How to Type é, ñ, and Other Accents in Microsoft Outlook

Outlook doesn’t have a dedicated accent button — but it has several reliable ways to type é, ñ, ü, and other accented characters without interrupting your writing. This guide covers every method, from a one-time copy-paste to a permanent fix that works automatically.

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Copy and Paste (Quickest Right Now)

é É · á Á · í Í · ó Ó · ú Ú · ñ Ñ · ü Ü · ç Ç · è È · ê Ê

Click the character, copy it with Ctrl + C, and paste into your email with Ctrl + V. Works in every version of Outlook, no setup required.

You can also use our interactive Accent Character Finder to copy any accented character instantly and see keyboard shortcuts for every device.

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Method 1: AutoCorrect (Best for Regular Use)

If you type the same accented words repeatedly — café, résumé, mañana, José — AutoCorrect is the best solution on this list. You set it up once, and from that point on Outlook replaces your trigger text automatically as you type. No shortcuts to remember, no interruptions.

The other advantage: Outlook shares its AutoCorrect dictionary with Word, Excel, and the rest of the Office suite. Set it up in Outlook and it works in all of them.

Setting it up:

1. Open Outlook and start a new email
2. Go to File → Options → Mail → Spelling and Autocorrect → AutoCorrect Options
3. In the Replace field, type your trigger — something you wouldn’t type by accident, like cafe or resumen or nino
4. In the With field, type the corrected version — café, résumé, niño
5. Click Add, then OK

From now on, whenever you type your trigger and press Space or Enter, Outlook replaces it with the accented version automatically.

Suggested entries to start with:

Replace	With
cafe	café
resume	résumé
nino	niño
nina	niña
manana	mañana
senor	señor
jose	José
maria	María
fiancee	fiancée

For uppercase versions, add a separate entry: Nino → Niño, Jose → José, and so on.

One small note: AutoCorrect triggers on the whole word, so cafe won’t fire inside a longer word. But for common standalone words and names, it’s essentially invisible once it’s running.

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Method 2: US International Keyboard (Best for Frequent, Varied Accents)

If you type accented characters frequently and they vary — different characters, different languages — the US International keyboard layout is the most efficient long-term solution. It works in Outlook and every other Windows application without any per-app setup.

The layout looks identical to your standard keyboard but turns a few keys into dead keys — keys that modify the next character you type:

• ‘ then e → é
• ‘ then a → á
• ~ then n → ñ
• “ then u → ü
• ‘ then c → ç

Setting it up:

1. Go to Settings → Time & Language → Language & Region
2. Under your language, click Options
3. Under Keyboards, click Add a keyboard
4. Select United States-International
5. Switch to it using Windows key + Space

The one adjustment: typing a standalone apostrophe or quotation mark now requires pressing the key followed by Space. Minor habit change, but most people adapt within a day or two.

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Method 3: Alt Codes (For Keyboards with a Number Pad)

Alt codes are a classic Windows method. Hold the left Alt key, type the numeric code on your number pad, and release — the accented character appears in your Outlook email.

Common Alt codes for accents:

Character	Alt Code
é	Alt + 0233
É	Alt + 0201
á	Alt + 0225
ñ	Alt + 0241
Ñ	Alt + 0209
ü	Alt + 0252
ç	Alt + 0231
è	Alt + 0232
í	Alt + 0237
ó	Alt + 0243

Two things to confirm if Alt codes aren’t working: Num Lock must be on, and you need to use the dedicated numeric keypad — the number row across the top of your keyboard won’t work. If your laptop doesn’t have a number pad, Method 1 or 2 is a better fit.

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Method 4: Insert Symbol (Always Available, No Setup)

Outlook includes a built-in symbol inserter that gives you access to every accented character, in any font. It’s slower than the other methods, but it requires zero setup and is always there as a fallback.

1. In a new email, click the Insert tab in the ribbon
2. Click Symbol (far right), then More Symbols
3. In the Font dropdown, leave it on your current font
4. Find your character — you can scroll, or change the Subset dropdown to Latin Extended-A or Latin-1 Supplement to narrow it down
5. Double-click the character to insert it, then click Close

Tip: the Symbol dialog remembers recently used characters at the bottom of the window, so after the first time, your most-needed accents are one click away.

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Quick Reference

Character	AutoCorrect	US International	Alt Code
é	cafe → café	‘ then e	Alt + 0233
á	(your trigger)	‘ then a	Alt + 0225
ñ	nino → niño	~ then n	Alt + 0241
ü	(your trigger)	” then u	Alt + 0252
ç	(your trigger)	‘ then c	Alt + 0231
è	(your trigger)	` then e	Alt + 0232

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Which Method Is Right for You?

If you…	Best method
Need an accent right now	Copy and paste
Type the same words repeatedly	AutoCorrect
Type varied accents across many apps	US International keyboard
Have a number pad and type accents occasionally	Alt codes
Need a one-off character in a specific font	Insert → Symbol

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Conclusion

You don’t need a special keyboard or a language switch to type accents in Outlook. AutoCorrect is the best long-term solution for anyone writing the same words regularly — set it up once and it disappears into the background. For varied accents across many applications, the US International keyboard is worth the ten-minute setup. And when you just need one character right now, the copy-paste section above is always there.

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Need accents in other Office applications? The same AutoCorrect dictionary and Alt codes work in Word, Excel, and PowerPoint. For a full reference of shortcuts across every platform, see our Windows Alt Codes guide and US International Keyboard Layout guide.