How to put accents on non-Spanish keyboard
Accents are orthographic signs that help identify where the pronunciation stress of a word in Spanish lies. As expected, they are available on virtually all keyboards, but when they are not in Spanish, it can be a bit difficult to use the spelling tool and you must know the shortcuts to enter them.
When looking for the definition of tilde on the internet, the results indicate that it is defined as a diacritical auxiliary orthographic sign that, used in the Spanish language, is used on vowels to denote graphic accentuation. Besides, it is also indicated that, being a sign, that line that is located on the letter n to form the ñ is also called and used as a tilde.
However, what brings us to this space is the problem that it implies for users who must manage a computer that is not configured in Spanish, so instead of the well-known tilde key (´) we find any another spelling sign when pressed.
Fortunately, to solve this problem in one of the most used operating systems in the world: Windows, there are a couple of basic shortcuts of the OS itself with which you can use the spelling tool in your vowels whenever you need it and regardless of what language the keyboard is set to.
Keyboard shortcuts for accents
There are several methods you can quickly master to learn how to accent on the keyboard , in case the model you’re working with doesn’t have the layout you’re used to.
Next, we will indicate what are the keyboard shortcuts that you can use to be able to accent or accent in all the vowels of the Spanish alphabet:
- Alt + 160: á
- Alt + 130: he
- Alt + 161: i
- Alt + 162: or
- Alt + 163: u
By entering these shortcuts into your computer, you can easily put that much – needed accented a, to correct your typo on your college paper, for example. Besides, as you can see, they are easy to memorize as they all work with the practical Alt button.
In case you want to enter the vowels with accents in capital letters, the codes change, but the Alt remains, being as follows:
- Alt + 181: Á
- Alt + 144: E
- Alt + 214: I
- Alt + 224: OR
- Alt + 233: Ú
How can I put the keyboard in Spanish?
Apart from learning how to use punctuation marks through shortcuts, it would not hurt if you could also download the Spanish language to configure it with a distribution that is much more familiar and comfortable to use. If you are interested, then we will tell you what steps you must follow to do it in Windows:
- Access the dedicated section in Settings
In order to configure the keyboard in Spanish, you must first download the language pack, and the OS makes a tool available that will find the necessary files and install them for you.
When you want to use it, you must go to Start where you will click and then look in the left sidebar of the displayed window for the typical gear wheel, where you will click again to enter the System Configuration of your computer.
Once you are in the Settings section, look for the Time and Language option and select it to bring up a new window called Date and Time. Here you will see a sidebar with several options, including Language.
- Add the language
When you have entered Language you should look for the button with the symbol (+) next to the legend Add a preferred language. Clicking this will bring up a dialog box with a search bar at the top. Type “Spanish” and all the different versions available will appear. Select the one that suits your preference, and then click Next.
The window will update and you will be able to check various boxes with options. Find the one marked Install Language Pack and finish by pressing the Install button at the bottom of the dialog to start the download process.
- select spanish
Now that you have Spanish available to use on the keyboard, all you have to do is select it. The easiest way is to click on the big letters on the task bar next to the clock, which will open a small window with your preferred languages to select. Choose the one you want and that’s it.
As an added bonus, if you don’t have the ñ symbol on your keyboard, you can still use it if you add the Spanish language to your operating system with this method.
How to put tilde on the computer with a keyboard in Spanish?
In case you are wondering how to put an accent on a laptop or desktop keyboard that is already configured in Spanish, you should look in the central – left part for a button that shows the accent symbol (´). It is usually located next to the Ñ key .
When you press it, no symbol will appear on the screen, but the text editor will be waiting for you to press the next key, which should always be a vowel when writing in Spanish.
An additional fact
Another shortcut that is usually very useful to know if you constantly work with computers is how to put @ on the keyboard (you can find some purchase options at this link), since, sometimes, this symbol does not usually appear stamped on the keys.
In the Spanish keyboard layout, you have several shortcuts with which to enter the @, which we indicate below:
- With a Spanish keyboard: Alt Gr + 2
- With @ embedded in the Q key: Alt Gr + Q
- With the numeric keypad: Alt + 64
With constant practice of these shortcuts and methods you can easily increase your typing skills on any computer keyboard. At the same time, you won’t have to worry about spelling errors slowing you down by being able to enter the sign you need one way or another to ensure impeccable grammar.
