If you are using a computer keyboard that does not include the letter Ñ, because, for example, its QWERTY layout is not in Spanish, but in English, don’t worry, because there is a way to write this letter even if it does not come by default in keyboard.
Ways to write Ñ with any keyboard
Specifically, there are two ways to write the letter Ñ with a keyboard that does not include it:
Entering the character code
You can type any character – even emojis – with the keyboard by entering its special code. To do this, you must activate the numeric keypad, press the ALT key and type the numerical code that corresponds to the character you want to include. The problem is that you don’t always know the special characters on the keyboard.
In the case of the letter Ñ, these are the codes that you will have to include, depending on whether you want to put it in uppercase or lowercase. Remember to activate the keyboard’s numeric keypad by pressing the NumLock key.
To type the uppercase Ñ, press the Alt key + the numeric code 0209.
To type the lowercase Ñ, press the Alt key + the numeric code 0241.
Using the on-screen keyboard
If you have a Windows computer, you can activate the virtual keyboard, a digital keyboard that includes all the letters and if you use the operating system in Spanish it will include the Ñ.
To activate it, you just have to press the Windows and R keys. This activates the Run box. Enter “osl” and click to accept.
Another option is to press the following combination: the Ctrl + Alt + Del or Del keys. The options menu will open there, click on the Accessibility icon at the bottom right and enable the On-Screen Keyboard.
Changing the information entry system
Another way to have the Ñ key on the keyboard, even if it does not incorporate it, and also remains that way forever, is to change the information entry system.
If you have the operating system in Spanish (if not, configure it in Spanish) you can go to System Settings. There go to the “Time and Language” section in Writing, where you can configure the information entry method to be in Spanish.
When you do this, the key on your keyboard that is next to the letter “L” (where the Ñ would be if it were a QWERTY keyboard in Spanish) will write a Ñ every time you press it, instead of the symbol that appears on the physical keyboard.
Copying and pasting
An easy and quick solution that can help you in any situation if you do not want to use special codes is to look for a letter Ñ and copy and paste it on your computer.
For example, go to Google and search for the word “Spanish.” Since many “Spanish” words will appear in the search results, you just have to copy the letter Ñ that appears and paste it into the document where you want to use it, be it a doc, an email or any other.
If you wish, you can paste the letter Ñ in a note or a document saved on your computer, to easily access it the next time you want to paste it, without having to search the Internet for a word with ñ.
