How to add the Spanish “ñ” from an English keyboard

One of the questions I get asked most by students is how to add that funny squiggle to make a Spanish “ñ” from an English keyboard.

First of all that funny squiggle is called a “tilde” and the letter “ñ” is a letter in it’s own right, separate to the normal “n” in the Spanish alphabet.

Words such as Español (Spanish), niño (boy or child) and mañana (tomorrow) all have the “n” but unless you have installed the Spanish keyboard in your computer settings you’ll need a short cut to get it.

For Windows the easiest short cuts are these;

For a lower case “ñ”

Simply press down the “Alt” key and hold it while you type the numbers “164” on the number pad. Alt + 164 = ñ

For an upper case “Ñ”

Simply press down the “Alt” key and hold it while you type the numbers “165” on the number pad. Alt + 165 = Ñ

(Nb. this doesn’t work with regular number keys only the keypad).

If you’d like to listen to these words and how they are pronounced here’s a short YouTube lesson.