A With Umlaut (ä) (ä)
The a with umlaut (ä) ä is Unicode U+00E4, the Latin letter a with umlaut or diaeresis, prominent in German, Finnish, and Swedish. Press Copy to put it on your clipboard, or type it with Alt + 0228 on Windows or Option + U, then A on a Mac.
- Unicode
U+00E4- HTML
ä- Windows
Alt + 0228- Mac
Option + U, then A
How to type the a with umlaut (ä) (ä)
The quickest way is to press Copy above and paste. To type ä yourself, use the method for your device below. On Windows the alt code is Alt + 0228. On a Mac it is Option + U, then A.
Windows
- Hold Alt and type 0228 on the numeric keypad, then release Alt. Num Lock must be on. This uses the Windows-1252 code page, so it works in almost every Windows app.
- Hold Alt and type 132 on the numeric keypad. This older code (from code page 437) works in Notepad, Word and most desktop apps.
- In Word or Outlook, type 00E4 and press Alt + X. Alt + X converts the hex code before the cursor into the character, and back again.
- Press Win + R, type charmap and press Enter. Tick “Advanced view”, search for Latin Small Letter A with Diaeresis, then Select and Copy. Character Map is built into every version of Windows.
Mac
- Press Option+UthenA. On the standard US and US-International layouts.
- Press Control + Command + Space to open the Character Viewer, search for a umlaut and double-click it.
Linux & ChromeOS
- Press Ctrl + Shift + U, type e4, then press Enter or Space. Works in GTK and IBus apps (GNOME, Firefox, Chrome, LibreOffice) and on ChromeOS.
- Press your Compose key, then " a. Needs a Compose key set in your keyboard settings.
iPhone & iPad
- Touch and hold the a key on your iPhone or iPad keyboard, then slide your finger to ä.
- Copy ä from this page, then go to Settings → General → Keyboard → Text Replacement and add it with a shortcut such as ;a. The shortcut then turns into the symbol as you type, in every app.
Android
- In Gboard, touch and hold the a key, then drag your finger to ä in the pop-up accent list.
- Copy ä here, then open Gboard settings → Dictionary → Personal dictionary and add it with a shortcut.
Microsoft Word
- Type 00E4, then press Alt + X.
- Insert → Symbol → More Symbols. Set “from” to Unicode (hex), type 00E4 in “Character code” and click Insert.
- On a Mac, Option+UthenA works in Word too.
Google Docs
- Insert → Special characters, then search for “a umlaut” or draw it in the box.
Excel & Google Sheets
- Enter
=UNICHAR(228)in a cell. It works in Excel 2013 and later and in Google Sheets.
HTML
- Write
äoräin your HTML.
What does ä mean?
The letter a with umlaut ä (capital Ä, Unicode name LATIN SMALL LETTER A WITH DIAERESIS) places two horizontal dots over the letter a. In German, it represents the front vowel sound /ɛ/ or /ɛː/ (similar to the vowel in English bed or fair), as heard in Mädchen (girl), Käse (cheese), and plural nouns like Männer (men) and Häuser (houses). When technical limitations prevent typing the umlaut, German allows the digraph substitution ae (Maedchen).
In Swedish, Finnish, Estonian, and Slovak, ä is celebrated as a completely distinct, standalone letter placed at the end of the alphabet, representing an open front vowel /æ/ (identical to the a in English cat). In Finnish and Estonian, it participates in strict vowel harmony rules. Type ä on Windows with Alt + 0228 (or Alt + 132), or on Mac with Option + U then A.
Common uses
- German plurals and nouns: Ärzte (doctors), Äpfel (apples), spät (late)
- Finnish and Swedish everyday terms: yökerho ja päivä (nightclub and day)
- Geographic place names: München, Nürnberg, Västerås, Pärnu
- Brand names and international company registries
A With Umlaut (ä) codes for HTML, CSS and programming
Every code below produces ä. Use the HTML entity in web pages, the CSS escape in content, and the escape sequence in source code.
| Unicode code point | U+00E4 | |
|---|---|---|
| HTML entity (named) | ä | |
| HTML decimal | ä | |
| HTML hex | ä | |
| CSS content | content: "\E4"; | |
| JavaScript | "\u00E4" | |
| Python | "\u00E4" | |
| Python (by name) | "\N{LATIN SMALL LETTER A WITH DIAERESIS}" | |
| Java / C# | "\u00E4" | |
| UTF-8 bytes | C3 A4 | |
| UTF-16 | 00E4 | |
| URL encoded | %C3%A4 | |
| Windows Alt code | Alt + 0228 | |
| Alt code (CP437) | Alt + 132 | |
| Mac shortcut | Option + U, then A |
ä vs look-alike characters
These characters look similar to ä but have a different meaning and code. Pasting the wrong one can break search, sorting and screen readers.
| Char | Name | When to use it |
|---|---|---|
AU+0061 | Standard Latin letter a without dots. | |
A with Ring AboveU+00E5 | A with ring above (U+00E5), a Scandinavian back rounded vowel. | |
AeU+00E6 | AE ligature (U+00E6), an ash ligature used in Nordic alphabets. | |
O with DiaeresisU+00F6 | O with umlaut (U+00F6), a mid front rounded vowel. |
Symbols similar to ä
Click to copy, or open a symbol for its codes.
ä character properties
- Official Unicode name
- LATIN SMALL LETTER A WITH DIAERESIS
- Also known as
- a umlaut, a diaeresis, a with two dots, german a
- Code point
- U+00E4
- Unicode block
- Latin-1 Supplement (U+0080–U+00FF)
- General category
- Lowercase letter (Ll)
- Added in
- Unicode 1.1 (1993)
- Plane
- Basic Multilingual Plane (0)
- Emoji
- No, it is a text symbol
Frequently asked questions
What is the sound of ä in German?
In German, ä sounds like a short /ɛ/ (as in "bed") or a long /ɛː/ (as in "fair"). In Finnish and Swedish, it sounds like the "a" in "cat".
How do I type ä on Windows?
Hold Alt and type 0228 on the numeric keypad, or type 00E4 in Word and press Alt + X.
What is the alt code for the a with umlaut (ä)?
On Windows, hold Alt and type 0228 on the numeric keypad to get ä. The shorter code Alt + 132 also works in most desktop apps. On a laptop without a keypad, copy it from this page or use 00E4 then Alt + X in Word.
How do I type the a with umlaut (ä) on a Mac?
Press Option + U, then A. It works in every app on the US keyboard layout. You can also open the Character Viewer with Control + Command + Space and search for it.
What is the HTML code for the a with umlaut (ä)?
Use the named entity ä or the numeric reference ä (hex ä). All three display ä in every browser.
What is the Unicode for the a with umlaut (ä)?
ä is U+00E4, officially named LATIN SMALL LETTER A WITH DIAERESIS, in the Latin-1 Supplement block. It has been part of Unicode since version 1.1 (1993).