Common two-dot vowels
Ä ä Ë ë Ï ï Ö ö Ü ü Ÿ ÿ
These forms appear as diaeresis letters, umlaut letters, or alphabet letters according to the language.
ACCENT MARK / TWO DOTS
Letters with a diaeresis
Copy letters with two dots, including ä, ë, ï, ö, ü, ÿ, ḧ, ẅ, and ẍ. Learn when the mark is called a diaeresis or an umlaut.
Click a character, then paste with Ctrl+V or ⌘V.
Characters 18Groups 2Format Unicode text
QUICK REFERENCE
Find the right character
Extended two-dot letters
Ḧ ḧ Ẅ ẅ Ẍ ẍ
H, W, and X with diaeresis are encoded for particular orthographies, transliteration, and specialist use.
KEYBOARD METHODS
How to type and insert these characters
Use Alt codes for common forms
The common Latin-1 letters have four-digit Alt codes shown in the table. Character Map, language layouts, and Word Unicode conversion cover extended forms.
Press Option + U, then the letter
On the US or ABC layout, press Option + U, release, and type the base letter. Hold Shift with the final letter for uppercase.
Hold the base letter
Touch and hold the letter and choose the two-dot form. Add the relevant German, French, Spanish, Dutch, Welsh, or other language keyboard if it is missing.
Use Ctrl + Shift + colon or Alt+X
Press Ctrl + Shift + colon, release, and type a supported letter. The hexadecimal Unicode value followed by Alt+X works for every listed character.
UNICODE REFERENCE
Character codes
| Character | Name | Group | Unicode | Windows Alt | HTML named | HTML decimal |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ä | Capital A with diaeresis | Vowels | U+00C4 | Alt+0196 | Ä | Ä |
| ä | Lowercase a with diaeresis | Vowels | U+00E4 | Alt+0228 | ä | ä |
| Ë | Capital E with diaeresis | Vowels | U+00CB | Alt+0203 | Ë | Ë |
| ë | Lowercase e with diaeresis | Vowels | U+00EB | Alt+0235 | ë | ë |
| Ï | Capital I with diaeresis | Vowels | U+00CF | Alt+0207 | Ï | Ï |
| ï | Lowercase i with diaeresis | Vowels | U+00EF | Alt+0239 | ï | ï |
| Ö | Capital O with diaeresis | Vowels | U+00D6 | Alt+0214 | Ö | Ö |
| ö | Lowercase o with diaeresis | Vowels | U+00F6 | Alt+0246 | ö | ö |
| Ü | Capital U with diaeresis | Vowels | U+00DC | Alt+0220 | Ü | Ü |
| ü | Lowercase u with diaeresis | Vowels | U+00FC | Alt+0252 | ü | ü |
| Ÿ | Capital Y with diaeresis | Vowels | U+0178 | Alt+0159 | Ÿ | Ÿ |
| ÿ | Lowercase y with diaeresis | Vowels | U+00FF | Alt+0255 | ÿ | ÿ |
| Ḧ | Capital H with diaeresis | Extended letters | U+1E26 | Not standard | Not listed | Ḧ |
| ḧ | Lowercase h with diaeresis | Extended letters | U+1E27 | Not standard | Not listed | ḧ |
| Ẅ | Capital W with diaeresis | Extended letters | U+1E84 | Not standard | Not listed | Ẅ |
| ẅ | Lowercase w with diaeresis | Extended letters | U+1E85 | Not standard | Not listed | ẅ |
| Ẍ | Capital X with diaeresis | Extended letters | U+1E8C | Not standard | Not listed | Ẍ |
| ẍ | Lowercase x with diaeresis | Extended letters | U+1E8D | Not standard | Not listed | ẍ |
For ordinary writing, copy and paste the character itself. Use an HTML entity only in HTML source. A listed Windows Alt code requires a numeric keypad and may depend on the active character set.
USAGE GUIDE
Diaeresis, umlaut, and two-dot letters
A diaeresis consists of two dots above a letter. It often indicates that neighboring vowels are pronounced separately, as in the familiar spellings naïve and Noël.
The same Unicode characters also represent German umlaut letters ä, ö, and ü. Umlaut describes their linguistic function in German, while diaeresis is the character name used by Unicode. Swedish, Finnish, Turkish, and other languages may treat a two-dot form as an alphabet letter with another language-specific role.
The standalone diaeresis ¨, a combining diaeresis, and a completed letter such as ë are different sequences. Copy the finished letter for ordinary text unless you specifically need a combining mark.
The shape is shared, but the linguistic function changes
German ö and the diaeresis in Noël both show two dots, but they do different linguistic work. The encoded letter can be the same while the correct descriptive term depends on the language and context.
COMMON QUESTIONS
Questions about Diaeresis letters
What is the difference between a diaeresis and an umlaut?
They share the two-dot shape and can share the same Unicode letter. Diaeresis and umlaut describe different linguistic functions.
Which letters commonly take a diaeresis?
Common forms include ä, ë, ï, ö, ü, and ÿ, with uppercase Ä, Ë, Ï, Ö, Ü, and Ÿ.
What is the Alt code for ü?
On Windows with a numeric keypad, use Alt+0252 for ü or Alt+0220 for Ü.
How do I type ë on a Mac?
Press Option + U, release the keys, and press E. Hold Shift with the final E for Ë.
Can I replace ü with ue?
UE is a recognized fallback for German ü when the character is unavailable. Do not apply that replacement automatically in other languages or personal names.
Related character pages
References: Unicode diaeresis record, Académie française language guidance, Unicode Combining Diacritical Marks, Unicode Latin Extended-A, Unicode Latin Extended Additional, Apple accent entry guidance, Microsoft character code guidance.