How to Type French Accents on Microsoft Word 2023 ?

French is a wonderful language and learning offers numerous benefits. Things are changing and people are passionate about trying their hand in learning new foreign languages.

Thus, a lot of people have constantly asked about how to type accents on windows:

French is one of the world’s major languages. In fact, it is spoken not only in France but in various other parts of the world.

There is an ample number of ways to type French accents in Windows. You can simply choose the one that suits your preference and fits well, on your hand while you write or type French.

Fortunately, in Microsoft Word, there are numerous ways using which you can type French accents.

Here are the easiest ways on How to Type French Accents on Microsoft Word:

Table of Contents

Inserting French Keyboard

In case you frequently need to type Spanish letters and need instant access to Spanish letters, the best and the simplest way is to insert Spanish Keyboard.

Take a look at how to do the same:

From the Start menu, select Control Panel.
Choose “Region and Language” and from the box that opens up select “Keyboards and Languages.” Select “Change Keyboards.”
Now click “Add” and choose the French keyboard that you prefer. You can choose Canada or Belgium or others stated under the French language.
Click “OK.”
Now, you can easily switch between keyboard layouts, by pressing Alt+Shift.

And you are done! This is by far the most convenient and preferred method used to insert any foreign language symbols.

How to Type French Accents on Microsoft Word via Special Characters

These short-cut keys allow for the proper pronunciation of French words. French accents are a bit difficult to understand at first, but slowly with persistence, you can master them.

In the French language, there are four French accents for vowels and one accent for a consonant. Take a look at How do I get letters with accent marks in Microsoft Word:

CIRCONFLEXE– It is basically a small hat or a small arrow on the top of the vowel. All you have to do is hold the Ctrl and Shift keys and type a caret (^) and then release both the buttons and type whichever vowel you want.

Automatically, the vowel that appears will come with the small arrow, i.e. there will be a circumflex on the top of the vowel.

Acute accent– This is the most common accent used while writing French. The symbol of acute accent points to the right and in an upward direction. It only appears above the letter e, it changes the way of pronouncing e to ay.

All you have to do is just hold the Ctrl key and type an apostrophe (‘). Now simply release both keys and type the letter e. Automatically, the acute or aigu accent will appear on the top of e.

Grave accent– It also points in the upward direction but on the left side. You can put it over any vowel, but as far as pronunciation is concerned, it only changes the way the letter e is pronounced. e‘s under this accents are always pronounced as ehh.

All you have to do is hold the Ctrl key, type a grave symbol (`). Now simply release both keys and type a vowel. Automatically, the grave will appear on the top of the vowel.

CÉDILLE– It is basically a small tilted line under the letter c. It basically, converts the harsh sound of the letter c into the letter s. All you have to do is hold the Ctrl key, type a comma (,). Now release both keys and type the letter c.
TRÉMA– The symbol of tréma is basically two small lines or more precisely two small dots over the vowel. It gives preference to the second of two consecutive vowels in case both vowels are to be pronounced separately.

All you have to do is hold the Ctrl and Shift keys and type a colon (:). Now release all keys and type a vowel. Automatically, a tréma will be added to the vowel.

Keyboard Combinations

Apart from inserting a new language, there are various key combinations you can use to insert single characters into your text. Initially, they may seem difficult to remember, but once you get hold of them they may seem relatively simpler than any of the methods.

All you have to do is use the various Alt key combinations. You have to do is press the Alt key and type a certain number. There are different Alt combinations for different accents. Take a look

Acute accent– As it only appears above the letter e, so you need to type the following combination:

Alt-0233= é
Alt-0201= É

Grave accent– This can be placed over any vowel:

Alt-0224= à
Alt-0232= è
Alt-0249= ù
Alt-0242= ò
Alt-0236= ì
Alt-0192= À
Alt-0200= È
Alt-0204= Ì
Alt- 0210= Ò
Alt-0217= Ù

CIRCONFLEXE– It can be placed on the top of any vowel.

Alt-0226=â
Alt-0234=ê
Alt- 0238=î
Alt-0244=ô
Alt-0251=û
Alt-0194=Â
Alt-0202=Ê
Alt-0206=Î
Alt-0212=Ô
Alt-0219=Û

CÉDILLE– It appears only under the letter c.

Alt-0231= ç
Alt-0199=Ç

TRÉMA– Take a look:

Alt-0235= ë
Alt-0228= ä
Alt-0246= ö
Alt-0239=ï
Alt-0252= ü
Alt-0203=Ë
Alt-0207=Ï
Alt-0196= Ä
Alt-0220= Ü
Alt-0159= Ÿ

So, you can always use ALT codes and type a number every time you want to write an accent.

Putting Accents on Letters via Character Map

As far as symbols are concerned, there is no match to Character Map. It contains almost all literary characters or symbols and various foreign language characters. It is available on all Window machines for free.

Character Map can be used to insert symbols in any Microsoft Files be it PowerPoint, Word, Office, etc. Take a look at how to make use of it:

Open the PowerPoint presentation or Word file in which you want to insert Spanish characters.
Type “character map” in the Search field and press “Enter.” The Windows Character map will open up.
Character Map contains all the symbols with all the accented letters. Choose the symbol you want to insert. Click the “Select” button and then the “Copy” button.
Now simply Paste this by pressing “Ctrl + V”
In case you want to frequently insert such symbols then you can simply “Pin This Program to Taskbar” for easy access.