French Keyboard Online: Accents, AZERTY and Canadian Layouts
Write French here: every accented letter, the joined œ and æ, and « » guillemets, typed by clicking the keys or by holding Alt on a PC and pressing the bare letter. Copy all takes the text to any app. A real French AZERTY keyboard swaps A with Q and Z with W, and its number row types accents first.
The keyboard on this page is French AZERTY as Windows ships it, French (Legacy, AZERTY), with a button for the newer French (Standard, AZERTY) that follows the AFNOR standard. Use your own keys normally or click the ones on screen. Tinted keys are those a US keyboard is missing, such as é on the 2 key and ù beside M. The circumflex key waits for the next vowel: the circumflex, then e, gives ê. To skip the mouse, hold Alt with the bare letter, as the table below the keyboard shows.
Small screens show only the French letters and guillemets, since the AZERTY rows need a tablet or a laptop to fit. Your phone's keyboard keeps the accents under the bare vowel too: Touch and hold A, then slide to à.
French letters an English keyboard lacks dead key: it types nothing until the next key
- à ç é è ù keys of their own
- â ê î ô û ^, then the letter
- ë ï ü ÿ Shift and ¨, then the letter
- æ œ « » not on this layout: tap them in the row of letters
Every French accented letter, æ, œ and the guillemets in a single tap or click; Shift first for a capital.
Which keys type French letters in this editor?
In the box above, hold Alt and press the plain letter: the editor types its French form. Add Shift for the capital. à and â share one key: press Alt+A again straight away to switch between them. æ and œ have no key here: tap them on the screen.
| Press | Types | With Shift |
|---|---|---|
| Alt+A, again | à, then â | À, then  |
| Alt+C | ç | Ç |
| Alt+E, again | é, then è, then ê, then ë | É, then È, then Ê, then Ë |
| Alt+I, again | î, then ï | Î, then Ï |
| Alt+O | ô | Ô |
| Alt+U, again | ù, then û, then ü | Ù, then Û, then Ü |
| Alt+Y | ÿ | Ÿ |
| Alt+, | « | – |
| Alt+. | » | – |
These keys belong to this page only; they do nothing in other apps. On a Mac the editor leaves Option to macOS, so the Mac's own accent keys work in the box as they do everywhere else: à is Option+`, then A. AltGr on a Windows keyboard is left alone too, so it types what your layout prints on the key.
How is the French keyboard layout different from QWERTY?
The letters move first. AZERTY takes its name from the first six letters of its top row: A and Q trade places with the US keyboard, so do Z and W, and M sits right of L. Then the number row turns around: without Shift it types accented letters and signs, and Shift gives the digits.
We read Microsoft's French (Legacy, AZERTY) (opens in a new tab) layout key by key on 2026-10-20, and measured the Mac's French input source through Apple's UCKeyTranslate (macOS 26.6.2) the same day.
| Key on a US keyboard | French (Legacy, AZERTY), Windows | French, Mac |
|---|---|---|
| Q, A | a, q | a, q |
| W, Z | z, w | z, w |
| semicolon, right of L | m | m |
| apostrophe, right of that | ù | ù |
| 1 to 0 | & é " ' ( - è _ ç à, digits with Shift | & é " ' ( § è ! ç à, digits with Shift |
| M | the comma | the comma |
| comma | the semicolon, full stop with Shift | the semicolon, full stop with Shift |
| Caps Lock, then the 2 key | 2 | É |
On the older French keyboard the full stop takes Shift, and so does every digit. Caps Lock on Windows is a Shift lock: it gives 2 on the é key and % on the ù key, never an accented capital.
The Mac does the opposite: its Caps Lock types É, È, Ç, À and Ù on those keys, and French – Numerical is the variant that locks digits. French – PC copies the Windows number row.
What did the 2019 AFNOR standard change on the French keyboard?
The punctuation, the capitals and the joined letters, not the alphabet. AFNOR (opens in a new tab), France's standards body, published the voluntary standard NF Z71-300 in early April 2019, at the culture ministry's request. It defines an improved AZERTY that keeps the letters and digits in place, and BÉPO, an ergonomic layout first made in 2003. Old keyboards stay valid.
Windows 11 version 24H2 ships the improved layout as French (Standard, AZERTY) (opens in a new tab), built to NF Z71-300 by Microsoft's account. Its layout data (opens in a new tab) shows what moved:
- The number row types @ à é è ê ( ) ‘ ’ « » without Shift.
- Right of N, the full stop, comma, colon and semicolon need no Shift.
