Insert an Accent Mark in Microsoft Word

Two Methods for Inserting an Accent Mark in Microsoft Word

If you need to add an accent mark to a letter or word in Microsoft Word, there are two methods you can choose from for inserting the accent mark. You can insert an accent mark by using the accent key on the keyboard or you can insert the accent mark by selecting an accented letter symbol. No matter which method you select, inserting an accent in Word takes a little time. These are easy, but slightly more time consuming ways, of inserting accents. People who type in languages that require inserting many accent marks regularly will want to learn the ASCII or UNICODE codes, or some keyboard shortcuts, or even use a different keyboard language setting, like US International, to insert them more quickly.

Method 1: Insert an Accent Mark Using the Keyboard

One way you can add an accent mark to a letter in Word is by using the accent grave mark on the keyboard. The accent mark is located over the Tab key and beneath the Escape key on the keyboard. This method requires you to press three keys at the same time.

To Type Accent Grave

1. Open the Microsoft Word document that has a letter or word you want to add an accent mark to.
2. Point your mouse to the place in the document that you want to insert an accented letter.
3. Hold down the Control key, the letter you want to accent, and the Accent key at the same time. The accented letter will appear in your document. For example, if you wanted to accent the letter “u” in the French word for where, the word would be typed as “Où.”
4. Click the Save icon located beside the Office Button to save the changes you made.

To Type Accent Aigu

1. Hold down the Control key, then push the Apostrophe key and the letter you need the accent over. For example, type the Spanish word for “here” by holding down Control and Apostrophe and the letter “i”: aquí

Method 2: Insert an Accent Mark Using Symbols

Another method of inserting an accent mark in Microsoft Word is to select an accented letter from the Symbols menu available in Word. This may be easier if you don’t want to have to worry about pressing three keys at once. It is also useful if several options

1. Open Word and point your mouse to the place in your document that you want to add an accented letter.
2. Select the Insert tab from the Word ribbon. You can insert images, characters, and symbols in your document here.
3. Look to the Symbols section of the ribbon and click the Symbol button. A menu will open that includes list of symbols; select More Symbols from the menu to open up a box with all the symbols you can insert in Word.
4. There are two drop downs, one is for font, the other is for subset. Click the one next to Subset. When the Subset menu opens, select Latin Extended-A. This will open the symbols that have accented letters so you won’t have to scroll through the entire symbol list to find them.
5. Select an accented letter from the menu and click Insert. Repeat this if you want to insert more accented letters. After you insert all the accented letters needed, click Close to close the Symbols window.
6. Save your document after you have finished inserting accent symbols. Click the Save icon located between the Office Button and the Quick Access Toolbar.