Here’s the scenario: You’re typing a report for work when the term “Jones née Berkowitz” appears on the screen. Alternatively, you can add a statement in Spanish and use the term ‘años’. How can you use your Windows 11 PC to add special characters to letters?
Although special characters (also known as diacritics) are more common in some languages, English speakers may need to utilize them in a variety of situations. Native English speakers may not know how to add certain characters to documents, emails, or other works because they are so uncommon in English.
It’s not difficult to add them to your Windows document, though it isn’t as simple as it is on a Mac, where you simply hold down the proper key. (In fact, you should look up the symbol character codes at some point.)
When using a Windows 11 computer, there are numerous options for adding special characters:
Enabling the Windows touch keyboard is the simplest way to add diacritics to a document. If you’re using a Windows tablet or a PC in tablet mode, the touch keyboard shows automatically. If you don’t have a touchscreen, you can use the keyboard icon in the taskbar next to the date if you don’t have one. Do you not see what I mean? Here’s how to acquire it:
Now, if you wish to use a special character, do so as follows:
The Windows emoji keyboard is another keyboard you can use to easily add special characters to your text. Yes, it’s primarily for adding emoji to your text, but it may also be used for other things. It’s also simple to use.
You can utilize the Character Map, which is a less polished and more complicated version of the touch keyboard but provides a comparable function, if you wish to try a more traditional approach of introducing special characters to Windows.
To gain access to your Windows 11 system, follow these steps:
If you’re multilingual and use a lot of special characters, the US International Keyboard can help. It maps your keyboard to make it easier to type unique characters. (The tip comes from “shiroledat.”)
To begin, you must first install the US international keyboard on Windows:
You can now choose between the conventional US keyboard and the US international keyboard at any time. By looking at the date in the lower right corner of your taskbar, you can see which one is active. Either ENG / US or NL / INTL† will appear. When you click it (or press Windows key+spacebar), a pop-up menu appears, allowing you to swap from one to the other.
You can add special characters to your US International keyboard in two ways:
Washington State University has created a useful chart that lists all of the symbols available on the US International Keyboard.
Are you familiar with the character map? After selecting a letter or special character, look in the lower right corner of the character card for the words keystroke, alt, and a four-digit number. This number indicates the symbol’s Unicode value and is the time-honored method of adding characters.
If you use a few special characters frequently, it can be easier to just type the character you want using your regular keyboard. There are various options; here are two of the simplest (each with its own set of drawbacks):
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