- The key right of M types a slash; ù moved to AltGr with U.
- AltGr with A, O and C gives æ, œ and ç; AltGr and Shift on à, é, è and ê give their capitals.
- AltGr and the space bar types a no-break space, which the OQLF (opens in a new tab) puts inside « ».
- The number pad's decimal key types a comma, where the legacy layout types a full stop.
What does a French Canadian keyboard look like?
A QWERTY one. Both Canadian layouts in Windows keep the letters where a US keyboard has them, type digits without Shift and put é on its own key right of the full stop. Then they part ways, by Microsoft's data for Canadian French (opens in a new tab) and Canadian Multilingual Standard (opens in a new tab):
| What you want | Canadian French | Canadian Multilingual Standard |
|---|---|---|
| à, è, ù | a grave dead key right of the semicolon key, then the vowel | keys of their own |
| ç | a cedilla dead key, second right of P, then c | its own key, second right of P |
| « and » | their own key, left of Z | AltGr with Z and with X |
| capitals À, È, Ç | the dead key, then the capital | Shift on the letter's key |
On a Mac, the input source Canadian – CSA follows the Multilingual layout: we measured é, è and ç on the same keys, and « » on Option with Z and X. Canadian – PC has the dead keys of Canadian French.
How do you add a French keyboard on Windows, Mac or a phone?
To type in French, pick the French keyboard layout that matches the keys printed on yours, or any of them if you type by touch. The paths come from Microsoft's input layout article (opens in a new tab), Apple's Mac input source (opens in a new tab) and iPhone keyboard (opens in a new tab) pages, and Gboard's language help (opens in a new tab).
| Device | Where to add it | Layouts to choose from | Changing layout |
|---|---|---|---|
| Windows | Start, Settings, Time & language, Language & region; the three dots by your display language, Language options, Add a keyboard | French (Legacy, AZERTY), French (Standard, AZERTY) on 24H2, Canadian French, Canadian Multilingual Standard | Windows logo key with the space bar |
| Mac | Apple menu, System Settings, Keyboard; Edit under Text Input, then Add and a search for French | French, French – PC, French – Numerical, ABC – AZERTY, Canadian – CSA, Canadian – PC (the names on our Mac) | the Input menu, or Control with the space bar |
| iPhone | Settings, General, Keyboard, Keyboards, Add New Keyboard | French; tap it in the list to give it another layout | touch and hold the globe or emoji key |
| Android | Settings at the top of Gboard, Languages, Add keyboard | French, then one of the layouts Gboard lists | touch and hold the space bar |
Windows sorts the Add a keyboard list with your own language's layouts first and every other one after, alphabetically. A French layout can therefore be added without a French language pack; when one is missing, install French as a language first. On a Mac, Show Keyboard Viewer in the Input menu draws the chosen layout on screen.
Without a French keyboard layout, the cards below give each letter's keys on an English one. The French accents guide says when to write é or è; the French alphabet page covers the letters and œ. See also c with cedilla and the œ symbol.
What are the French keyboard shortcuts on each device?
Without a French layout, these are the documented ways to type the letters: one card per device, letter by letter. A capital takes Shift on the last key: on a Mac, À is Option+`, then Shift+A.
Mac
Windows
iPhone, iPad and Android
- à
- Touch and hold A, then slide to à
- â
- Touch and hold A, then slide to â
- æ
- Touch and hold A, then slide to æ
- ç
- Touch and hold C, then slide to ç
- é
- Touch and hold E, then slide to é
- è
- Touch and hold E, then slide to è
- ê
- Touch and hold E, then slide to ê
- ë
- Touch and hold E, then slide to ë
- î
- Touch and hold I, then slide to î
- ï
- Touch and hold I, then slide to ï
- ô
- Touch and hold O, then slide to ô
- œ
- Touch and hold O, then slide to œ
- ù
- Touch and hold U, then slide to ù
- û
- Touch and hold U, then slide to û
- ü
- Touch and hold U, then slide to ü
- ÿ
- Touch and hold Y, then slide to ÿ
Chromebook
First: switch to the US International keyboard.
- à
- `, then A
- â
- Shift+6, then A
- ç
- Shift+AltGr+5, then C
- é
- ', then E
- è
- `, then E
- ê
- Shift+6, then E
- ë
- Shift+', then E
- î
- Shift+6, then I
- ï
- Shift+', then I
- ô
- Shift+6, then O
- ù
- `, then U
- û
- Shift+6, then U
- ü
- Shift+', then U
- ÿ
- Shift+', then Y
No documented method for æ and œ.
