How to Type Accents on Chromebooks and in Google Docs

Typing accented letters on a Chromebook or in Google Docs isn’t as tricky as it might seem. Whether you’re writing a résumé, adding a café to your itinerary, or learning Spanish, you can use built-in shortcuts and special tools to get every accent right.

1. Using the U.S. International Keyboard on a Chromebook

Click the time in the lower-right corner of your screen.
Select the gear icon ⚙️ → Settings → Device → Keyboard → Change input settings.
Under Input Method, click Add input method.
Choose English (US) → US International Keyboard and click Add.
Back in the status area, select the keyboard icon and switch to US International.

Now you can type accents directly:

’ + a → á
" + u → ü
` + e → è
~ + n → ñ
^ + o → ô

(Press the accent key first, then the letter.)

💡 Tip: To type the accent mark itself (for example, an apostrophe), press the accent key followed by space.

2. Using Alt Codes (on External Keyboards Only)

If your Chromebook is connected to a Windows or Mac keyboard, you can often use standard Alt codes:

Hold Alt, type a number code (e.g., Alt + 130 for é), and release.

But this only works if you’ve enabled Unicode input in Developer Mode — so for most users, the U.S. International keyboard is simpler and safer.

3. Typing Accents in Google Docs

Google Docs gives you multiple ways to insert accents, no matter what computer you’re using.

🅐 Insert → Special Characters

Go to Insert → Special characters.
Type “a with acute” or “e with circumflex” in the search bar.
Click the letter you want — it appears instantly in your document.

🅑 Drawing Method

In the same Special characters box, click Draw a character here and sketch the letter with the accent you need. Docs will recognize it and offer matches.

🅒 Keyboard Shortcuts (Mac/Chromebook)

On MacBooks and some Chromebooks, press and hold a letter to bring up accent choices. Example:

Hold a → choose á, à, â, ä, etc.

4. Chrome Extensions That Help

If you type accented letters often, try one of these free add-ons:

Easy Accent Marks — Adds a toolbar for inserting characters.
Google Input Tools — Switch keyboard layouts for dozens of languages.
Accent Typing Helper — Quick pop-up accent selection for any text field.

You can install any of them from the Chrome Web Store → Extensions.

For other devices, check out our guides for typing accents on Windows and Mac, iPhone and iPad, or browse our complete Windows Alt Codes reference.

5. Quick Reference Table

Accent	Windows / External Keyboard	Chromebook (U.S. Intl.)	Google Docs
á	Alt + 160	`'` + a	Insert → “a with acute”
é	Alt + 130	`'` + e	Insert → “e with acute”
í	Alt + 161	`'` + i	Insert → “i with acute”
ó	Alt + 162	`'` + o	Insert → “o with acute”
ú	Alt + 163	`'` + u	Insert → “u with acute”
ñ	Alt + 164	`~` + n	Insert → “n with tilde”

✅ Final Tip

Bookmark this page or add it to your Google Docs shortcuts — it’ll save you time when writing in Spanish, French, Portuguese, or any language with accented letters.

And if you use iPhone, iPad, Windows, or Mac, check out our other guides below for complete coverage.