How to Use a Keyboard with “Ñ” and Accents on a Mac with US International PC Layout
If you’re using a Mac with a standard American keyboard and need to type in Spanish or another language that requires special characters like “ñ” or accented vowels, there’s an easy solution. By configuring your keyboard to the US International PC layout, you can access these characters effortlessly. Here’s how to set it up and use it.
Configuring Your Keyboard
Open System Preferences: Click on the Apple menu in the top-left corner of your screen and select “System Preferences.”
Go to Keyboard Settings: In the System Preferences window, click on “Keyboard.”
Input Sources Tab: Select the “Input Sources” tab.
Add a New Keyboard Layout: Click the “+” button at the bottom-left corner of the window to add a new keyboard layout.
Select US International – PC: In the list of available keyboard layouts, find and select “US International – PC.” Click “Add.”
Set as Default: Make sure the newly added “US International – PC” layout is checked in the list of input sources. You can remove other layouts if you want to make this the only one.
Using the US International PC Layout
Once your keyboard is set to the US International PC layout, you can type special characters using simple key combinations:
Accented Vowels: To type accented vowels (á, é, í, ó, ú), press the apostrophe key (‘) followed by the desired vowel. For example, to type “é,” press the apostrophe key and then “e.”
The “Ñ” Character: To type “ñ,” press the tilde key (~) followed by “n.”
Other Accents: For a grave accent (à, è, ì, ò, ù), press the backtick key (`) followed by the vowel. For a circumflex accent (â, ê, î, ô, û), press the caret key (^) followed by the vowel.
Umlaut (Diaeresis): For characters like ü, press the quotation mark key (“) followed by “u.”
Example Usage
Let’s put it into practice with a few examples:
To write “mañana” (morning/tomorrow):
Press the tilde key (~) followed by “n” to get “ñ.”
Type the rest of the word normally: m, a, ñ, a, n, a.
To write “él está aquí” (he is here):
Press the apostrophe key (‘) followed by “e” to get “é.”
Type the rest of the word normally: l, space.
Press the apostrophe key (‘) followed by “a” to get “á.”
Type the rest of the word normally: s, t, á, space.
Press the apostrophe key (‘) followed by “i” to get “í.”
Type the rest of the word normally: q, u, í.
By setting your keyboard to the US International PC layout, you can easily type in multiple languages without needing a physical keyboard specific to each language. This setup is particularly useful for anyone who regularly switches between languages, making the Mac an even more versatile tool for multilingual communication.