E With an Accent: How to Type é, è, ê, ë on Any Device

The letter e wears more accents than almost any other vowel. This page has the whole set: é (acute), è (grave), ê (circumflex), and ë (diaeresis), plus ē (macron), ę (ogonek), and ě (caron), in lowercase and capitals.

é is the one most people want, and it’s a quick keystroke on every device. The marks that sit outside the old Latin range, like ē, ę, and ě, have no Alt code, so for those the click-to-copy grid below is the fastest route.

You’ll find a one-click copy grid, a full code table, ready-made HTML entities, and a plain explanation of what each mark does.

In a hurry?

• Copy it: click any letter in the grid below.
• On a phone: press and hold the e key, then slide to the accent you want.
• On Windows: hold Alt and type 0233 for é (0201 for É).
• On a Mac: press Option + e, let go, then press e again, for é.
• In Word: press Ctrl + ‘ (the apostrophe), then e.

Copy and paste e with an accent

Every accented e, lowercase and capital, with the codes to type each one. Use the grid above for one-click copying; this table is the reference for typing them yourself.

Character	Name	Unicode	Windows	Mac
é	e with acute	U+00E9	Alt + 0233	Option + e, e
è	e with grave	U+00E8	Alt + 0232	Option + `, e
ê	e with circumflex	U+00EA	Alt + 0234	Option + i, e
ë	e with diaeresis	U+00EB	Alt + 0235	Option + u, e
ē	e with macron	U+0113	Word 0113 + Alt + X	Character Viewer
ę	e with ogonek	U+0119	Word 0119 + Alt + X	Character Viewer
ě	e with caron	U+011B	Word 011B + Alt + X	Character Viewer
É	E with acute	U+00C9	Alt + 0201	Option + e, Shift + E
È	E with grave	U+00C8	Alt + 0200	Option + `, Shift + E
Ê	E with circumflex	U+00CA	Alt + 0202	Option + i, Shift + E
Ë	E with diaeresis	U+00CB	Alt + 0203	Option + u, Shift + E
Ē	E with macron	U+0112	Word 0112 + Alt + X	Character Viewer
Ę	E with ogonek	U+0118	Word 0118 + Alt + X	Character Viewer
Ě	E with caron	U+011A	Word 011A + Alt + X	Character Viewer

Vietnamese stacks tone marks on top of ê and e as well, giving letters like ế, ề, and ệ. Those are a bigger set; copy them from the full letters-with-accents list when you need them.

What the marks on e mean

The acute and grave are a pair. In French, é is a closed, tight “e” (as in café) and è is an open one (as in père, “father”). In Spanish, é does a different job: it marks which syllable to stress, as in bebé.

The circumflex, ê, often marks a letter that fell out of the word centuries ago, usually an s. forêt was once forest, and être came from an older estre. The little hat is a kind of gravestone for the missing s.

ë carries a diaeresis, the same two dots as an umlaut, telling you to sound the e separately, as in Noël. The rest each belong to one language: ē is a long e in Latin and Māori, ę is a nasal e in Polish, and ě is a soft “ye” in Czech (the same caron you’ll see on ǎ).

Letter	Language	What it does	Example
é	French, Spanish	a closed “e”; in Spanish, stress	café
è	French, Italian	an open “e”	père (“father”)
ê	French	often marks a dropped s	forêt (“forest”)
ë	French, Dutch	diaeresis: say the e separately	Noël
ē	Latin, Māori	a long “e”	tēnā
ę	Polish	a nasal “e”	język (“language”)
ě	Czech	a soft “ye” sound	děkuji (“thank you”)

How to type é on any device

é sits in the old Latin range, so it’s easy everywhere. The macron, ogonek, and caron versions are the harder cases, and they come at the end.

Windows

The direct way is the Alt code. Turn on Num Lock, hold Alt, and type 0233 on the numeric keypad for é, or 0201 for É. The grave, circumflex, and diaeresis have their own codes in the table above. The number row along the top won’t work; it has to be the keypad.

For regular use, the US-International layout is smoother (Settings, then Time & Language, then keyboard options). With it on, type an apostrophe and then e for é, a backtick then e for è, and a quote then e for ë.

If you’d rather not switch layouts, press Windows + . to open the symbol panel, click the Ω tab, and pick the letter from the Latin set.

