Tips on how to sort particular characters on a Home windows 11 PC

Right here’s the state of affairs: you’re typing a report for work, and also you immediately have to jot down the phrase “Jones née Berkowitz.” Or you’re including a phrase in Spanish and want to make use of the phrase “años.” How do you add the particular characters to the letters together with your Home windows 11 PC?

Particular characters (often known as diacritical marks) could also be extra widespread in sure languages, however there are many circumstances through which English audio system may have to make use of them. However as a result of they’re so uncommon in English, native English audio system could not have realized find out how to add these marks to paperwork, emails, or different writings. It’s not troublesome so as to add them to your Home windows doc, though it’s not fairly as clean an operation as on a Mac, the place all it’s important to do is maintain the suitable key down. (In truth, as soon as upon a time, you’ll have needed to lookup the image character codes.)

Listed below are varied methods so as to add particular characters while you’re utilizing a Home windows 11 laptop.

Use the contact keyboard

The best approach so as to add diacritical marks to a doc is to allow the Home windows contact keyboard. (Because of Ed Bott from ZDNet for first main me to this methodology.) The contact keyboard mechanically seems should you’re utilizing a Home windows pill or a PC in pill mode. If you happen to don’t have a touchscreen, you need to use the keyboard icon that seems within the taskbar on the proper aspect close to the date. Don’t see it? That is the way you get it:

• Click on on the search icon within the toolbar and seek for “contact keyboard.” Or go to Settings > Time & language > Typing > Contact keyboard.
• Examine Present the contact keyboard when there’s no keyboard hooked up.

Now, while you need to use a particular character:

• Click on on the contact keyboard icon. (You’ll often discover it on the proper aspect of the taskbar.)
• The contact keyboard will seem. Lengthy press (together with your mouse button or, when you have a touchscreen, your finger) on the letter you need to use.
• You’ll now see a number of further keys exhibiting the methods you may sort that letter with totally different symbols. Choose the one you need, and it’ll seem in your doc.
• If you wish to add an emoji or a GIF, click on on the emoji button. (It’s the icon with the center situated on the higher left of the keyboard.)

Use the emoji keyboard

One other keyboard you could entry and that may allow you to simply add particular characters to your textual content is Home windows’ emoji keyboard. Sure, it’s primarily for including emojis to your textual content, but it surely’s acquired different makes use of as effectively. And it’s easy to make use of.

• Maintain down the Home windows key and hit the interval key.
• The emoji keyboard will pop up. Click on on the symbols tab on high (the fourth from the left).

The emoji keyboard additionally permits you to entry particular characters.

• Scroll down till you discover the character you need. You too can leap to varied forms of characters through the use of the classes (reminiscent of “Basic punctuation” or “Forex symbols”) on high.

Use the character map

If you happen to’d wish to strive a extra old school methodology of including particular characters to Home windows, you need to use the character map, which is a much less polished and extra sophisticated model of the contact keyboard however gives an identical service.

To entry it in your Home windows 11 system:

• Choose the search icon in your taskbar, sort “character” in your search subject, after which choose the Character Map app.
• You’ll get a pop-up map exhibiting a bunch of particular characters for a particular font. You may change the font by clicking on the drop-down font menu on the high.

• Click on on the letter(s) or particular characters that you simply need to use in your doc, after which click on on the “Choose” button. They’ll seem within the Characters to repeat subject.
• When you’ve chosen all of the characters you need, click on on the Copy button, after which paste the character(s) into your doc.

Use the US Worldwide Keyboard

If you happen to’re an English speaker who’s multilingual and makes use of particular characters loads, chances are you’ll need to strive the US Worldwide Keyboard, which maps your keyboard to extra simply will let you add particular characters. (Because of “shiroledat” for the tip.)

First, you want to add the US Worldwide Keyboard to Home windows:

• Go to Settings > Time & Language > Language & area.
• Search for Most well-liked languages and (assuming you’re an English speaker within the US) click on on English (United States). Then choose the three dots on the proper and select Language choices.
• Search for the Keyboards part, which (should you’ve by no means been there earlier than) will most likely solely comprise a single keyboard icon labeled US / QWERTY. That’s the keyboard map you’re now utilizing. Click on on the Add a keyboard button to the proper of Put in keyboards.

• Within the pop-up menu that seems, scroll to United States-Worldwide / QWERTY and click on on it.

Now, you at all times have the selection of utilizing both the usual US keyboard or the US Worldwide Keyboard. You may see which one is energetic within the lower-right aspect of your taskbar close to the date. It should both learn ENG / US or ENG / INTL. Click on on that (or simply hit Home windows key+area bar) and a pop-up menu will allow you to change from one to the opposite.

The US Worldwide Keyboard provides you two methods so as to add a particular character:

• Use the right-hand Alt key together with the suitable letter to get one of many extra widespread combos. For instance, Alt+e will lead to é.
• Press the image you need to use after which the letter you need to use it with. For instance, should you first press the ~ image after which the n key, you’ll get ñ.

Washington State College has revealed a helpful chart exhibiting the entire symbols you will get utilizing the US Worldwide Keyboard.

Use the Unicode worth

Keep in mind the character map? If you happen to have a look at the decrease right-hand nook of the character map after you’ve chosen a letter or particular character, you’ll see the phrase Keystroke adopted by Alt and a four-digit quantity. This quantity represents the Unicode worth of the image, and it’s the time-honored normal for including characters.

If you happen to use a couple of particular characters persistently, it may be sooner to easily add the character you need utilizing your traditional keyboard. There are a number of methods to do that; listed here are two of the best (every of which has its limitations):

• Press the Alt key after which sort the four-digit Unicode worth. For this to work, you want to have a separate quantity pad in your keyboard, and the NumLock key needs to be enabled.
• If you happen to’re working with Microsoft Phrase, WordPad, Outlook, or one other Microsoft app, you may sort within the Unicode worth after which sort Alt-X.
• You too can press the Management key plus a logo after which the letter you need to accent. For instance, Ctrl+’ and e will lead to é — assuming you’re in a Microsoft app.