Portuguese Keyboard: ç, ã, õ on Brazil ABNT2 and Portugal
The Portuguese keyboard here types á, à, â, ã, ç, é, ê, í, ó, ò, ô, õ and ú, capitals with Shift. Click a letter, or hold Alt with its plain letter and repeat to step through the accents. Brazil's and Portugal's layouts both put ç right of L and make the rest with two dead keys.
Shown first is the ABNT2 keyboard of Brazil as Windows draws it, from Microsoft's data; the switch turns it into the Portuguese keyboard layout of Portugal. Type as usual or click a key. Shaded keys are what English keyboards lack: ç right of L and two accent keys that wait for a vowel: ´ then a gives á, ~ then o gives õ, and Shift gives ` and ^. No mouse? Alt plus the bare letter, again for the next accent.
On a narrow screen you get one button per Portuguese letter, with Shift for the capitals; the ABNT2 drawing needs the width of a tablet. Phone keyboards also tuck each accent under its bare letter: Touch and hold A, then slide to á.
Portuguese letters an English keyboard lacks dead key: it types nothing until the next key
- á é í ó ú ´, then the letter
- à ò Shift and `, then the letter
- â ê ô Shift and ^, then the letter
- ã õ ~, then the letter
- ç its own key
Every Portuguese accent and ç in one click, no dead keys; Shift first for the capital.
Which keys type Portuguese letters in this editor?
In the box above, hold Alt and press the plain letter: the editor types its Portuguese form. Add Shift for the capital. á, à, â and ã share one key: press Alt+A again straight away to switch between them.
| Press | Types | With Shift |
|---|---|---|
| Alt+A, again | á, then à, then â, then ã | Á, then À, then Â, then à |
| Alt+C | ç | Ç |
| Alt+E, again | é, then ê | É, then Ê |
| Alt+I | í | Í |
| Alt+O, again | ó, then ò, then ô, then õ | Ó, then Ò, then Ô, then Õ |
| Alt+U | ú | Ú |
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: á is Option+E, then A. AltGr on a Windows keyboard is left alone too, so it types what your layout prints on the key.
How do the Brazilian and Portuguese layouts place the same keys?
Brazil's and Portugal's layouts both type every Portuguese letter and capital, from one ç key and two dead keys, but they put those keys in different spots. Windows chooses by country. Microsoft's default input profiles give Brazilian Portuguese the Brazil layout. Portugal, Angola, Mozambique, Cabo Verde, Guinea-Bissau, São Tomé and Príncipe, Timor-Leste and Macao get KLID 00000816, the Portuguese layout (opens in a new tab).
Read from Microsoft's data on 2026-10-25, key by key:
| Key | Brazil (ABNT2) | Portugal |
|---|---|---|
| ç, with Ç on Shift and Caps Lock | right of L | right of L |
| ´ and, with Shift, ` | right of P | right of the + key, which is right of P |
| ~ and, with Shift, ^ | right of ç | right of º, next to where Enter widens |
| ¨ for ü | Shift with 6 | AltGr with + |
| left of 1 | ' and " | \ and | |
| @ | Shift with 2 | AltGr with 2 |
| « and » | absent | second key right of 0 |
| º and ª | AltGr with the keys right of ´ and ~ | a key of their own, right of ç |
A writer who moves between the two finds ç where it was and the accents somewhere else. Either way an accented vowel takes two presses: the dead key, then the vowel. The Portuguese alphabet page sets out which vowels each mark goes on.
ABNT or ABNT2: which one does Windows draw?
Microsoft lists two Brazilian layouts. Windows installs the first, KLID 00000416, Portuguese (Brazil ABNT) (opens in a new tab), for Brazilian Portuguese. The second, KLID 00010416, Portuguese (Brazil ABNT2) (opens in a new tab), came with Windows 8.1, says Microsoft's table of layouts.
We put Microsoft's two drawings side by side on 2026-10-25. Apart from the name, they are the same file: every key, every state, every dead key. So the Brazil drawing on this page stands for both. It is labelled ABNT2, the name the Mac uses too. Neither drawing has a € on any key.
