How to type E with Two Dots (diaeresis) or Umlaut? Insert from the ribbon, select Symbols, more symbols, Subset drop-down, select Latin-1 Supplement., Scroll down and you should see ë. Click on it.
Normally we press keys on the keyboard to get the characters available in the language we are using. However, there are a lot more characters that need to be typed, which you may not find on keyboards that come with computers. For example, how do you type ë on a computer? Read on to see how you can type e with two dots (diaeresis) or umlaut.
Please note, the information given here should work on computers with Windows 10. The article does not cover Macs or Linux and other operating systems. It does not tell you how to type ë on other devices.
Typing ë in Microsoft Word
There are many ways to do this. We will talk about a few in the next few paragraphs.
- Method 1
- In your MS Word document, at the location where you want to insert ë, you could select Insert from the ribbon, then select Symbols, and from the drop-down menu, select More Symbols.
- The Symbols pop-up window should show. From the Subset drop-down, select Latin-1 Supplement.
- Scroll down and you should see ë. Click on it.
Now, to insert ë into the text you can
- Double click on ë or
- Click Insert to insert ë
- In the screenshot of the Symbol window, please note the Unicode (hex) Character code for ë. As you can see, it is 00EB. We will use this Unicode (hex) character code in the next method.
- Method 2
- In this method, we will use the Hexadecimal Unicode character code to get ë.
- At the place where you want to type ë, type 00EB followed by Alt+X (type 00EB or 00Eb or 00eB or 00eb. Then press the Alt key. Keeping the Alt key pressed, press X and leave the keys) to get ë. It is as simple as that!
- To type Ë, type 00CB followed by Alt+X (type 00CB or 00Cb or 00cB or 00cb. Then press the Alt key. Keeping the Alt key pressed, press X and leave the keys) to get Ë.
- Method 3
- To insert ë into your text, press Start or the Windows key and then type char. In the window that pops up, select the Character Map app. You should see this window popping up.
- Scroll and search for the ë character.
- Take the mouse pointer to the ë character and click on it. Then click the Select button to put ë into the Characters to copy box. Now click on the Copy button to copy the character to the clipboard.
- Move the cursor to the place where you want to insert the character and press Ctrl+V to paste it. Done!
- Please note the last line of the Character Map window. It shows you the Hexadecimal Unicode character code and name for ë on the left. On the bottom right, you see the Keystroke you can use to get the character in the text. Note this code Alt+0235 because we will use it in the next method.
- Method 4
- This method will only work on a keyboard with a separate numeric keypad on the right-hand side of the regular keyboard (you normally do not have a numeric keypad on laptop keyboards, so this method will not work for laptops without a numeric keypad).
- Well, to type ë on a keyboard with a numeric keypad, make sure that Num Lock is on. When Num Lock is on, the keys on the keypad work like numbers. Otherwise, they work as direction arrow keys. So, make sure Num Lock is on.
- Now, place the cursor where you want ë and press Alt+0235 (that is, press Alt. Keep it pressed and type 0235 on the numeric keypad). Voilá! We get ë!
NOTE: You HAVE to use the number keys on the numeric keypad with Num Lock on for this method to work.
Method 1 and 3 will work in any Windows app that needs character input. Method 2 will only work in Word, WordPad, or Outlook. Method 4 works in any windows app, but need to have a keyboard with a numeric keypad.
Getting ë in HTML
- Hypertext Markup Language (HTML) is the language used to create web pages. An HTML file tells a web browser how to display the text.
- In an HTML file, to get ë we can use ë for the hexadecimal code, ë for the decimal code, or ë for the HTML entity.
Using the WinCompose app
While researching this article, I came across this neat app called WinCompose for Windows computers. It not only allows you to enter special characters easily via a laptop keyboard but also a lot of other interesting characters like emojis!
Head over to http://wincompose.info/ to download the app. Install it and run it. It should get installed in the notification area of the taskbar. It looks like a playing card with a black diamond in it.
Now all you need to do to insert ë into your text is to activate the app by pressing Alt-right (the Alt key to the right of the keyboard). The black diamond in the app icon changes to green. Now type “ (double quote) followed by e…and, Voilà! You get ë!
Hope you liked this! ???? (Alt-right winking in WinCompose to get this)
also read: Positional Argument Follows Keyword Argument