Portuguese keyboard: type accents online

Click a letter to copy it. The alt code is for Windows: hold Alt and type the number on the numeric keypad.

The quickest way on any Mac: press and hold a letter, and a row of its accented versions appears. Click one, or press the number under it.

Or use the Option key: press it with the letter for the accent, let go, then type the vowel.

á é í ó ú

Option+Ethenvowel

â ê ô

Option+Ithenvowel

ã õ

Option+Nthena / o

à

Option+`thena

ç

Option+C

Ç

Option+Shift+C

To type like a Brazilian, add the Brazilian keyboard: System Settings › Keyboard › Text Input › Edit › + › Portuguese › Brazilian (or Brazilian – ABNT2 if your keyboard is Brazilian). Switch between keyboards from the input menu in the menu bar or with Control + Space.

The US-International keyboard

The easiest way is the United States-International keyboard, which turns the accent keys into “dead keys”: type the accent, then the letter.

á é í ó ú

'thenvowel

ã õ

Shift+~thena / o

â ê ô

Shift+^thenvowel

à

`thena

ç

'thenc

For a plain apostrophe or quote, type it and then a space. To add it: Settings › Time & language › Language & region › your language › Language options › Add a keyboard › United States-International.

Alt codes

Without changing keyboards, use alt codes: hold Alt, type the four digits on the numeric keypad (not the row above the letters), then let go of Alt. The codes for every letter are in the table above: ã is Alt + 0227, ç is Alt + 0231.

In Microsoft Word

In Microsoft Word, these shortcuts work on any keyboard: press the first combination, let go, then type the letter.

ç

Ctrl+,thenc

ã õ

Ctrl+Shift+~thena / o

á é í ó ú

Ctrl+'thenvowel

â ê ô

Ctrl+Shift+^thenvowel

à

Ctrl+`thena

On an iPhone or iPad, and on Android with Gboard or Samsung's keyboard, press and hold a letter: its accented versions pop up, and you slide your finger to the one you want. Hold a for á à â ã, e for é ê, o for ó ô õ, and c for ç.

For autocorrect and suggestions in Portuguese, add the Portuguese (Brazil) keyboard. iPhone: Settings › General › Keyboard › Keyboards › Add New Keyboard › Portuguese (Brazil). Gboard: Gboard settings › Languages › Add keyboard › Português (Brasil). Switch with the globe key, or by holding the space bar on Android.

On a Chromebook, add the US International keyboard (Settings › Device › Keyboard and inputs › Inputs › Add input methods) and type accents the same way as on Windows: ' then e for é, ~ then a for ã, ' then c for ç.

On Linux, choose the English (US, intl., with dead keys) layout for the same dead keys, or set up a Compose key and type Compose followed by two characters:

ç

Composethen,thenc

ã

Composethen~thena

é

Composethen'thene

ô

Composethen^theno

à

Composethen`thena

Computers sold in Brazil use the ABNT2 layout. It is QWERTY, like an American keyboard, with ç on its own key to the right of L, and the accents on dead keys: ´ to the right of P (with Shift, `), and ~ to the right of Ç (with Shift, ^). Press the accent, let go, then type the letter: ~ then a gives ã, Shift + ~ then e gives ê.

A laptop bought in Brazil also has an extra key between the left Shift and Z (\ and |), a / and ? key next to the right Shift, and an AltGr key for symbols. Shift + 6 is ¨, the dead key for the diaeresis that Portuguese no longer uses.

The acute (é) marks a stressed, open vowel and the circumflex (ê) a stressed, closed one; the tilde (ã, õ) makes a vowel nasal, the grave (à) marks a + a run together, and the cedilla (ç) gives c an s sound before a, o and u. Each one can change a word: avó is grandmother, avô grandfather.