Title: Unlock the Secret to Adding Flair to your Emails with these Simple Special Character Hacks for Windows!
Are you tired of boring and plain emails? Do you want to make your emails stand out and add some personality? Look no further than these special character hacks for Windows!
Special characters are a unique way to add some flare to your emails. However, they are often not readily available or visible on standard keyboards. Fear not, as we have some simple hacks to unlock these hidden characters in your Windows computer.
- Use Alt Codes
Alt codes are a combination of keys that will produce a special character when pressed. To use them, you will need to activate the Num Lock key and hold down the Alt key while typing in the code on the number pad. For example, holding Alt + 1 produces ☺, and Alt + 0169 creates the copyright symbol ©. Google searches will yield a list of alt codes you can use, and you can find an exhaustive list from the Windows Character Map application.
- Use the Character Map Application
The Character Map application can be accessed by clicking on the Windows Start icon and typing ‘Character Map’. This application lists all the special characters available on your computer, so you can select and copy them into your email. Simply choose the character you want, click Copy, and paste it into your email.
- Use Online Tools
Various online tools like Copypastecharacter.com that offer lists of characters are available. Simply find the character you want, click on it, and paste it into your email. These online tools are particularly helpful when you can’t remember an alt code or cannot access the Character Map application.
- Add Keyboard shortcuts
If you find yourself repeatedly using specific characters, you can also create keyboard shortcuts to access them. To create a shortcut, right-click on the desktop and select ‘New > Shortcut’. Enter the character sequence you want to use for the shortcut in the ‘Type the location of the item’ field. For example, if you want to use the smiley face ☺ whenever you type ‘:-)’, you can enter ☺ in the first field and type in ‘:-)’ in the second field. Windows will be smart enough to recognize this shortcut and replace it with the reserved character.
In conclusion, using special characters is an effortless yet creative way of adding personality to your emails. These four steps are simple, fast and effective in adding flair to your emails. So what are you waiting for? Start unlocking the hidden characters and take your emails to the next level.
There are simple ways to type non-typical symbols like umlauts, carets, and accent marks, as well as characters from other language alphabets. You do not need a special keyboard to do this. Here’s how you can access those characters using any version of Windows.
What to Know
- For a quick and easy solution, search for special characters online, then copy and paste them into an email.Add Keyboard: Go to Time & Language settings > Language > English (US) > Options. Under Keyboards, choose + > US–International.Character Map: Go to Start > Programs > Accessories > System Tools > Character Map. Highlight character, copy/paste into the email.
Copy From the Web
Perhaps the easiest way to insert non-typical characters into an email is by copying and pasting the text from another source.
- Search for the phrase, perhaps in translation, on the web.Copy and paste phrases or individual characters into the email.
Use the US-International Keyboard
The United States-International Keyboard layout is indispensable for anyone who needs to type or quote passages in other languages. Follow these steps to enable the layout:
Windows 10
- Select the Start button.
- Go to Settings.
- Choose Time & Language.
- Click Language.
- Under Preferred languages, select English (United States) to expand the item.
- Choose Options.
- Under Keyboards, choose the + sign (Add a keyboard).
- From the list, choose United States – International.
- In the Taskbar, click ENG US (or your current keyboard) to pull up all of the available options.
- From the list, choose United States – International.
Windows 8
- Go to Settings > Change PC settings > Time and language > Region and language.
- Choose the language you want to add to a keyboard, then choose Options.
- From the list, choose United states – International.
Insert Characters With Character Map Utility
For occasional characters not available with the US-International keyboard, try the character map. It’s a visual tool that allows you to select and copy many available characters.
Select the Start button.
Go to Settings.
Choose Time & Language.
Click Language.
Under Preferred languages, select English (United States) to expand the item.
Choose Options.
Under Keyboards, choose the + sign (Add a keyboard).
From the list, choose United States – International.
In the Taskbar, click ENG US (or your current keyboard) to pull up all of the available options.
Go to Settings > Change PC settings > Time and language > Region and language.
Choose the language you want to add to a keyboard, then choose Options.
From the list, choose United states – International.
- In the Windows 10 search bar, type Character Map and select it from the results.
- In Windows 7, the map is available at Start > All Programs > Accessories > System Tools > Character Map.
- If Character Map is not visible, you will have to install it: Go to Start > Settings > Control Panel > Add/Remove Programs > Windows Setup > System Tools > Details. Click the Character Map check box > OK.
- Select the desired character and choose Select.
- Click Copy.
- You can select and copy multiple characters at once; click the Copy button once your full selection has appeared in the window.
- Paste the text into your email in the desired location.
How to Use the US-International Keyboard Layout
Using the US-International keyboard layout, you can input often-used characters easily. To display é, for instance, type Alt+E, or Alt+N for ñ, or Alt+Q for ä, or Alt+5 for the € sign.
In the Windows 10 search bar, type Character Map and select it from the results.
In Windows 7, the map is available at Start > All Programs > Accessories > System Tools > Character Map.
If Character Map is not visible, you will have to install it: Go to Start > Settings > Control Panel > Add/Remove Programs > Windows Setup > System Tools > Details. Click the Character Map check box > OK.
Select the desired character and choose Select.
Click Copy.
You can select and copy multiple characters at once; click the Copy button once your full selection has appeared in the window.
Paste the text into your email in the desired location.
For a more comprehensive character map, try BabelMap.
The US-International keyboard layout also has dead keys. When you press an accent or tilde key, nothing happens until you press another key. If the latter character accepts an accent mark, the accented version is input automatically.
For just the accent key (or quotation mark), use Space for the second character. Some common combinations (where the first line represents the accent key, the second line the character typed following the accent key, and the third line what appears on screen):
- ’ + C = Ç’ + e y u i o a = é ý ú í ó á` + e u i o a = è ù ì ò à^ + e u i o a = ê û î ô â~ + o n = õ ñ" + e u i o a = ë ü ï ö ä
A solid grasp of the new keyboard layout will help, as what you type will not match what you see on your physical keyboard. Microsoft Visual Keyboard (or On-Screen Keyboard in Windows 7 and later) is an on-screen keyboard for Office applications that may help in the learning process.
For other languages—including Cyrillic, Arabic, and Greek—you can install additional keyboard layouts. For Chinese and other Asian languages, make sure Install files for East Asian languages is checked on the Languages tab.
Fonts and Encodings
When copying a character from Character Map or BabelMap, make sure the font you use to compose the email message matches the font in the character tool. When mixing languages, it is usually safest to send the message as “Unicode.”
How to Use Alt Codes
Another available option that requires neither copying nor pasting is typing alt codes. You enter characters this way by typing a series of numbers while holding the Alt key. For example, for a lowercase n with a tilde over it (ñ), the key command is Alt-0241.
The main drawback to this method is having to either memorize the codes or keep a list handy. If you have a few characters you use all the time, however, you can just learn those keystrokes.
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