# How to type Norwegian letters æ ø å on an English keyboard
Type Norwegian æ, ø, å and capital forms on an English keyboard. Compare Mac, Windows and Linux methods and Typeet for daily work messages.
Norwegian has three extra alphabet letters: **æ, ø** and **å**, plus **Æ, Ø** and **Å**. You need them for words such as *brød*, *kjøpe* and *på*. An English keyboard can enter them, but a laptop from the US will not show where to find them.
Both Bokmål and Nynorsk use these letters. Their keyboard input is the same, even though the written forms of many words differ. **Ø** is a letter with a stroke, not a zero or an empty-set sign. Names can contain other accents, so copy a person's exact spelling.
## On a Mac
### Press and hold, or use Option
Hold a for **æ** or **å**, or o for **ø**, and select the letter or its menu number. Use Shift for the capitals. Menus are slow for long text and do not work in every app.
On the standard US layout, use these Option shortcuts:
- Option + apostrophe gives **æ**.
- Option + O gives **ø**.
- Option + A gives **å**.
- Option + Shift + apostrophe gives **Æ**.
- Option + Shift + O gives **Ø**.
- Option + Shift + A gives **Å**.
These are direct shortcuts on the US layout. Keep Option down while you press the other key, then release both. You do not need to enter another letter afterward. 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 Norwegian input source. The Norwegian layout places æ, ø and å on dedicated positions, replacing US punctuation. It differs from Danish in the positions of æ and ø. 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 00E6 for **æ**. 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.
United States-International puts these letters on the right Alt key, also called AltGr: AltGr + Z gives **æ**, AltGr + L gives **ø** and AltGr + W gives **å**. Add Shift for **Æ, Ø** and **Å**. Linux variants with similar names can map these keys differently.
The layout also turns quote and accent keys into dead keys, which wait for another character. To enter a literal quote, follow it with Space. A Norwegian layout gives the letters their own keys, but changes US punctuation.
### Alt codes and character tools
Hold Alt, type the code on the numeric keypad, then release Alt:
**æ** 0230; **ø** 0248; **å** 0229; **Æ** 0198; **Ø** 0216; **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 00E6, then press Alt + X for **æ**. 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 Norwegian 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, e gives **æ**; Compose, /, o gives **ø**; Compose, o, a gives **å**; Compose, /, O gives **Ø**.
Compose needs setup and several keystrokes per letter. In GTK apps, Ctrl + Shift + U, then 00E6 and Enter enters **æ**. 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 Norwegian 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:
> Kan du kjope brod og melk pa vei hjem?
Typeet writes:
> Kan du kjøpe brød og melk på vei hjem?
You type:
> Pa lordag drar vi til bestemor, blir du med?
Typeet writes:
> På lørdag drar vi til bestemor, blir du med?
It checks Norwegian 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 **97.1% of missing letters** for Norwegian. In that test, 99.5% of all words were correct and 100% of English words stayed unchanged. Its list contains 93,464 words. Results vary. A separate test of *Eventyr* by P. Chr. Asbjørnsen og Jørgen Moe used 39,331 words with the special letters removed and got 96.6% 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 æ on a US laptop?
On a US Mac layout, use Option + apostrophe. On Windows with US-International, press AltGr + Z; with a number pad, Alt + 0230 also works. Linux Compose followed by lowercase a then e produces **æ**.
### Does a Danish layout work for Norwegian?
It contains the same three extra letters, but æ and ø occupy different positions. Choose Norwegian if you want the usual Norwegian key positions.
### Can I write English in the same message?
Yes. Typeet checks both languages and the sentence. Undo an unwanted fix with Backspace immediately afterward.