On macOS, Option and E, let go, then U, and hold Shift on that U for Ú. On Windows, hold Alt and type 0250 on the numeric keypad with Num Lock on, or 0218 for Ú; the older Alt+163 also works in most programs. In Microsoft Word on Windows, Ctrl and the apostrophe, then U. On Linux with the United States international layout, AltGr and U, or AltGr and Shift and U for the capital. On a phone, press and hold the u key.

They do different jobs. ú marks stress, the same as the other four acute vowels: menú, Perú, último, música, público. ü, with the two dots, appears only in güe and güi and says the u is pronounced rather than silent: pingüino, vergüenza, bilingüe. For ü, macOS is Option and U then U, Windows is Alt+0252, and the United States international layout is AltGr and Y, not U, because AltGr and U already gives ú.

When does Spanish write an accent on a u?

When the stress falls where the ordinary rules would not put it, as in menú, Perú and último, and when the accent splits the u from the vowel beside it into its own syllable, as in baúl, búho and actúa. It also tells tú, meaning you, from tu, meaning your.

Is anything uploaded?

No. The character, its codepoint and the keystrokes are part of the page, so nothing is sent anywhere and there is no account. The only thing kept is the platform and the case you picked, in this browser.

The Accented U in Spanish

ú is the acute accent on a u, U+00FA, and this page opens on it: the character large, with its codepoint, its HTML entity and the keystroke for macOS, Windows and Linux. Click it to copy, or read the sequence once and type it yourself from now on. The ü, with two dots, is in the second row of keys, the case control switches the whole page to Ú, and the type-here field puts the accent on the last plain u in a word you type, so menu becomes menú.

u with acuteU+00FA · ú

macOSOption+E, then U
WindowsAlt+0250
LinuxAltGr+U

Click a character to copy it. The keystroke under each key is for the platform you picked.

Case

Keystrokes

Type here

A key copies its character. With something in the field, the same click also puts the accent on the last plain a, e, i, o, u or n it finds, so cafe becomes café. When the accent belongs somewhere else in the word, as in mañana, copy the character and type it where it goes. Hold Alt and type the four digits on the numeric keypad with Num Lock on. The number row above the letters does not work. On a laptop with no keypad, switch the input to the United States international layout, where an apostrophe followed by the vowel gives the accent.

Worked examples

Accent on the umenu + u
menú
One vowelcafe + e
café
Two of the same vowelmama + a
mamá
The tildeespanol + n
español

Every character, with its keystrokes

The same nine characters the keys carry, in the case the control above is set to. The Windows column needs the numeric keypad with Num Lock on, and the Linux column is the United States international layout with AltGr. Swipe the table sideways for the keystroke columns.

Character	Name	Codepoint	macOS	Windows alt code	Linux, US international
á	a with acute	U+00E1á	Option+E, then A	Alt+0225	AltGr+A
é	e with acute	U+00E9é	Option+E, then E	Alt+0233	AltGr+E
í	i with acute	U+00EDí	Option+E, then I	Alt+0237	AltGr+I
ó	o with acute	U+00F3ó	Option+E, then O	Alt+0243	AltGr+O
ú	u with acute	U+00FAú	Option+E, then U	Alt+0250	AltGr+U
ñ	n with tilde	U+00F1ñ	Option+N, then N	Alt+0241	AltGr+N
ü	u with diaeresis	U+00FCü	Option+U, then U	Alt+0252	AltGr+Y
¿	inverted question mark	U+00BF¿	Option+Shift+?	Alt+0191	AltGr+Shift+?
¡	inverted exclamation mark	U+00A1¡	Option+1	Alt+0161	AltGr+1

Exact, and that is the whole claim. Every key copies the standard Unicode codepoint for that character and nothing else, so what lands in your clipboard is exactly what you clicked. The keystrokes are the documented sequences for each platform. The characters are held in this page, so nothing is uploaded and it keeps working with no connection. Only the platform and the case you picked are remembered, in this browser.

Common questions

How do I type ú?: On macOS, Option and E, let go, then U, and hold Shift on that U for Ú. On Windows, hold Alt and type 0250 on the numeric keypad with Num Lock on, or 0218 for Ú; the older Alt+163 also works in most programs. In Microsoft Word on Windows, Ctrl and the apostrophe, then U. On Linux with the United States international layout, AltGr and U, or AltGr and Shift and U for the capital. On a phone, press and hold the u key.
Is it ú or ü?: They do different jobs. ú marks stress, the same as the other four acute vowels: menú, Perú, último, música, público. ü, with the two dots, appears only in güe and güi and says the u is pronounced rather than silent: pingüino, vergüenza, bilingüe. For ü, macOS is Option and U then U, Windows is Alt+0252, and the United States international layout is AltGr and Y, not U, because AltGr and U already gives ú.
When does Spanish write an accent on a u?: When the stress falls where the ordinary rules would not put it, as in menú, Perú and último, and when the accent splits the u from the vowel beside it into its own syllable, as in baúl, búho and actúa. It also tells tú, meaning you, from tu, meaning your.
Is anything uploaded?: No. The character, its codepoint and the keystrokes are part of the page, so nothing is sent anywhere and there is no account. The only thing kept is the platform and the case you picked, in this browser.

Every key copies the standard Unicode codepoint for that character and nothing else, so what lands in your clipboard is exactly what you clicked. The keystrokes are the documented sequences for each platform.