Which Mac input source matches a Brazilian keyboard?
The Mac input source that matches a Brazilian keyboard is the one named Brazilian – ABNT2; the one named plain Brazilian keeps US keys. Measured on macOS 26.6.2 through UCKeyTranslate, four sources matter, and their names in the Input menu mislead:
- Brazilian – ABNT2 has the Windows keys: ç right of L, ´ right of P, ~ right of ç, ¨ on Shift with 6. Option with E adds the € that Windows lacks.
- Brazilian, with no suffix, keeps the US keys and turns the apostrophe, the
key and Shift with 6 into dead keys. The apostrophe takes ´, so ' then a gives á and ' then c gives ç. Thengives à, Shift with ` gives ã, and Shift with 6 gives â. - Brazilian – Legacy has no dead key at all without Option.
- Portuguese follows Portugal, with ç right of L, but rearranges the rest. º sits right of P and ´ right of it, and the ~ key moves next to ç, where Windows has º.
On a US keyboard with no Portuguese layout at all, Windows has a third way. The US International keyboard makes ' then c type ç and ~ then a type ã, as Microsoft's data for it shows. The device cards further down need no layout at all.
What are the Portuguese keyboard shortcuts on each device?
Without a Portuguese layout, these are the documented ways to type the letters: one card per device, and in each card the letters typed the same way share a line, with the steps for the first of them.
Mac
- ç
- For ç: Option+C
- à ò
- For à: Option+`, then A
- ã õ
- For ã: Option+N, then A
- â ê ô
- For â: Option+I, then A
- á é í ó ú
- For á: Option+E, then A
Windows
- á 0225, à 0224, â 0226, ã 0227, ç 0231, é 0233, ê 0234, í 0237, ó 0243, ò 0242, ô 0244, õ 0245, ú 0250
- For á: Alt+0225
iPhone, iPad and Android
- á à â ã ç é ê í ó ò ô õ ú
- For á: Touch and hold A, then slide to á
Chromebook
- ç
- For ç: Switch to the US International keyboard, then Shift+AltGr+5, then C
- à ò
- For à: Switch to the US International keyboard, then `, then A
- ã õ
- For ã: Switch to the US International keyboard, then Shift+`, then A
- â ê ô
- For â: Switch to the US International keyboard, then Shift+6, then A
- á é í ó ú
- For á: Switch to the US International keyboard, then ', then A
Microsoft Word
- ç
- For ç: Ctrl+,, then C
- à ò
- For à: Ctrl+`, then A
- ã õ
- For ã: Ctrl+Shift+~, then A
- â ê ô
- For â: Ctrl+Shift+^, then A
- á é í ó ú
- For á: Ctrl+', then A
Google Docs
- á à â ã ç é ê í ó ò ô õ ú
- For á: Insert, then Symbols, then Special characters, then search "latin small letter a with acute"
Sources: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 Portuguese keyboard
Why does my keyboard type ç when I press the apostrophe and then c?
Because it is set to a US layout with dead keys, not to Brazil's ABNT2. On Windows, United States-International makes the apostrophe wait for the next key, and ' then c gives ç. The Mac input source named Brazilian, with no suffix, does the same on US keys. On ABNT2, ç has a key of its own.
Which key types ₢ on a Brazilian layout, and what is it?
AltGr with C, in Microsoft's data for the Brazilian layouts, beside ° on AltGr with E. Unicode calls the sign CRUZEIRO SIGN. The euro sign is the one missing: no key of Microsoft's ABNT2 types €, while the Portugal layout has it on AltGr with E.
Where are the slash and the question mark on a Brazilian keyboard?
In Microsoft's drawing of ABNT2, the slash is AltGr with Q and the question mark AltGr with W; the key for ; and : sits right of the full stop instead. The Mac's Brazilian – ABNT2 input source puts them on Option with Q and with W, the same keys.