How to Type Cedilla Accent (ç, Ç, ş, Ş, ţ, Ţ, ķ, ļ, ņ): Windows, Mac, Word & Keyboard Shortcuts

Master Cedilla Accent Keyboard Shortcut Matrix (All Letters)

The cedilla (¸) is a hook-shaped diacritic placed beneath consonants. In French and Portuguese, ç softens the velar /k/ plosive to /s/ before vowels a, o, u. In Turkish, ş creates the "sh" /ʃ/ sound. In Latvian, cedillas mark palatalized consonants. Below is your complete cross-platform shortcut reference:

How to Type Cedilla Accents on Windows (4 Fast Methods)

Method 1: Windows Alt Codes (Numeric Keypad)

Using the separate 10-key numeric keypad on the right side of your keyboard (ensure Num Lock is active), hold down Alt and type the code:

• ç (Lowercase C Cedilla): Alt + 135 (or Alt + 0231)
• Ç (Capital C Cedilla): Alt + 128 (or Alt + 0199)
• Standalone Cedilla (¸): Alt + 0184
• ş (Lowercase S Cedilla): Alt + 0351 | Ş (Capital S Cedilla): Alt + 0350
• ţ: Alt + 0355 | ķ: Alt + 0311 | ļ: Alt + 0316 | ņ: Alt + 0326

Method 2: US-International Keyboard Dead Key (' then c)

On the US-International layout in Windows, the apostrophe key ' serves as a dead key for the cedilla:

• Press ' (Apostrophe), release, then type c → gives ç.
• Press ', release, then type Shift + C → gives Ç.
• Press Right Alt (AltGr) + , (Comma) → gives ç directly on many European keyboards.

Method 3: Windows Emoji & Symbol Panel (Win + .)

Press Win + . (Windows Key + Period) → click the Symbols (Ω) icon → select Latin Symbols → click ç or ş to insert it.

How to Type Cedilla Accents on Mac (macOS)

Method 1: Direct Mac Shortcut (Option + c)

macOS includes dedicated, instant keyboard shortcuts for C with cedilla across all standard English keyboard layouts:

• Lowercase ç: Press Option + c
• Uppercase Ç: Press Option + Shift + c

Method 2: The Press-and-Hold Diacritics Menu

Method 3: ABC — Extended Layout

On the ABC — Extended layout, press Option + c as a dead key, release, then type any compatible consonant (e.g. s for ş, k for ķ, l for ļ, n for ņ).

How to Type Cedilla Accents in Microsoft Word & Office Suite

Method 1: Control-Comma Shortcut Formula (Ctrl + ,)

Microsoft Word has a built-in mnemonic shortcut for cedillas that mirrors the comma shape:

• Press Ctrl + , (Comma), release both keys, then type c → gives ç.
• Press Ctrl + , (Comma), release both keys, then type Shift + C → gives Ç.

Method 2: Word Unicode Hex Converter (Alt + X)

Type the 4-digit hexadecimal code directly into your Word document and immediately press Alt + X:

• 00E7 + Alt + X → ç | 00C7 + Alt + X → Ç
• 015F + Alt + X → ş | 015E + Alt + X → Ş
• 0163 + Alt + X → ţ | 0162 + Alt + X → Ţ
• 0137 + Alt + X → ķ | 013C + Alt + X → ļ | 0146 + Alt + X → ņ

Linguistic, Historical & Phonetic Significance of the Cedilla (¸)

The cedilla is one of Europe's oldest orthographical innovations, originally developed to modify consonant pronunciation without creating bulky digraphs.

French: The Cédille (Softening C Before Back Vowels)

In French orthography, the letter 'c' naturally produces a soft /s/ sound before front vowels (e, i, y, as in cent, ciel, cycle). However, before back vowels (a, o, u), 'c' normally produces a hard velar plosive /k/ (as in café, col, cube).

When a root word ending in 'c' requires a suffix starting with a, o, or u while maintaining the soft /s/ sound, the cédille is mandatory:

• français ("French" — from root France)
• garçon ("boy") — pronounced /ɡaʁ.sɔ̃/ (without cedilla, garcon would sound like /ɡaʁ.kɔ̃/)
• leçon ("lesson"), façon ("way / manner"), façade ("building front")
• reçu ("received" — past participle of recevoir), aperçu ("preview / insight")
• Rule: A cedilla is NEVER placed before 'e' or 'i' in French because 'c' is already soft (ce, ci).

Portuguese: The Cedilha

Portuguese follows identical phonological rules to French, employing the cedilha extensively across common nouns, conjugations, and augmentative suffixes:

• coração ("heart"), ação ("action"), açúcar ("sugar"), praça ("town square")
• começar ("to begin") → começo ("I begin" — 'c' changes to 'ç' before 'o')
• São Paulo → paulistano, março ("March"), endereço ("address").

Turkish, Azerbaijani & Kurdish: S with Cedilla (ş / Ş)

In 1928, during Mustafa Kemal Atatürk's script reform in the Republic of Turkey, the Arabic script was replaced with a phonetic Latin alphabet. The ş (S with cedilla) was adopted as an independent letter to represent the voiceless postalveolar fricative /ʃ/ ("sh"):

• İstanbul, teşekkürler ("thank you"), Türkçe ("Turkish language"), akşam ("evening").
• In the Turkish alphabet, Ş is the 23rd distinct letter, indexed separately after S in dictionaries.

Baltic Languages: Latvian Palatalization

In Latvian orthography, comma-like cedillas represent palatalized consonants:

• ķ (/c/): kaķis ("cat"), ķirsis ("cherry")
• ļ (/ʎ/): ļoti ("very"), lācis, meitene
• ņ (/ɲ/): viņa ("she / her"), saule
• Ģ / ģ: Note that for the letter 'g', lowercase places the cedilla above (ģ / Ģ) to avoid descending stem collision.

Etymology: From Visigothic "Zedilla" (Little Z)

The name cedilla is the diminutive of Old Spanish zeda (the letter Z), meaning "little z". In medieval Visigothic script (11th century), scribes wrote a miniature 'z' beneath the letter 'c' (the ligature Ꝣ) to indicate an affricate /ts/ sound. Over time, the miniature 'z' simplified into the modern tail hook (¸).

Developer & Technical Reference (Unicode, HTML, CSS & JavaScript)

Frequently Asked Questions About the Cedilla Accent

Explore All Individual A–Z Accented Letter Guides

Need shortcuts for specific letters or other accent types (acute, grave, circumflex, umlauts, tildes, macrons, carons)? Browse our full suite of 26 dedicated guides: