Ah, the famous “capital A with accent”! Who has never struggled with their keyboard to find this slightly capricious character? Whether you are a student in the middle of writing an assignment, a professional preparing an important document, or just someone who likes to write correctly in French, knowing how to type an “À” or “” can be essential. In this article, I will show you how to achieve this technical feat on Windows and Mac, and believe me, it is easier than you think!
Make a capital A with grave accent on Windows
If you use Windows, you probably already know that it is full of shortcuts and tricks to make your computing experience easier. This also applies to typing special characters, like the " A capital letter with grave accent". So here are three methods to achieve this, whether through keyboard shortcuts or integrated tools.
Using a keyboard shortcut
- For A (capital A with grave accent): The shortcut method is simple. Hold down the
Alt, and type0192on the numeric keypad. Release theAltand the A appears as if by magic. - For the  (capital A with circumflex accent): It's similar. With
Altstill pressed, enter0194on the numeric keypad.
With the insertion of special characters:
In a word processor: In programs like Word, you can insert these special characters from the menu:
- Go to “Insert”, then “Symbol” and finally “Other Symbols”
- Here you will find lots of special characters, including À and Â.
Using the Windows Character Map
A little-known resource: Windows has a tool called "Character Map" which can be a goldmine for finding special characters (there are too many of them, which makes searching difficult).
- Type “Character Map” in the search bar. Windows search to open it.
- Browse the list of characters to find the famous “À”!
Beyond the capital A with accent, this tool allows you to copy characters that you cannot find on your keyboard.
Type a capital A with accent on Mac
For Mac users. There are also several solutions available to type a capital A with an accent.
Using a keyboard shortcut
As is often the case, the solution on Mac is simpler than on Windows and should not disorient iOS users.
- For the To: On Mac, press
Option+`(the key to the left of “1”), release, then type “A”. The A appears. - For the Â: For the Â, the combination is slightly different. Press
Option+I, release, then type “A”. And there you have it, the  is there.
Going through the keyboard viewer
Mac users have access to a keyboard viewer tool that shows where special characters are located. You can enable it in System Preferences, under “Keyboard.” It’s especially useful for visualizing and remembering key combinations.
There you have it, now you know everything there is to know to type a "capital A with accent" on Windows and Mac. I hope you enjoyed it and above all, that it will be useful to you. Now, whether it's to write an email, an assignment or just to impress your friends, you have all the cards in hand to type these accented characters very easily. And you know what? The next time you come across this famous "À" or "Â", I bet you will smile thinking about how easy it is now. Come on, happy typing everyone!
