How to Type French Accents on a Mac

Are you looking to type something in French, but don’t know how to type those pesky accents? Mac computers nowadays allow you to change your keyboard entirely so that your current keys match that of the French keyboard or even the French-Canadian keyboard. It can sometimes be difficult to work with an entirely new keyword because not only are you probably not used to using it, but the face of each key doesn’t change so you don’t have much direction on which key is where. Nevertheless it’s an option to try out.

You can also try a website such as french.typeit.org which will allow you to copy and paste accents into whatever you’re typing. If you’d like to just type accents on your computer with your current keyboard then you can just follow the directions below…

How to Type French Accents on a Mac

For Accent Aigu (é)

Press the option key +  the letter “e” key. Release both keys at the same time. Then press just the “e” key.

For Accent Grave (è, à, ù)

Press the option key + the ` key (it’s found next to the left of the number one in the top left corner). Then press the key of the letter you’d like (à, è, ù)

Cedilla (ç)

Press the option key + the “c” key.

Trema (ï, ü, ë)

Press the option key + the “u” key. Then press the letter of your choice (i, e, u)

Circumflex (â, ê, î, ô, û)

Press the option key + the “i” key. Then press the letter of your choice (a,e,i,o,u)

Œ Ligature (œ)

Press the option key + the “q” key