Microsoft Word
- à
- Ctrl+`, then A
- â
- Ctrl+Shift+^, then A
- æ
- Ctrl+Shift+&, then A
- ç
- Ctrl+,, then C
- é
- Ctrl+', then E
- è
- Ctrl+`, then E
- ê
- Ctrl+Shift+^, then E
- ë
- Ctrl+Shift+:, then E
- î
- Ctrl+Shift+^, then I
- ï
- Ctrl+Shift+:, then I
- ô
- Ctrl+Shift+^, then O
- œ
- Ctrl+Shift+&, then O
- ù
- Ctrl+`, then U
- û
- Ctrl+Shift+^, then U
- ü
- Ctrl+Shift+:, then U
- ÿ
- Ctrl+Shift+:, then Y
Google Docs
- à
- Insert, then Symbols, then Special characters, then search "latin small letter a with grave"
- â
- Insert, then Symbols, then Special characters, then search "latin small letter a with circumflex"
- æ
- Insert, then Symbols, then Special characters, then search "latin small letter ae"
- ç
- Insert, then Symbols, then Special characters, then search "latin small letter c with cedilla"
- é
- Insert, then Symbols, then Special characters, then search "latin small letter e with acute"
- è
- Insert, then Symbols, then Special characters, then search "latin small letter e with grave"
- ê
- Insert, then Symbols, then Special characters, then search "latin small letter e with circumflex"
- ë
- Insert, then Symbols, then Special characters, then search "latin small letter e with diaeresis"
- î
- Insert, then Symbols, then Special characters, then search "latin small letter i with circumflex"
- ï
- Insert, then Symbols, then Special characters, then search "latin small letter i with diaeresis"
- ô
- Insert, then Symbols, then Special characters, then search "latin small letter o with circumflex"
- œ
- Insert, then Symbols, then Special characters, then search "latin small ligature oe"
- ù
- Insert, then Symbols, then Special characters, then search "latin small letter u with grave"
- û
- Insert, then Symbols, then Special characters, then search "latin small letter u with circumflex"
- ü
- Insert, then Symbols, then Special characters, then search "latin small letter u with diaeresis"
- ÿ
- Insert, then Symbols, then Special characters, then search "latin small letter y with diaeresis"
Sources:Mac (Apple) (opens in a new tab)Mac (Apple) (opens in a new tab)Mac (Apple) (opens in a new tab)Windows (Microsoft) (opens in a new tab)iPhone, iPad (Apple) (opens in a new tab)Android (Google) (opens in a new tab)Chromebook (Google) (opens in a new tab)Microsoft Word (Microsoft) (opens in a new tab)Google Docs (Google) (opens in a new tab)
Frequently asked questions about the French keyboard
Do you need Shift to type numbers on a French keyboard?
On an AZERTY layout, yes. Without Shift the number row types accented letters and signs, on both Windows AZERTY layouts and on the Mac input source named French. On Windows, Caps Lock locks the digits; on a Mac it gives capitals, and French – Numerical is the variant that locks digits. Canadian layouts keep the digits unshifted.
How do you type « and » on a French keyboard?
The French (Standard, AZERTY) layout gives them keys of their own: the 9 and 0 keys without Shift. The older French (Legacy, AZERTY) layout has neither. On a Mac set to French, Option with the 7 key types «, and Shift, Option and 7 types ». The OQLF puts a no-break space between each guillemet and the quoted words.
How do Canadian French and Canadian Multilingual Standard differ?
Both are QWERTY layouts with é on its own key, right of the full stop. Canadian French reaches à, è and ù with a grave dead key and ç with a cedilla dead key, and puts « and » on the key left of Z. Canadian Multilingual Standard gives à, è, ç and ù keys of their own, with the capitals on Shift.
Which French input source should I choose on a Mac?
French keeps the Mac's own number row, with § on the 6 key. French – PC matches a Windows AZERTY keyboard instead, with the hyphen on 6 and the underscore on 8. For a Canadian keyboard, choose Canadian – CSA or Canadian – PC. The Keyboard Viewer in the Input menu shows the keys of the source you picked.
Can I use this French keyboard on a phone or tablet?
Yes. Tap the letters on the screen; Shift gives the capital of the next letter you tap, and Copy all puts the whole text on the clipboard for any app. The Alt keys only matter on a hardware keyboard. Your draft is saved in this browser alone and reappears on your next visit.