A with accents and marks: copy and paste

Which accented A do you need?

A small mark can change the spelling

Á and à have sloping marks that face opposite directions. Â has a pointed roof, ä has two dots, ã has a wave, and å has a ring. Match the actual spelling you are working with; these forms are not interchangeable decorations.

Keep the accent when you use capitals

The matching capitals are Á, À, Â, Ä, Ã and Å. For a heading or a name in capital letters, choose the uppercase character with the same mark. Copying the capital directly avoids relying on an app to change the case.

More than one mark on A

Forms such as ấ, ắ and ậ contain more than one mark. Compare both the top and bottom of the letter before copying. The grid also includes æ, a separate character that joins the shapes of a and e.

Select a character above and wait for the copy confirmation. Paste into your text with Ctrl + V on Windows, Command + V on Mac, or your phone’s Paste command. For a whole name or sentence, use the online accent keyboard. You can also browse all accent letters from A to Z.

ALT codes and typing help for a with an accent

Check the label before using a number from this table. ALT entries are Windows keypad shortcuts. A “Unicode decimal” entry identifies the character but is not a standard ALT shortcut. Use the copy button or the Word method for those forms.

How to type a with an accent on Windows

Using a numeric keypad

To enter á, use Alt + 0225 with compatible Western Windows settings. Include the leading zero and check the result, since support depends on the app and system configuration.

• Place the cursor in your text and turn on Num Lock.
• Hold down the ALT key.
• Type 0225 on the numeric keypad, not the number row above the letters.
• Let go of ALT. The expected character is á.

Type á with Alt + X in Word

In Word for Windows, 00E1 is the hexadecimal value for á. Alt + X converts that value into the letter, without requiring a numeric keypad.

• Put your cursor at the insertion point in Word.
• Type 00E1, without the U+ prefix.
• Highlight only the code, then press ALT + X.
• Check that the code has become á.

See Microsoft’s character-code instructions for details about code entry. For other characters, browse the ALT code directory.

On a Mac, phone, or tablet

On a Mac, try holding a letter key in an app that supports the accent menu. If the form you need is missing, copy it here and paste with Command + V. On a phone or tablet, select a character and use your destination app’s Paste command. See Apple’s accent guide for Mac options.

Unicode and HTML codes for accented a

Writing a message? Use the copy buttons. Working in code? This table identifies each character and lists its Unicode value alongside HTML, CSS and JavaScript representations. Choose the format your programming or markup context requires.