How to Type Grave Accent (`, à, è, ì, ò, ù, ỳ, ẁ): Windows, Mac, Word & Keyboard Shortcuts
Master how to type grave accent marks (`, à, è, ì, ò, ù, ỳ, ẁ, À, È, Ì, Ò, Ù) on any keyboard! Whether you are writing French open vowels (père, mère), Italian end-stressed words (caffè, città), Scottish Gaelic vowel lengtheners, Welsh markers, or coding Markdown backticks, use our 1-click copy tools below or follow our verified shortcuts for Windows Alt codes (Alt + 96 / Alt + 138 / Alt + 133), Mac Option dead keys (Option + `, then letter), Microsoft Word shortcuts (Ctrl + `, then letter), and our complete A to Z accent guides.
The grave accent (`) slopes downward from left to right, contrasting directly with the upward-sloping acute accent (´). It plays an essential role in French phonetics and homograph distinction, Italian lexical stress, Scottish Gaelic vowel lengthening, Welsh orthography, Portuguese contraction (crase), and programming Markdown syntax. Below is your complete cross-platform shortcut reference:
Character
Windows Alt Code
Mac Shortcut
Word Shortcut
US-International
Language / Phonetic Role
Unicode / HTML
Standalone (`)
Alt+96 / Alt+096
Opt+`, then Space (or direct `)
Ctrl+`, then Space
` + Space
Diacritic accent mark / Markdown backtick
U+0060 | `
è / È
Alt+138 / Alt+0200
Opt+`, then e / E
Ctrl+`, then e / E
` + e
French open /ɛ/ (père, très), Italian è ("is")
U+00E8 | è
à / À
Alt+133 / Alt+0192
Opt+`, then a / A
Ctrl+`, then a / A
` + a
French preposition (à "to"), Italian (città), Portuguese crase
U+00E0 | à
ì / Ì
Alt+141 / Alt+0204
Opt+`, then i / I
Ctrl+`, then i / I
` + i
Italian end-stress (così, dì), Scottish Gaelic ì
U+00EC | ì
ò / Ò
Alt+149 / Alt+0210
Opt+`, then o / O
Ctrl+`, then o / O
` + o
Italian open /ɔ/ (però, può), Catalan open ò, Gaelic
U+00F2 | ò
ù / Ù
Alt+151 / Alt+0217
Opt+`, then u / U
Ctrl+`, then u / U
` + u
French homograph (où "where" vs ou "or"), Italian più
U+00F9 | ù
ỳ / Ỳ
Alt+7821 / Alt+7820
Opt+`, then y / Y
Ctrl+`, then y / Y
` + y
Welsh short vowel, Vietnamese falling tone (huyền)
U+1EF3 | ẍ
ẁ / Ẁ
Alt+7809 / Alt+7808
Opt+`, then w / W
Ctrl+`, then w / W
` + w
Welsh short vowel marker (mẁg "mug")
U+1E81 | ẁ
WINDOWS OS
How to Type Grave 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 numeric code:
Standalone Grave Accent / Backtick (`):Alt + 96 or Alt + 096
è (Lowercase E Grave):Alt + 138 or Alt + 0232 | È (Capital E Grave):Alt + 0200
à (Lowercase A Grave):Alt + 133 or Alt + 0224 | À (Capital A Grave):Alt + 0192
ì (Lowercase I Grave):Alt + 141 or Alt + 0236 | Ì (Capital I Grave):Alt + 0204
ò (Lowercase O Grave):Alt + 149 or Alt + 0242 | Ò (Capital O Grave):Alt + 0210
ù (Lowercase U Grave):Alt + 151 or Alt + 0249 | Ù (Capital U Grave):Alt + 0217
On the US-International keyboard layout in Windows, the backtick key (`, located directly below Escape) operates as a dead key:
Type ` then e → gives è (Capital: ` then Shift+E = È).
Type ` then a → gives à (Capital: ` then Shift+A = À).
Type ` then i → gives ì | ` then o → gives ò | ` then u → gives ù.
