How to type e with acute on Mac

The Option + E dead-key shortcut

Apple incorporates acute accents into macOS using dead keys—modifier combinations that generate an accent without advancing the cursor until a second letter is pressed. Pressing Option + E primes the acute accent. Typing E immediately combines them into lowercase é. For capital É, press Option + E, let go of both keys, and press Shift + E. This dead key also works with vowels like a, i, o, and u (producing á, í, ó, and ú). Our Mac Option key shortcuts guide covers every dead key combination on Apple keyboards.

The press-and-hold accent menu

If you prefer a visual interface, macOS provides an intuitive press-and-hold menu. In any text application (Notes, Pages, Mail, Safari), press and hold down the E key for about one second until an accent bubble appears over the cursor. The letter é is typically assigned to the number 2 key. Press 2 on your keyboard or click the symbol with your trackpad to insert it. For capital É, hold Shift while pressing and holding E.

Using the macOS Character Viewer

If you work in a command-line terminal or coding editor where key repeats are favored over the accent menu, you can always summon the Character Viewer. Press Control + Command + Space to open the symbol utility, search for “acute” or “e acute”, and double-click the character to paste it. Check out our Mac Character Viewer guide for more tips on organizing favorite symbols.

Everyday English loanwords and cross-platform tips

The letter é appears frequently in borrowed French words such as café, résumé, sauté, cliché, and protégé. Adding the proper acute accent gives resumes and business documents a polished, professional appearance. If you also type on Windows PCs, read our guide on typing e with acute on Windows. To inspect character encodings and HTML codes, visit our e with acute symbol page, and discover other accented vowels in our e with accent collection.