How to Put Two Dots Over a Letter in Word
Are you working on a document in Microsoft Word and need to add two dots over a letter to indicate a diacritic or a special accent? This is a common requirement for academic or professional documents, especially when dealing with foreign languages or technical terms. The good news is that it’s quite simple to do. In this article, we’ll guide you through the steps to put two dots over a letter in Word.
Using the Character Map
One of the easiest ways to add two dots over a letter in Word is by using the Character Map tool. Here’s how to do it:
1. Open the Character Map by typing “Character Map” in the Windows search bar and selecting the first result.
2. In the Character Map window, select the “Font” dropdown menu and choose “Arial Unicode MS” or another Unicode-compatible font that includes the character you need.
3. In the “Characters to copy” box, scroll through the characters until you find the one with two dots over it. This character might be called “æ” (Latin small letter ae) or similar.
4. Click on the character, then click “Select” and then “Copy.”
5. Go back to your Word document, click where you want to insert the character, and then press “Ctrl” + “V” to paste it.
Using the Keyboard Shortcut
If you frequently need to add two dots over a letter, you can create a keyboard shortcut for it. Here’s how:
1. Open the Word document where you want to use the keyboard shortcut.
2. Go to “File” > “Options” > “Customize Ribbon.”
3. In the “Customize the Quick Access Toolbar” section, click “All Commands.”
4. Scroll down to find “AutoCorrect” and click on it.
5. Click “Add” to add it to the Quick Access Toolbar.
6. Click “OK” to close the Options window.
7. Now, go to the Quick Access Toolbar and click on the “AutoCorrect” button.
8. In the AutoCorrect window, click “Options” and check the “Use system keyboard layout” box.
9. In the “Replace” field, type the text you want to type (e.g., “ae”), and in the “With” field, paste the character with two dots over it (e.g., “æ”).
10. Click “Add” and then “OK.”
Now, whenever you type “ae” in your document, Word will automatically replace it with the character with two dots over it.
Using Unicode Codes
If you prefer to use Unicode codes to insert the character, here’s how:
1. Open the Word document where you want to insert the character.
2. Click where you want to place the character.
3. Press “Alt” + “X” to insert the Unicode code.
4. Type the Unicode code for the character with two dots over it (e.g., “00E6” for “æ”).
5. Press “Enter” to insert the character.
By following these methods, you can easily add two dots over a letter in Word, making your document more accurate and professional.