Type ` then Space → gives a literal standalone grave accent / backtick symbol (`).
Method 3: Windows Emoji & Symbol Panel (Win + .)
Press Win + . (Windows Key + Period) → click the Symbols (Ω) icon → select Latin Symbols → click any grave character to insert it.
APPLE MACOS
How to Type Grave Accents on Mac (macOS)
On all MacBooks, iMacs, and Apple Magic Keyboards, macOS features a built-in Option dead key specifically for grave accents:
The Mac Option + ` Shortcut
1
Hold down the Option (or Alt) key and press the grave/tilde key ` (located in the top-left corner below Esc).
2
Release both keys (a highlighted yellow grave accent mark ` will appear on screen).
3
Immediately type the letter you want to accent:
Press e → outputs è (For capital È, press Shift + E).
Press a → outputs à (For capital À, press Shift + A).
Press i → outputs ì | Press o → outputs ò | Press u → outputs ù.
Press y → outputs ỳ | Press w → outputs ẁ.
Press Space → outputs the standalone grave accent mark (`).
The Press-and-Hold Diacritics Menu
Alternatively, press and hold down any vowel key (such as e or a). A numbered popup strip will appear. Press the number corresponding to the grave accent (often 2 for è or à) or click the character.
MICROSOFT WORD
How to Type Grave Accents in Microsoft Word & Office Suite
The Word Ctrl + ` Combination
In Microsoft Word on Windows and macOS, the universal shortcut for grave accents is:
Press Ctrl + ` (the grave accent/backtick key next to 1), release both keys, then type the letter:
Ctrl + `, then e → è (Capital: Ctrl + `, then Shift+E → È)
Ctrl + `, then a → à (Capital: Ctrl + `, then Shift+A → À)
Ctrl + `, then i → ì | o → ò | u → ù
Ctrl + `, then y → ỳ | w → ẁ
Ctrl + `, then Space → standalone `
Microsoft Word Unicode Hex Converter (Alt + X)
Type the 4-digit hexadecimal code directly into your document and immediately press Alt + X:
0060 + Alt + X → ` (Standalone grave / backtick)
00E8 + Alt + X → è | 00C8 + Alt + X → È
00E0 + Alt + X → à | 00C0 + Alt + X → À
00EC + Alt + X → ì | 00F2 + Alt + X → ò
00F9 + Alt + X → ù | 00D9 + Alt + X → Ù
LINGUISTIC & GRAMMAR RULES
Linguistic, Phonetic & Grammatical Significance of the Grave Accent
The grave accent performs vital phonetic, phonological, and grammatical functions across major world languages:
French: Vowel Quality & Homograph Disambiguation
In French (l'accent grave), the mark appears over three vowels (è, à, ù):
è (Open-mid Vowel /ɛ/): Distinguishes open /ɛ/ in words like père ("father"), mère ("mother"), frère ("brother"), très ("very"), and modèle from close-mid acute é (/e/) and neutral e (/ə/).
à (Prepositional Disambiguation): Differentiates the essential preposition à ("to / at / in") from the third-person verb form a ("has", from avoir). It also distinguishes là ("there") from the feminine article la ("the"), and déjà ("already"). Note that à and a are phonetically identical in modern French.
ù (Single Word Occurrence): The letter ù occurs in exactly one word in the entire French language: où ("where"), created specifically to avoid visual confusion with the conjunction ou ("or").
Italian: Final Syllable Lexical Stress & Open Vowels
In standard Italian (l'accento grave), the grave accent is mandatory on words of more than one syllable that have stress on the final vowel (parole tronche):
è vs e: The word è with grave accent means "is" (third-person singular of essere, pronounced /ɛ/), while plain e means "and" (pronounced /e/).
Final-stressed Nouns & Verbs:città ("city"), caffè ("coffee"), università ("university"), però ("however"), sarà ("will be"), può ("can"), più ("more"), virtù ("virtue"), così ("thus / so").
