Entering International Characters

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RootsMagic supports Unicode character sets, allowing you to enter characters and accented letters (diacritics) from almost any language and culture. Since this is often more useful in family history than most applications, RootsMagic includes several tools and shortcuts to make this easier.

Microsoft Word-style Shortcuts

RootsMagic supports the same keyboard shortcuts used by Microsoft Word to enter letters with accent marks (or diacritics).

To use them, press the keyboard shortcut followed by the letter to which you wish to add the accent.

Caption: Microsoft Word-style Shortcuts
To insert this: Press
à, è, ì, ò, ù, À, È, Ì, Ò, Ù Ctrl+` (Accent Grave), the letter
á, é, í, ó, ú, ý, Á, É, Í, Ó, Ú, Ý Ctrl+' (Apostrophe), the letter
â, ê, î, ô, û, Â, Ê, Î, Ô, Û Ctrl+Shift++^ (Caret), the letter
ã, ñ, õ, Ã, Ñ, Õ Ctrl+Shift+~ (Tilde), the letter
ä, ë, ï, ö, ü, ÿ, Ä, Ë, Ï, Ö, Ü, Ÿ Ctrl+Shift+: (Colon), the letter
å, Å Ctrl+Shift+@, a or A
æ, Æ Ctrl+Shift+&, a or A
œ, Œ Ctrl+Shift+&, o or O
ç, Ç Ctrl+, (Comma), c or C
ð, Ð Ctrl+' (Apostrophe), d or D
ø, Ø Ctrl+/, o or O
¿ Alt+Ctrl+Shift+?
¡ Alt+Ctrl+Shift+!
ß Ctrl+Shift+&, s

Character Map

International characters may also be entered by using the built-in character map. This is accessible from any edit or note field by right-clicking and choosing "Character map" from the menu, or by pressing Ctrl+T.

Character Map

You may browse different groups of characters by selecting one from the "Subset" box. Double-click on a letter or select one and click "Insert" to add it to your text. The 12 most recent characters used may be reused by clicking on the corresponding button in the "Recent" section.

Microsoft Windows Shortcuts

Microsoft Windows has its own shortcuts which may be used to enter characters into RootsMagic. To use them:

  1. Make sure that the Num Lock on your keyboard is on.
  2. Hold down the Alt key.
  3. Type the numbers for the character on the numeric keypad.
  4. Let go of the Alt key. The character will appear in the text box.
Caption: Windows Alt+Number Shortcuts
Á (0193) á (160) À (0192) à (133) Â (0194) â (131) Å (0197) å (134) Ä (0196) ä (132) Ã (0195) ã (0227)
æ (145) Æ (146)
ß (225)
Ç (128) ç (135)
Ð (0208) ð (0240)
É (0201) é (130) È (0200) è (138) Ê (0202) ê (136) Ë (0203) ë (137)
Í (0205) í (161) Ì (0204) ì (141) Î (0206) î (140) Ï (0207) ï (139)
ñ (164) Ñ (165)
Ó (0211) ó (162) Ò (0210) ò (149) Ô (0212) ô (147) Ö (0214) ö (148) Õ (0213) õ (0245) Ø (0216) ø (0248)
Œ (0140) œ (0156)
P (158)
Š (0138) š (0154)
Ú (0218) ú (163) Ù (0217) ù (151) Û (0219) û (150) Ü (0220) ü (0252) ü (129)
Ý (0221) ý (0253) Ÿ (0159) ÿ (152)
Þ (0222) þ (0254) µ (230)
– (0150) — (0151) ¡ (173) ¿ (168) … (0133) · (250) ‘ (0145) ’ (0146) “ (0147) ” (0148) „ (0132)
´ (0180) ˜ (0152) ¯ (0175) ¨ (0168) ¸ (0184) ˆ (0136) ° (248)
‹  (0139) › (0155) «  (174) » (175) ± (241) ÷ (0247) × (0215) ƒ (159)
¹ (0185) ² (253) ³ (0179) ½ (171) ¼ (172) ¾ (0190) ‰ (0137)
† (0134) ‡ (0135) • (249) © (0169) ® (0174) ™ (0153) ¬ (170) ¦ (179) ¢ (155) £ (156) ¥ (157) € (0128)
º (167) ª (166)

macOS Shortcuts

macOS has its own shortcuts for entering characters with accent marks.

Accent Menu

macOS has a popup "accent menu" which makes it easy to insert accented characters.

macOS Accent Menu

To use it:

  1. Hold down the letter you wish to accent (e.g. "a").
  2. Wait a second and the Accent Menu will appear.
  3. Click on the character you wish to use or press the key of the number you see below the character.

Option Key Shortcuts

On macOS, you may also use ---dead--- keys, or modifier keys to enter an accented character.

Caption: macOS Option Key Shortcuts
To insert this: Press
à, è, ì, ò, ù, À, È, Ì, Ò, Ù Option+` (Accent Grave), the letter
á, é, í, ó, ú, ý, Á, É, Í, Ó, Ú, Ý Option+E, the letter
â, ê, î, ô, û, Â, Ê, Î, Ô, Û Option+I, the letter
ã, ñ, õ, Ã, Ñ, Õ Option+N, the letter
ä, ë, ï, ö, ü, ÿ, Ä, Ë, Ï, Ö, Ü, Ÿ Option+U, the letter
å, Å Option+a or Option+A
æ, Æ Option+' or Shift+Option+' (Apostrophe)
œ, Œ Option+q or Option+Q
ç, Ç Option+c or Option+C
ð, Ð Option+d or Option+D
ø, Ø Option+o or Option+O
¿ Shift+Option+?
¡ Shift+Option+!
ß Option+S