Mastering Special Characters on Your Windows PC

Need to add an accent mark or a foreign symbol to your document but unsure how on your Windows PC? Fear not! Here’s a comprehensive guide to incorporating those elusive special characters into your writing.

Touch Keyboard: A Modern Marvel

For effortless special character insertion, the Windows touch keyboard reigns supreme. This digital marvel automatically pops up on tablets or when your PC is in tablet mode. Don’t have a touchscreen? No problem! Activate the touch keyboard icon from the taskbar (right-click, taskbar settings, “Show touch keyboard icon”).

Here’s the magic touch:

Click the touch keyboard icon.
Long-press the desired letter.
A menu brimming with accented variations appears. Choose the one you need.
Emoji Extravaganza: A World of Symbols

The built-in emoji keyboard offers a surprising bonus – special characters! Access it by holding down the Windows key and pressing the period key. Explore the “symbols” tab for a treasure trove of options. Select the category (Latin symbols, for instance) and browse until you find your perfect match.

Character Map: The Classic Choice

For a more traditional approach, the character map beckons. While a bit less intuitive than the touch keyboard, it delivers the same functionality. Here’s how to unlock it:

Hit Win-Q, search for “character map.”
A window brimming with symbols appears. Change the font using the drop-down menu for optimal selection.
Click the desired characters, then “Select” to add them to the “Characters to copy” field.
Once you’ve chosen all your characters, click “Copy” and paste them seamlessly into your document.

US International Keyboard: Multilingual Mastery

For frequent fliers in the world of special characters, the US International Keyboard might be a game-changer. This keyboard layout facilitates easier insertion of those accented characters.

Adding the US International Keyboard:

Navigate to Settings > Time & language > Language & region.

Click the three dots next to “English (United States),” then “Language options.”

Locate the “Keyboards” section and click “Add a keyboard.”

Find “United States-International / QWERTY” and click “Add.”
Now you can switch between your standard keyboard and the US International version using the taskbar indicator (ENG / US or ENG / INTL) or the Windows key+space bar shortcut.

The US International Keyboard empowers you with two methods for special character insertion:

Use the right Alt key with specific letters for common combinations (e.g., Alt+e for é).
Press the desired symbol followed by the letter (e.g., ~ then n for ñ).
Unicode for the Tech-Savvy

The character map reveals a four-digit number beside each character – its Unicode value. This code acts as a universal translator for inserting characters. If you use specific characters frequently, consider memorizing their Unicode values for a keyboard shortcut.

Here’s how to utilize Unicode values (limitations apply):

Press Alt and then type the four-digit Unicode value (requires a separate number pad with NumLock enabled).
In Microsoft apps (Word, WordPad, Outlook), type the Unicode value followed by Alt-X.

(Limited applicability) In Microsoft apps, try Ctrl+symbol followed by the letter (e.g., Ctrl+’ + e for é).

With this arsenal of techniques at your disposal, conquering the world of special characters on your Windows PC becomes a breeze!