Online German Keyboard (ä ö ü ß €)
Type German umlauts (ä, ö, ü), Eszett (ß / ẞ), Euro (€), and German quotation marks („ “) without changing your operating system keyboard settings. Your draft auto-saves locally in this browser.
How to Type German Characters on Any Device
macOS
- • Hold a / o / u / s and tap the number
- • ⌥ Option + u then a/o/u → ä / ö / ü
- • ⌥ Option + s → ß
Windows
- • US-Intl layout: " + a/o/u → ä / ö / ü
- • US-Intl ß: RightAlt + s
- • Alt codes: 0228 (ä) · 0246 (ö) · 0252 (ü) · 0223 (ß)
iPhone & Android
- • Long-press a, o, u, s on your touch keyboard
- • Slide your finger to ä, ö, ü, ß
- • Add German (QWERTZ) in system keyboard settings for one-tap keys
German vs. Swiss QWERTZ
Germany & Austria include a dedicated ß key on the top right. Switzerland omits ß (writing ss) and places French/Italian accents (é, à, è) alongside the umlauts.
German Keyboard FAQ
Why are Z and Y swapped on a German QWERTZ keyboard?
German uses "Z" far more frequently than "Y" (z. B., zu, Zeit, zusammen, zwei). QWERTZ therefore puts Z in the top letter row, within easy reach of the index finger, and moves the rarely needed Y to the bottom-left corner, which makes German typing faster and more ergonomic.
How do I type ä, ö, ü, ß on a US Mac or Windows keyboard?
On macOS, press and hold a, o, u, or s and pick the accent menu — or press Option+u then a/o/u for ä/ö/ü and Option+s for ß. On Windows, switch to the US-International keyboard layout and type " + a/o/u for umlauts and RightAlt + s for ß (or use Alt+0228, Alt+0246, Alt+0252, Alt+0223 on a numpad).
What is the capital form of ß (Eszett)?
German introduced the official uppercase Eszett (ẞ, Unicode U+1E9E) in 2017 for all-caps headlines and official documents, such as STRASSE or STRAẞE. You can click ẞ right from our special-character bar whenever you need uppercase.
Is there a Swiss German keyboard difference?
Yes! Switzerland uses its own QWERTZ layout, and because Swiss Standard German does not use ß (writing ss everywhere instead), it has no ß key. The keys where the German layout has ü, ö, and ä type lowercase ü, ö, and ä on the Swiss layout too, but Shift gives the French letters è, é, and à instead of capitals. Capital Ä, Ö, and Ü are typed with Caps Lock or with the ¨ dead key followed by the capital vowel.