Spanish Accents

Every letter and mark Spanish adds to the alphabet. Tap one to copy it, or see how to type them below.

Accented vowels

Spanish uses only the acute accent on vowels.

The letter ñ, and u with umlaut (diéresis).

They open questions and exclamations.

Alt codes from the Windows-1252 and code page 437 tables; Outlook shortcuts from Microsoft's list for international characters.

Letter	Unicode name	Accent	Windows Alt code	Outlook	HTML	Code point
á	LATIN SMALL LETTER A WITH ACUTE	acute	`Alt+0225` or `Alt+160`	`Ctrl`+`'`, then `a`	`á`	`U+00E1`
é	LATIN SMALL LETTER E WITH ACUTE	acute	`Alt+0233` or `Alt+130`	`Ctrl`+`'`, then `e`	`é`	`U+00E9`
í	LATIN SMALL LETTER I WITH ACUTE	acute	`Alt+0237` or `Alt+161`	`Ctrl`+`'`, then `i`	`í`	`U+00ED`
ó	LATIN SMALL LETTER O WITH ACUTE	acute	`Alt+0243` or `Alt+162`	`Ctrl`+`'`, then `o`	`ó`	`U+00F3`
ú	LATIN SMALL LETTER U WITH ACUTE	acute	`Alt+0250` or `Alt+163`	`Ctrl`+`'`, then `u`	`ú`	`U+00FA`
ñ	LATIN SMALL LETTER N WITH TILDE	tilde	`Alt+0241` or `Alt+164`	`Ctrl`+`Shift`+`~`, then `n`	`ñ`	`U+00F1`
ü	LATIN SMALL LETTER U WITH DIAERESIS	umlaut	`Alt+0252` or `Alt+129`	`Ctrl`+`Shift`+`:`, then `u`	`ü`	`U+00FC`
Á	LATIN CAPITAL LETTER A WITH ACUTE	acute	`Alt+0193`	—	`Á`	`U+00C1`
É	LATIN CAPITAL LETTER E WITH ACUTE	acute	`Alt+0201` or `Alt+144`	—	`É`	`U+00C9`
Í	LATIN CAPITAL LETTER I WITH ACUTE	acute	`Alt+0205`	—	`Í`	`U+00CD`
Ó	LATIN CAPITAL LETTER O WITH ACUTE	acute	`Alt+0211`	—	`Ó`	`U+00D3`
Ú	LATIN CAPITAL LETTER U WITH ACUTE	acute	`Alt+0218`	—	`Ú`	`U+00DA`
Ñ	LATIN CAPITAL LETTER N WITH TILDE	tilde	`Alt+0209` or `Alt+165`	—	`Ñ`	`U+00D1`
Ü	LATIN CAPITAL LETTER U WITH DIAERESIS	umlaut	`Alt+0220` or `Alt+154`	—	`Ü`	`U+00DC`
¿	INVERTED QUESTION MARK	—	`Alt+0191` or `Alt+168`	`Alt`+`Ctrl`+`Shift`+`?`	`¿`	`U+00BF`
¡	INVERTED EXCLAMATION MARK	—	`Alt+0161` or `Alt+173`	`Alt`+`Ctrl`+`Shift`+`!`	`¡`	`U+00A1`

The acute accent (á é í ó ú) is the only accent Spanish puts on vowels. It marks the stressed syllable, and it also tells apart words that would otherwise look the same, like si (if) and sí (yes).
Ñ is a letter of its own, not an n with an accent: Spanish dictionaries sort it after n.
The umlaut (called diéresis in Spanish) goes on u in güe and güi to show that the u is pronounced, as in bilingüe and pingüino.
Questions and exclamations open with ¿ and ¡ and close with ? and !.

Windows: hold Alt and type the code on the numeric keypad: á 0225, é 0233, í 0237, ó 0243, ú 0250. The table below has every code.
Mac: press and hold the letter and the accent menu shows the accented letters; click one or press the number shown under it. Accent menus aren't available in every app.
iPhone: touch and hold the letter, then slide to the accented letter you want.
Android (Gboard): touch and hold the letter to see the accents.
Outlook: Ctrl+', then a for á; Ctrl+', then e for é; Ctrl+', then i for í; Ctrl+', then o for ó; Ctrl+', then u for ú.
Microsoft Office: type the code (00E1 for á) and press Alt + X. PowerPoint doesn't convert codes this way.
HTML: á for á, é for é, í for í, ó for ó, ú for ú.

ñ: Alt 0241 on Windows; on a Mac, Option-N and then n, or press and hold n; in Outlook, Ctrl+Shift+~, then n.
ü: Alt 0252; in Outlook, Ctrl+Shift+:, then u.
¿ and ¡: Alt 0191 and Alt 0161; in Outlook, Alt+Ctrl+Shift+? and Alt+Ctrl+Shift+!.

How do I type ñ?

On Windows, hold Alt and type 0241 on the numeric keypad. On a Mac, press Option-N and then n. On a phone, touch and hold n.

How do I type the upside-down question mark?

¿ is Alt+0191 on Windows (Alt+168 also works). In Outlook, press Alt+Ctrl+Shift+?.

Does Spanish use the grave accent?

No. Spanish puts only the acute accent on vowels: á, é, í, ó, ú.