffè* takes the first; *perché* takes the second. An apostrophe does not replace an accent: **È** is not **E'**. Keep real apostrophes in words that need them, such as *un po'*. ## On a Mac ### Press and hold, or use Option Hold a vowel and select the accented form. The e menu gives you a choice between **è** and **é**. Use Shift for the capital menu. Menus are slow for long text and do not work in every app. On the standard US layout, use these Option shortcuts: - Option + `, then a gives **à**. - Option + `, then e gives **è**. - Option + E, then e gives **é**. - Option + `, then i gives **ì**. - Option + `, then o gives **ò**. - Option + `, then u gives **ù**. For **È**, enter Option + `, release, then type Shift + E. The accent goes on the next letter, so you must finish the sequence before you continue the word. 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 an Italian input source. The Italian layout gives the common accented vowels their own positions, but punctuation moves. Capital È may still need a separate sequence or the character picker. 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 00C8 for **È**. 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 ` followed by a vowel for **à, è, ì, ò** or **ù**. Use ' followed by e for **é**. Use Shift on the vowel for a capital, including **È**. Dead keys wait for another character. To enter a literal quote or accent mark, follow that dead key with Space. A Italian 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: **à** 0224; **è** 0232; **é** 0233; **ì** 0236; **ò** 0242; **ù** 0249; **È** 0200; **É** 0201. 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 00C8, then press Alt + X for **È**. 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 an Italian 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 **à**; Compose, `, e gives **è**; Compose, ', e gives **é**; Compose, `, E gives **È**. Compose needs setup and several keystrokes per letter. In GTK apps, Ctrl + Shift + U, then 00C8 and Enter enters **È**. 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 Italian 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: > Domani mattina ho il dentista, arrivo un po' piu tardi. Typeet writes: > Domani mattina ho il dentista, arrivo un po' più tardi. You type: > Venerdi sera andiamo in citta, perche non vieni anche tu? Typeet writes: > Venerdì sera andiamo in città, perché non vieni anche tu? It checks Italian 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 **97.0% of missing letters** for Italian. In that test, 99.6% of all words were correct and 100% of English words stayed unchanged. Its list contains 100,960 words. Results vary. A separate test of *Le avventure di Pinocchio* by Carlo Collodi used 41,619 words with the special letters removed and got 96.4% 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 capital È on an English keyboard? Use Option + `, then Shift + E on a US Mac layout. On Windows, hold Alt and enter 0200 on the number pad. Character Map can supply È on a laptop without one. ### Can I write e' instead of è? Use è in finished Italian text. The apostrophe is a separate mark and does not give the word the correct spelling. ### Can I write English in the same message? Yes. Typeet checks both languages and the sentence. Undo an unwanted fix with Backspace immediately afterward.