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.

switching to spanish keyboard

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.

” (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:

  1. Ñ (uppercase) / ñ (lowercase) – This letter is used in words like “año” (year) and “niño” (child).
  2. ÁÉÍÓÚ – These are the accented vowels, used to indicate stress, as in “café” (coffee), “” (tea), “país” (country), “canción” (song), and “” (you).
  3. 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

spanish keyboard can be used on a windows

To change keyboard layout from English (US) to Spanish on Windows:

  1. Go to Start > Settings > Time & Language > Language.
  2. Under Preferred languages, click Add a language and select Spanish.
  3. After adding Spanish, click on it and select Options.
  4. Add the Spanish keyboard layout if not already present: you can choose between different Spanish-speaking countries at this step.
  5. Use Alt + Shift or Windows key + Space to switch between layouts while typing.

On Mac

spanish keyboard can be used on a mac

To change keyboard layout to Spanish on Mac:

  1. Go to Apple menu > System Preferences > Keyboard.
  2. In the Input Sources tab, click the plus (+) button.
  3. Search for “Spanish”, select your preferred option, and click Add.
  4. Use the flag icon in the menu bar or Command + Space to switch layouts.

On a Linux distro

spanish keyboard can be used on ubuntu linux

To change keyboard layout to Spanish on a Linux distro:

  1. Open Settings or System Settings.
  2. Find Region & Language or Language Support.
  3. In Input Sources, click Add or the plus (+) button.
  4. Search for “Spanish”, select your preferred layout, and add it.
  5. 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.

spanish keyboard button
Special CharacterShortcut (Alt + Numeric Code)
ÑAlt + 0209
ñAlt + 0241
ÁAlt + 0193
ÉAlt + 0201
ÍAlt + 0205
ÓAlt + 0211
ÚAlt + 0218
ÜAlt + 0220
áAlt + 0225
éAlt + 0233
íAlt + 0237
óAlt + 0243
úAlt + 0250
üAlt + 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 CharacterShortcut (Key Combination)
ÑOption + N, then N
ñOption + N, then n
ÁOption + E, then A
ÉOption + E, then E
ÍOption + E, then I
ÓOption + E, then O
ÚOption + E, then U
ÜOption + U, then U
áOption + E, then A
éOption + E, then E
íOption + E, then I
óOption + E, then O
úOption + E, then U
üOption + 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 on a spanish keyboard
Special CharacterUnicode CodeShortcut (Type)
ÑU+00D1Ctrl + Shift + U, type 00D1
ñU+00F1Ctrl + Shift + U, type 00F1
ÁU+00C1Ctrl + Shift + U, type 00C1
ÉU+00C9Ctrl + Shift + U, type 00C9
ÍU+00CDCtrl + Shift + U, type 00CD
ÓU+00D3Ctrl + Shift + U, type 00D3
ÚU+00DACtrl + Shift + U, type 00DA
ÜU+00DCCtrl + Shift + U, type 00DC
áU+00E1Ctrl + Shift + U, type 00E1
éU+00E9Ctrl + Shift + U, type 00E9
íU+00EDCtrl + Shift + U, type 00ED
óU+00F3Ctrl + Shift + U, type 00F3
úU+00FACtrl + Shift + U, type 00FA
ÜU+00FCCtrl + Shift + U, type 00FC
¡U+00A1Ctrl + Shift + U, type 00A1
¿U+00BFCtrl + Shift + U, type 00BF

Enjoy your typing!

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