French Accented Letters

French uses acute, grave, circumflex, diaeresis, cedilla, and the œ ligature. Copy the characters and compare their codes.

e acute

e grave

e circumflex

e diaeresis

a grave

a circumflex

i circumflex

i diaeresis

o circumflex

u grave

u circumflex

u diaeresis

c cedilla

oe ligature

Codes for French Accented Letters

Letter	Name	Unicode	HTML	Windows Alt code
é	e acute	`U+00E9`	`é`	`Alt + 0233`
è	e grave	`U+00E8`	`è`	`Alt + 0232`
ê	e circumflex	`U+00EA`	`ê`	`Alt + 0234`
ë	e diaeresis	`U+00EB`	`ë`	`Alt + 0235`
à	a grave	`U+00E0`	`à`	`Alt + 0224`
â	a circumflex	`U+00E2`	`â`	`Alt + 0226`
î	i circumflex	`U+00EE`	`î`	`Alt + 0238`
ï	i diaeresis	`U+00EF`	`ï`	`Alt + 0239`
ô	o circumflex	`U+00F4`	`ô`	`Alt + 0244`
ù	u grave	`U+00F9`	`ù`	`Alt + 0249`
û	u circumflex	`U+00FB`	`û`	`Alt + 0251`
ü	u diaeresis	`U+00FC`	`ü`	`Alt + 0252`
ç	c cedilla	`U+00E7`	`ç`	`Alt + 0231`
œ	oe ligature	`U+0153`	`&oelig;`	Use Unicode or copy

Typing Methods That Work Across Devices

Windows

Use the listed Alt code with the numeric keypad when one is available. In Microsoft Word, type the hexadecimal digits from the Unicode value and press Alt + X.

Mac

For common accents, press and hold the base letter to open the accent menu. You can also open Character Viewer with Control + Command + Space.

Chromebook and Linux

Press Ctrl + Shift + U, enter the hexadecimal Unicode value without U+, and press Enter. Compose-key sequences may also be available on Linux.

iPhone and Android

Press and hold the base letter, slide to the accented form, and release. Copying from the table is useful when a keyboard layout does not offer the character.

When These Characters Are Used

French accents can change pronunciation, distinguish homophones, or preserve a word’s accepted spelling. Capital letters should retain their accents in careful modern typography.

Accents are part of correct spelling, not decorative extras. Omitting one can change pronunciation, meaning, or grammatical form. Preserve the intended character when copying names, addresses, quotations, and foreign-language text.