Typing accented letters on a computer with no number pad

[roopat]

I was completely unaware until recently that some laptops (notebooks?) don't have a number pad.


Teaching languages for years my colleagues and I used to use the number pad routinely and easily to type accented letters. My daughter is a primary languages teacher and told me her new Chromebook has no number pad so every time she needs to type an accented letter she has to go to Insert then Special Character then scroll through the very detailed list which is laborious and irritating.


Does anyone know a better/ quicker way?


Pat

[Erato]

If you're using Windows, then use the 'Character Map' which is among the Windows Accessories.  I keep it on my menu bar so it's always handy.

[Bob C]

see https://support.google.com/chromebook/answer/1059492?hl=en

[John915]

Good evening,

If it is touchscreen it may work the same way as my samsung. Touch and hold the letter, on mine a small window opens with all the variations of that letter with various accents. Then you choose the one you need.

John915

[Roobarb]

On my tablet I do as John915 says, long press the key in question. If I want to type a word  on my laptop such as the French word garçon, I Google 'French word for boy ' then copy and paste the result.

[mckha489]

Good evening,

If it is touchscreen it may work the same way as my samsung. Touch and hold the letter, on mine a small window opens with all the variations of that letter with various accents. Then you choose the one you need.

John915

My laptop works like this too. Hold down the key.  Then you can select the appropriate version by either using the touch pad or by keying a number that is indicated.

[HughC]

I created a TXT file that I saved on the desktop.
I open it each time I restart the computer (which is not often, because it's on Standby over night) and a link appears in the bar at the bottom of the screen.
Then I can copy and paste any character.
Here it is:

æ ä á à â ã å Æ Ä Á À Â Ã Å ª
ç Ç © ¢
ð Ð
ë Ë é è ê É È Ê €
ƒ
ï í ì î Ï Í Ì Î
£
µ
ñ Ñ
ø œ ö ó ò ô õ Ø Œ Ö Ó Ò Ô Õ
®
š Š ß
þ
ü ú ù û Ü Ú Ù Û
ÿ ý Ÿ Ý ¥
ž Ž
º ¹ ² ³ ¼ ½ ¾ ± × ÷ ‰ °
»« ¡ ¿ † ‡ § ¶ •
   (tab)
- – (dash)

[Dyingout]

I also have a C&P list like that too but also on the page is Alt codes for some of the more obscure ones I use in engineering.

[Erato]

The character map gives you thousands of letters and symbols in dozens of fonts.

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