Ever wonder how to type ‘special’ characters in Microsoft Windows? I remember that in the Mac OS, many of the most common ones were available using keyboard shortcuts. Like for instance for umlauts, you would type Option U (or something like that) and then a U. Simple! Intuitive. In Windows, many keys are available using “Character Map’, (and a tedious copy and paste procedure) but I could never figure out the keyboard shortcuts. For instance, the character ç which occurs alot in Portuguese, has “Keystroke: Alt+0231.” Hmm. Well, I finally found out how to do it (below) and boy, is it lame.
Windows Alt Key Codes: “Windows assigns a numeric code to different accented letters, other foreign characters and special mathematical symbols. For instance the code for lower case á is 0225, and the code for capital Á is 0193. The ALT key input is used to manually insert these letters and symbols by calling the numeric code assigned to them.
To use the codes:
1.
Place your cursor in the location where you wish to insert a special character.
2.
Activate the numeric key pad on the right of the keyboard by pressing Num Lock (upper right of keyboard). The Num Lock light on the keyboard will indicate that the numeric key pad is on.
NOTE: You must use the numeric key pad; if you use the number keys on the top of the keyboard, the characters will not appear. If you are on a laptop or computer without a separate numeric keypad one of the other methods is recommended.
3.
While pressing down the ALT key, type the four-digit code on the numeric key pad at the right edge of the keyboard. The codes are ‘case sensitive.’ For instance, the code for lower-case á is ALT+0225, but capital Á is ALT+0193.
NOTE: If you have the International keyboard activated, you will only be able to input codes with the ALT key on the left side of the keyboard.
# Release the ALT key. The character will appear when the ALT key is released.
NOTE: You must include the initial zero in the code. For example to insert á (0225) you must type ALT+0225, NOT ALT+225.
