How to type Portuguese accents on a Windows PC

by Carl Youngblood

These instructions differ slightly for each version of Windows. I will try to make instructions available for more versions of Windows in the near future. For now there is just Windows XP. These instructions are the same for Windows XP Home Edition or Professional Edition. Parts of the instructions work equally well for all versions of Windows.

First of all, there are various methods for typing accents in Windows. I will start with the best and fastest method and continue on to other methods that you can use if you are on a public computer and aren't able to use the control panel, for example, or if you don't want to take the time to install a new keyboard layout.

1. Add new keyboard layout to Windows:
A. Open the Windows Control Panel:

Open Windows Control Panel

B. Choose "Regional and Language Options" in the Control Panel. After the Regional and Language Options Window is displayed, click on the "Languages" tab and click the "Details..." button. You should see the following window:

Text Services and Input Languages

C. Click "Add..." to add a new input language to your operating system.  Choose "Portuguese (Brazil)" from the drop-down list that appears and leave the keyboard layout at its default setting (Brazilian ABNT). Click OK.  After this operation is finished, you should see Portuguese as an input option in the Text Services and Input Languages list.  You should also see a language bar appear in the taskbar.  The language bar can be used to switch rapidly between input languages:

Language bar

You can also use <Alt-Left Shift> (hold down the alt key and push the left shift key) to toggle between input languages.  When you are in Portuguese input mode, accented letters can be typed by using the following key combinations:

á [ (left bracket) key then a key     Á [ key then shift + a key
à
shift + [ then a key

À
shift + [ then shift + a key
ú
[ key then u key

Ú
[ key then shift + u key
And so on for all acute accents...

ã
' (apostrophe) key then a key

Ã
' key then shift + a key
â
shift + ' (apostrophe) key then a key

Ô
shift + ' key then shift + o key
And so on for all circumflex accents...

ü
shift + 6 key then u key

Ü
shift + 6 key then shift + u key
ç
; (semicolon) key

Ç
shift + ; key

2. Use the ALT key codes to type accented letters:

Accents can be typed by holding down the ALT key and typing numbers on the numeric keypad.  Note that the numbers must be typed on the numeric keypad, not the number keys above the normal letters.

ACCENT ALT CODES
grave (crase) à = 0224 À = 0192      
acute (agudo) á = 0225 é = 0233 í = 0237 ó = 0243 ú = 0250
Á = 0193 É = 0201 Í = 0205 Ó = 0211 Ú = 0218
circumflex (circunflexo) â = 0226 ê = 0234 ô = 0244 Â = 0194 Ê = 0202
Ô = 0212        
umlaut (trema) ü = 0252 Ü = 0220      
tilde (til) ã = 0227 Ã = 0195      
cedille (cedilha) ç = 0231 Ç = 0199