Phonetic Openness: In Italian typography, the grave accent represents the open-mid vowels è (/ɛ/) and ò (/ɔ/), whereas acute é represents close-mid /e/ (as in perché "why / because", affinché).
Scottish Gaelic: Phonemic Vowel Length (Stràc)
In Scottish Gaelic (Gàidhlig), the grave accent (known as the stràc) is the standard diacritic used to represent long vowels across all five vowel letters (à, è, ì, ò, ù):
In Portuguese, the grave accent indicates crase (vowel fusion), representing the phonological contraction of the preposition a ("to") with the feminine definite article a ("the") or demonstrative pronouns (aquele, aquela):
Vou à praia ("I am going to the beach" ← a + a praia).
Refiro-me àquela questão ("I refer to that question").
Computing & Programming: The Markdown Backtick
In computer science and digital typography, the standalone grave accent (`), commonly referred to as the backtick or backquote, serves foundational syntax purposes:
The grave accent (`) is a diacritical mark sloping downwards from left to right placed above vowels. In French, it distinguishes vowel quality on è (/ɛ/) and differentiates homographs on à (preposition) and ù (où "where"). In Italian, it marks final syllable stress on words like caffè, città, and più. In Scottish Gaelic, it marks vowel length, and in computing, the standalone backtick (`) is used for code formatting and command execution.
For the standalone grave accent / backtick symbol (`), the Alt code is Alt + 96 (or Alt + 096). For individual vowels: à is Alt + 133 (or Alt + 0224); è is Alt + 138 (or Alt + 0232); ì is Alt + 141 (or Alt + 0236); ò is Alt + 149 (or Alt + 0242); and ù is Alt + 151 (or Alt + 0249). For uppercase letters: À is Alt + 0192; È is Alt + 0200; Ì is Alt + 0204; Ò is Alt + 0210; and Ù is Alt + 0217.
On macOS, press Option + ` (the grave/tilde key directly below Escape in the top-left corner), release both keys, and immediately type the letter you want to accent (e.g. Option + ` then e gives è; Option + ` then a gives à; Option + ` then Space gives the standalone accent `). You can also press and hold down the letter key on your keyboard to reveal the numeric diacritics popup menu.
In Microsoft Word, press Ctrl + ` (the grave accent/backtick key next to the 1 key), release both keys, and type the letter you want to accent (e.g. Ctrl + ` then e gives è; Ctrl + ` then a gives à). For capital letters, press Ctrl + ` then Shift + E for È. You can also type the 4-digit hexadecimal code followed by Alt + X (e.g. 00E8 + Alt + X = è).
On the US-International keyboard layout, the backtick key (`) acts as a dead key. Press ` followed by any vowel (a, e, i, o, u) to produce à, è, ì, ò, or ù. If you want a literal backtick / grave mark without combining with the next letter, type ` followed by the Spacebar.
The acute accent slopes upwards from left to right (´ as in French café or Spanish está), whereas the grave accent slopes downwards from left to right (` as in French père, mère or Italian caffè, città). In French phonetics, acute é represents a close-mid vowel /e/, while grave è represents an open-mid vowel /ɛ/.
The standalone grave accent symbol is ` (U+0060) and combining grave is ̀ (U+0300). For letters: è is è (U+00E8); à is à (U+00E0); ì is ì (U+00EC); ò is ò (U+00F2); and ù is ù (U+00F9). Uppercase entities include È (U+00C8), À (U+00C0), Ì (U+00CC), Ò (U+00D2), and Ù (U+00D9).
On iOS and Android virtual touchscreen keyboards, press and hold down the letter key (e.g. 'e', 'a', 'i', 'o', 'u'). A popup diacritics bubble will appear displaying all available accented variants. Without lifting your finger, slide across to the grave-accented character (è, à, ì, ò, ù) and release.
COMPLETE A TO Z ACCENTED LETTERS DIRECTORY
Explore All Individual A–Z Accented Letter Guides
Need shortcuts for specific letters or other accent types (acute, circumflex, umlauts, tildes, cedillas, carons)? Browse our full suite of 26 dedicated guides:
