A with accent: à â

Type à: Alt + 0224 on Windows, Option+`thenA on a Mac, or hold A on your phone.

Copy the letters

Click a letter to copy it, then paste it with Ctrl + V (Cmd + V on a Mac).

French puts two accents on the letter a. à is one of the most frequent words in the language; â appears in a handful of common words.

Keyboard shortcuts on a U.S. QWERTY keyboard

Mac: standard U.S. or ABC layout. Windows: the free United States-International layout, or an Alt code with any layout.

  • àMacOption+`thenAWindows`thenAAlt codeAlt + 0224
  • âMacOption+IthenAWindowsShift+6thenAAlt codeAlt + 0226
  • ÀMacOption+`thenShift+AWindows`thenShift+AAlt codeAlt + 0192
  • ÂMacOption+IthenShift+AWindowsShift+6thenShift+AAlt codeAlt + 0194

Mac

Or press and hold A: a menu of accented versions appears.

Windows

Alt codes need a numeric keypad. Set up US-International.

Phone

Touch and hold A on the keyboard, then slide to the letter you want.

When to use à, â in French

à with a grave accent does not change the sound: it tells words apart. a means “has” (il a, he has), à means “to” or “at” (à Paris, to Paris). Likewise la (the) and là (there).

â (circumflex) usually replaces a lost “s”: château (castle), pâte (paste, dough), âne (donkey, compare “asinus”).

At the start of a sentence, keep the accent on the capital: À demain (see you tomorrow). The Académie française recommends accented capitals.

  • à · à, déjà, voilà
  • â · château, pâte
  • À · À bientôt
  • Â · ÂGE

Typing French every day?

The free Chrome extension opens every French accent with Ctrl + Shift + E on any website: no codes to remember.

See the Chrome extension

Frequently asked questions

Hold Alt and type 0224 on the numeric keypad (Num Lock on), then release Alt: à appears. The number row above the letters does not work, so most laptops need another method.

On a U.S. or ABC keyboard, press Option + `, then A. You can also press and hold the A key and pick à from the menu that appears.

Touch and hold the A key on the on-screen keyboard: its accented versions appear above it. Slide to à and release.

Yes. The Académie française recommends keeping accents on capitals (À as in À bientôt), because they can change the meaning and the pronunciation.