Special Character Chart for German
Part 2: Typing German Characters on a PC or
Mac Using an English-Language Keyboard
Also see:
Can Your PC Speak German?
Special-Character FAQ
German Punctuation
| PART 2: CHARACTER CODES for GERMAN Chart 1 > Chart 2 |
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| For this German character, type... Codes marked with an asterisk * may not display correctly in all browsers or with all fonts. |
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| German letter/symbol |
PC Code Alt + |
Mac Code option + |
| « left angle quote |
0171 | shift + \ (backslash) |
| » right angle quote |
0187 | + \ (backslash) |
| Some German publishers use the "left angle" quote as the close quote, and the "right angle" quote as the open quote, while others use them as shown above - «Wer weiß warum?» | ||
| „Xxx... left lower quote |
0132 | shift w |
| “ right quote 1 (used by focus, Der Spiegel, etc.) |
0147 | [ (left bracket) |
| ” right quote 2 (same as Engl. close quote) |
0148 | shift [ (left bracket) |
| € euro symbol* |
0128* html = € |
shift 2 |
| ° Grad / degree sign |
0176* | shift 8 |
| § paragraph, section (law) |
0167 | 6 |
| £ pound sterling |
0163 | 3 |
| More: Part One of this chart Also see Optimize Your PC for German and the related links below. |
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| Freeware Solution: Want to avoid the complicated PC numeric codes? Try this free DeKey application provided by a reader. More... | ||
HTML Hint: If you want to create a ü (u-umlaut) or the other German characters in HTML for your personal or other Web page, here's a tip. The HTML code for most German characters and symbols is usually the same as the PC keyboard Alt code (minus the zero). For example, to type an umlaut-u (ü) on the PC keyboard you press Alt+0252. To get the same character in HTML, you use this code: ü (you must end the code with a semicolon, as shown). In a Web browser this will produce ü. Some letters/symbols have both a letter code and a "word" code. The Ä, for example, can be typed in HTML as either Ä or as Ä. The pound sterling symbol (£) can be coded as £ or as £. You can easily convert the codes in the chart above to HTML by just dropping the zero.
BACK > Part One - More German characters
MORE > Optimize Your PC for German
Part One of This Chart
The first part of our Special Character Chart for German.
Special-Character FAQ
If you're still not sure which way to go on this issue, take a look at our Frequently Asked Questions for typing special characters on an English-language keyboard.
DeKey - Freeware
This little application makes your PC more like a Mac! Quickly type an ä (or other German characters) using Alt + a. It's a free download.
German Punctuation
An article about some important differences in German versus English punctuation.
Can Your PC Speak German?
A detailed look at all the options for typing special German characters on an English-language keyboard.
Optimize Your PC for German
Helpful tips for Mac and Windows XP users - including German spell-checking in MS Word.
Computer Keyboards Abroad
Where the heck is the @ sign? German and other European computer keyboards, Internet cafés and computer terms in German.
Computer Glossary
Our annotated English-German glossary of computer terms.
German Newsletters
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