I can't type lower case Ñ or Ï in Windows 8

Question

How do I type lower case Ñ or umlaut Ï in Windows 8? I have the US-International keyboard layout selected. When I try to type a lower case version of those letters (and possibly more), then it fails. In Notepad, it just prints a plain lowercase 'n'. In Wordpad (Calibri font), it doesn't print anything at all. In this text box (Chrome), it prints a plain lowercase 'n'. I also can't type anything with a circumflex. BTW I'm typing those characters by pressing " + i or ~ + n.

Answer 1

Update

I have been trying some tests to narrow it down for you, on my system - I had to remove the US keyboard fully for the international keystrokes to work. Only then did it start working for me (such as: ô, ñ, ï).

Of course, that makes using some of the overlapping special characters more difficult to use.

Other Option

The other, more laborious option, is Windows Alt Codes. The way this works is you hold ALT and type out the numbers on the numpad (in my experience, it must be the numpad).

For ñ: ALT+0241

For ö: ALT+0246

The Alt codes work without an international keyboard setting, if others need it short term in the future.

Answer 2

I discovered how to do this for myself through much trial and error. Normally on the U.S. International keyboard you would do Shift + ~ + n, but as you said that gives you the capital Ñ. What you need to to is:

After holding down Shift and ~, let go of Shift before pressing n. So what you do is Shift + ~ + (Let go of Shift) + n.

Answer 3

If you do not have a numpad and want to insert some symbol easily you can try this:

1. First make sure you are using US-International keyboard (that will make your Right-Alt become AltGr)
2. Hold Right-Alt+N for ñ or Shift+Right-Alt+N for Ñ or simply use Capslock
3. You can also insert some other symbols like RightAlt+R for ®.

(Some other symbols are äáßæðð©é®þñµøíüóúöñ«ö»¬¬¡²³¤€¼½¾¾‘‘’¥)

Answer 4

To type the Spanish letter ñ , it would not work holding down "alt" and entering 164, as most say it should, so I just engaged the "Number Lock" key on my keyboard, and then held down "alt" while clicking on the number 164... it worked.
After you do that disengage the "Number Lock" key and you can type in any other Spanish accent as per the ASCII mode. For the Capital letter ñ, just hold down the alt key and type in 165- you don't have to engage the "number Lock " key on this one.

Answer 5

I'm on Windows 10 with the Spanish (Spain) keyboard installed and none of these options worked, which was driving me nuts. Well, the Alt-number sequence worked, but I specifically installed the keyboard and language/typing pack (pretty sure you need both) to avoid that.

Here is what you need no matter your language/keyboard installed:

https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/globalization/mt644793.aspx

After selecting the Spanish keyboard, I discovered that it was moved to the semicolon (;) key. Problem solved, and it matches the layout of my SwiftKey keyboard as well.

Answer 6

The solution for the lower case problem is to enable the Caps Lock key before typing a combination, using Shift key, for ñ, õ, â, ô, ê, î, û, etc.

It is a little bit annoying to turn on the Caps Lock key every time, but it's better than remembering the numpad combinations.

Answer 7

If you want to type foreign languages such as Spanish or German then you should install another IME. Different IMEs can run on a specific keyboard layout for another language without problem. Typing multiple languages in a single keyboard layout is sometimes not efficient. Just press the "Add a language" button above and choose your desired language

Otherwise you can use AltGr which is mapped to the right Alt key in some layouts like US-International, or use Alt+code in any layouts

Answer 8

Hold alt and type 164 for ñ

then alt 165 = Ñ

so hold alt first then press 1 then 6 then 4 then release your fingers from the keyboard at the same time.

Answer 9

In Windows 8

• for Ñ: Press Shift+~+n
• for ñ: Caps Lock should be on and do the same as Ñ

Answer 10

To type ñ go to the language setting and add spanish keyboard on your language options and then you can now type Ñ using your touch keyboard just choose spanish instead of english.