Spanish Keyboard: Type Spanish Accents on Win, Mac & Linux
When you start writing in Spanish, a Spanish keyboard is inevitable.
But how do you use a Spanish keyboard on Windows, Mac or Linux? Don’t worry; in this blog post, we’ll explain everything you need to know about using the Spanish keyboard to type different Spanish accents.
To top this, we’ll give you Spanish keyboard shortcuts you can use even if you don’t know how to switch between language keyboards.
Here’s a video tutorial on how to use a Spanish keyboard on a Windows operating system:
Don’t worry if you’re still lost, we’ll explain how you can do this on your own device!
1. Why Spanish keyboard is important?
Understanding how to use a Spanish keyboard is super helpful when you’re learning the language, and here’s why.
The Spanish keyboard has some unique characters and accents that are essential for writing correctly in Spanish. You’ll need to use the “ñ” in words “año” (year) or “cañón” (canyon), and you can’t just type it as a regular “n” without changing the meaning.
Spanish accents are super important because they can change how a word is pronounced and even what it means.
“Sí” (yes) and “si” (if) are two totally different words! And you need that accent to get it right.
2. Which special characters will you need in Spanish?
You’ll find different special Spanish characters. These are the ones you’ll need to type out on your Spanish keyboard:
- Ñ (uppercase) / ñ (lowercase) – This letter is used in words like “año” (year) and “niño” (child).
- Á, É, Í, Ó, Ú – These are the accented vowels, used to indicate stress, as in “café” (coffee), “té” (tea), “país” (country), “canción” (song), and “tú” (you).
- Ü – The diaeresis is used in words like “pingüino” (penguin) to indicate that the “u” should be pronounced separately from the preceding vowel.
3. How to change to Spanish keyboard layout…
On Windows
To change keyboard layout from English (US) to Spanish on Windows:
- Go to Start > Settings > Time & Language > Language.
- Under Preferred languages, click Add a language and select Spanish.
- After adding Spanish, click on it and select Options.
- Add the Spanish keyboard layout if not already present: you can choose between different Spanish-speaking countries at this step.
- Use Alt + Shift or Windows key + Space to switch between layouts while typing.
On Mac
To change keyboard layout to Spanish on Mac:
- Go to Apple menu > System Preferences > Keyboard.
- In the Input Sources tab, click the plus (+) button.
- Search for “Spanish”, select your preferred option, and click Add.
- Use the flag icon in the menu bar or Command + Space to switch layouts.
On a Linux distro
To change keyboard layout to Spanish on a Linux distro:
- Open Settings or System Settings.
- Find Region & Language or Language Support.
- In Input Sources, click Add or the plus (+) button.
- Search for “Spanish”, select your preferred layout, and add it.
- Switch layouts using the language indicator or Super + Space.
Note: Steps may be different between distributions (e.g., GNOME, KDE), but the general process is similar.
4. Useful keyboard shortcuts to type Spanish accents and letters
No matter which operating system you use, there are different keyboard shortcuts you can use to type different Spanish accents and letters.
So, let’s explore these one after the other.
Spanish keyboard shortcuts on Windows
To use these shortcuts, hold down the Alt key and type the numeric code using the numeric keypad, then release the Alt key.
Special Character | Shortcut (Alt + Numeric Code) |
---|---|
Ñ | Alt + 0209 |
ñ | Alt + 0241 |
Á | Alt + 0193 |
É | Alt + 0201 |
Í | Alt + 0205 |
Ó | Alt + 0211 |
Ú | Alt + 0218 |
Ü | Alt + 0220 |
á | Alt + 0225 |
é | Alt + 0233 |
í | Alt + 0237 |
ó | Alt + 0243 |
ú | Alt + 0250 |
ü | Alt + 0252 |
¡ | Alt + 0161 |
¿ | Alt + 0191 |
Spanish keyboard shortcuts on Mac
To type these special characters in Spanish, hold down the option button and type the corresponding button.
Special Character | Shortcut (Key Combination) |
---|---|
Ñ | Option + N, then N |
ñ | Option + N, then n |
Á | Option + E, then A |
É | Option + E, then E |
Í | Option + E, then I |
Ó | Option + E, then O |
Ú | Option + E, then U |
Ü | Option + U, then U |
á | Option + E, then A |
é | Option + E, then E |
í | Option + E, then I |
ó | Option + E, then O |
ú | Option + E, then U |
ü | Option + U, then U |
¡ | Option + 1 |
¿ | Option + Shift + / |
Spanish keyboard shortcuts on Linux with unicode
To use these shortcuts, just remember to hold down Ctrl + Shift + U first, then type the hexadecimal code, and finish by pressing Enter.
Special Character | Unicode Code | Shortcut (Type) |
---|---|---|
Ñ | U+00D1 | Ctrl + Shift + U, type 00D1 |
ñ | U+00F1 | Ctrl + Shift + U, type 00F1 |
Á | U+00C1 | Ctrl + Shift + U, type 00C1 |
É | U+00C9 | Ctrl + Shift + U, type 00C9 |
Í | U+00CD | Ctrl + Shift + U, type 00CD |
Ó | U+00D3 | Ctrl + Shift + U, type 00D3 |
Ú | U+00DA | Ctrl + Shift + U, type 00DA |
Ü | U+00DC | Ctrl + Shift + U, type 00DC |
á | U+00E1 | Ctrl + Shift + U, type 00E1 |
é | U+00E9 | Ctrl + Shift + U, type 00E9 |
í | U+00ED | Ctrl + Shift + U, type 00ED |
ó | U+00F3 | Ctrl + Shift + U, type 00F3 |
ú | U+00FA | Ctrl + Shift + U, type 00FA |
Ü | U+00FC | Ctrl + Shift + U, type 00FC |
¡ | U+00A1 | Ctrl + Shift + U, type 00A1 |
¿ | U+00BF | Ctrl + Shift + U, type 00BF |
Enjoy your typing!