Mac

Press Option + e together and let go. Nothing shows yet. Press e again and é appears. For the capital, it’s Option + e, then Shift + E.

The other accents load the same way: Option + ` then e for è, Option + i then e for ê, and Option + u then e for ë. You can also hold the e key down and pick from the pop-up menu.

iPhone and Android

Press and hold the e key on the on-screen keyboard. A row of accented options appears above your finger, é, è, ê, and ë among them. Slide onto the one you want and lift your finger.

It works the same in nearly every app, with nothing to set up first.

Microsoft Word

Word has its own shortcuts. Press Ctrl + ‘ (apostrophe) then e for é, Ctrl + ` then e for è, Ctrl + Shift + ^ then e for ê, and Ctrl + Shift + : then e for ë. Add Shift on the e for a capital.

For the accents Word’s shortcuts skip, type the hex code and press Alt + X, like 0113 then Alt + X for ē.

Linux

Press Ctrl + Shift + U, type the hex code, then press Enter: 00e9 for é, 0113 for ē. With a Compose key, it’s Compose, then ‘, then e for é.

Excel and Google Sheets

Use the Windows Alt code on the keypad, or the UNICHAR formula: =UNICHAR(233) returns é and =UNICHAR(201) returns É. For the others, =UNICHAR(275) gives ē, =UNICHAR(281) gives ę, and =UNICHAR(283) gives ě. The same works in Google Sheets.

The macron, ogonek, and caron e’s (ē, ę, ě)

None of these has a Windows Alt code; they sit past the 255 limit. Use the click-to-copy grid above, Character Map on Windows, the Character Viewer on Mac, or Word’s hex-then-Alt + X.

If you write Latvian, Polish, or Czech regularly, add that keyboard and the letter gets its own key.

Copy-paste HTML codes

The four common accented e’s have memorable named entities; the rest are numeric. Capitalise the first letter for the uppercase version. Click a cell and copy.

Character	Named entity	Numeric entity
é	é	é
è	è	è
ê	ê	ê
ë	ë	ë
ē	— (none)	ē
ę	— (none)	ę
ě	— (none)	ě
É	É	É
È	È	È
Ê	Ê	Ê
Ë	Ë	Ë
Ē	— (none)	Ē
Ę	— (none)	Ę
Ě	— (none)	Ě

In a CSS content value, use the escaped code point, like \00e9 for é. Serve the page as UTF-8 so the characters hold wherever they land.

For every other accented letter, the full letters-with-accents list has the copy boxes and codes. The umlaut letters guide covers ë alongside ä, ö, and ü.

Troubleshooting

“Alt + 0233 just beeps or does nothing.”

Usually Num Lock is off, you’re on the top-row numbers instead of the keypad, or the laptop has no keypad. Turn Num Lock on and use the keypad. No keypad? Use the copy grid, the US-International layout, or Windows + .

“I get a floating accent, like ´e.”

The accent and the e were pressed too far apart, or with a space between them. On US-International and the Mac, the accent comes first and the e lands immediately after, nothing in between.

“Alt codes won’t give me ē, ę, or ě.”

They can’t. Those letters are above the Alt-code limit of 255. Use the click-to-copy grid above, Character Map, or Word’s hex then Alt + X.

“Shift with the Alt code gives the wrong character.”

Capitals have their own codes. Don’t hold Shift with 0233; type 0201 on its own for É.

“It pastes as a box or a question mark.”

The other program is using an older text encoding. Save or paste as UTF-8 and the accent will survive.

FAQ

What’s the difference between é and è?

The direction of the mark. é has an acute accent that leans right; è has a grave that leans left. In French they’re different sounds (closed vs open e), and they aren’t interchangeable.

How do I type é on a US keyboard?

The smoothest way is the US-International layout: type an apostrophe, then e. Without it, use Alt + 0233 on the numeric keypad, or click é in the copy grid above.

Why does French put a hat on ê?

The circumflex usually marks a letter, often an s, that dropped out of the older spelling. forêt was forest, and hôpital was hospital. The hat is what’s left behind.

Do ē, ę, and ě have Windows Alt codes?

No. They sit past the Alt-code limit of 255. Use the copy grid, Character Map, Word’s hex then Alt + X, or the matching language keyboard.

What’s the fastest way to type é?

On a phone or Mac, long-press or Option + e, e. On Windows, the US-International layout once it’s set up. For a one-off, click it in the grid above.