Carol's Corner Office

Most folks do not use accented letters in their documents in MS Word documents on a daily basis. However, you find that you will have the need to use certain words that require an accented letter at some point, (i.e., café, résumé, fiancé).

I am sure that most of you are aware that you can insert an accented letter in your document the long way:

1. In versions 2007 and 2010 Insert tab in versions 2007 or 2010 or the Insert menu in version 2003.
2. Click on Symbol.
3. Locate the needed accented letter.
4. Click it.
5. Click Insert.
6. Close the Symbol dialog box.

There is another method you could employ, which is a keyboard shortcut for that symbol, which is easy enough to create —

1. Navigate to the Symbol menu.
2. Click on the symbol you need.
3. Click Shortcut Key.
4. Press the key combo you would like to use.
5. Make sure your key combination is not currently assigned to another shortcut.
6. Click Assign.

 — but not always easy to remember if you do not use it on a daily basis!

Either of the above methods would work just fine for you, but as you know, I am a huge proponent of less time and less keystrokes. There is another shortcut that will insert your accented letter for you much more quickly and easily:

Depress Ctrl + ` + the letter of your choosing. For instance, if you want to type the word fiancé, you simply press Ctrl+’, release those keys and type the letter e.

The other option is to depress simultaneously (Ctrl + ` + e). Both options will give you the same result.

If you need a letter with a tildè (~) above it, use Ctrl + Shift +`. Using the Shift key gives you the tildè. Release and click the letter of your choosing and a tilde will now appear above it.

Depressing all keys simultaneously will not give you the same result for the tildè; instead it will give you an upper case letter.