These are some keyboard layouts for Microsoft Windows that allow you to type accented letters from languages such as French, German, Spanish, and Italian.
They are all based on the QWERTY keyboard, which is standard in the US and Australia.Options
- Right Alt
- Hold the right Alt key and press a letter
Best for German and special symbols
Right Alt+o = ó, Right Alt+p = ö, Right Alt+s = ß, Right Alt+5 = €, etc. Full list - Word
- Hold the Ctrl key and press a punctuation key then press a letter
Best for anyone familiar with the way Microsoft Word does it
Ctrl+' then o = ó, Ctrl+: then o = ö, Ctrl+Shift+&+s = ß, etc. Full list - Grave
- Press the ` key then press a letter to get an letter with a grave accent
Only useful if you won't be typing umlauts, acute accents, or other special characters
` then a = à, etc.
Instructions
- Double click on the file that gets downloaded
- Double click on the setup file inside
- Click on Start, then Settings, then Control Panel
- Double click on Language and Regional Options
(This might be hidden under Date, Time, Language, and Regional Options) - Click on the Languages tab
- Click the Add... button
- Click on the arrow on the Keyboard layout/IME drop-down list
- Select the name of the keyboard layout you downloaded
(e.g. United States with Microsoft Word-style accents)