- Hi everyone, I wondered if there was a possibility to create a keyboard shortcut to change the font that might be quicker than stopping what I'm doing to use the mouse and click on the font colour I want and then change it.
- I want to type out a list of vocabulary words; where the targeted word is typed in one color, and the surrounding words typed in black. Is there a way to do this without having to stop, change font color, type word, change font color BACK, then type on until next targeted word is coming up?
The U.S. Extended keyboard allows you to types accented carons (č), ogoneks (ą), dots (ṭ), thorns (þ) and others.
This page includes instructions for activating the Extended Keyboard and its codes.
The ribbon groups related options on tabs. For example, on the Home tab, the Font group includes the Font Color option. Press the Alt key to display the ribbon shortcuts, called Key Tips, as letters in small images next to the tabs and options as shown in the image below.
Page Content
- Combining Diacritics – Makes any combination, but there may be display issues
Student Computing Labs
Follow the instructions below to activate different keyboards as needed. They will remain active in your profile between logins. See the Macintosh Computing Lab page to see which Mac operating system is installed.
Activate Extended Keyboard
To use these codes, you need to activate the U.S. Extended keyboard (or ABC Extented in El Capitan) in the System Preferences following the instructions below.
Note: Some codes may not work if the software or Web site does not fully support Unicode.
Change Font Shortcut Word
Activate U.S. Extended Keyboard in Yosemite/Mavericks
Word Change Font Color Shortcut
- Go to the Apple menu and open Systems Preferences.
- Click the Languages and Regions (U.N. flag) icon on the first row of the Systems Preferences panel.
- lick the Keyboard Preferences button at the bottom of the window to open the keyboard preferences.
- Click the Input Sources tab.
- Click the + putton to see a list of languages with keyboards. The U.S. Extended keyboard is listed under English. Click Add to ensure that they keyboard is activated.
Switch Keyboards
- Make sure you have activated all the appropriate keyboards following the instructions in the previous section.
- Open a software application such as a word processor, spread-sheet or any other application in which you need to enter text.
- On the upper right portion of the screen, click on the American flag icon (). Use the dropdown menu to select the U.S.Extended Keyboard ().
- The keyboard will be switched and an appropriate font will be selected within the application. A flag icon corresponding to the keyboard will be displayed on the upper right.
- To switch back to the standard U.S. keyboard or to some other keyboard, click on the flag icon on the upper right and select a keyboard from the dropdown menu.
Note on Fonts
Many of the fonts from Apple, Adobe and Unicode friendly fonts include the extended accents, but some older fonts or decorative fonts may be missing characters. Check your documents carefully to be sure formatting is consistent.
Extended Keyboard Codes
Note: If these codes are not working, then please make sure you have activated and switched to the extended keyboard following the instructions above.
ACCENT | SAMPLE | TEMPLATE | NOTES |
---|---|---|---|
Circumflex | Ŵ,ŵ | Option+6,X | Works with many letters including W.. Note difference from Option+I in U.S. Standard keyboard. |
Accented Y | Ý,Ÿ | See Notes | Use Option+E for acute Y and Option+U for umlaut Y |
Macron | Ō,ō | Option+A, X | Latin long mark, plus long Y (Ȳ) and long ash (Ǣ). Use Option+K,A if you need A-ring. |
Breve | Ŏ,ŏ | Option+B, X | Short vowel mark |
Arch (inverted Breve) | Ȏ,ȏ | Shift+Option+S, X | Appears over vowels |
Nasal Vowel Tilde | Ẽ,ẽ | See Notes | Use Option+N to place a tilde over any vowel including E,I |
Hacheck | Č,č | Option+V, X | Used in Czech and other languages |
Cedilla/Cedille | Ş,ş | Option+C, X | Works with S and other letters as well as C |
Polish Ogonek | Ą,ą | Option+M, X | Used in Polish for nasal vowels. Reverse of French cedille |
A ring, U ring | Ů,ů | Option+K, X | U ring in Czech; A-ring in Scnadinavian languages |
Hungarian Double Acute | Ő,ő | Option+J, X | Appears only over O,U |
Double Grave | Ȍ,ȍ | Shift+Option+Y, X | Tone marker in some Slavic languages. Works with vowels plus R. |
Strikethrough Bar | ł,ɨ | Option+L, X | Works with L,I,O |
Subscript Dot | ṣ,ḍ | Option+X, X | Used to indicate retroflex consonants |
Superscript Dot | ṡ,ḟ, | Option+W, X | Used in Polish and Old Irish. |
Thorn | þ,Þ | Option+T Shift+Option+T | Used in Icelandic and Old English |
Eth | ð,Ð | Option+D Shift+Option+D | Used in Icelandic and Old English |
Combining Diacritics
These codes add accents to ANY Letter via Unicode combining characters (glossary). As a result, there may be unusual display issues with certain fonts or certain letters (e.g. capital letters).
To use these codes first type the letter, then type the code.
NOTE: If these codes are not working, then please make sure you have activated and switched to the extended keyboard following the instructions above.
ACCENT | SAMPLE | TEMPLATE |
---|---|---|
Combining Acute | V́,v́ | Shift+Option+E |
Combining Double Acute | V̋,v̋ | Shift+Option+J |
Combining Grave | V̀,v̀ | Shift+Option+` |
Combining Umlaut/Diaresis | V̈,v̈ | Shift+Option+U |
Combining Circumflex | V̂,v̂ | Shift+Option+6 |
Combining Tilde | Ṽ,ṽ | Shift+Option+N |
Combing Caron/Hachek | V̌,v̌ | Shift+Option+V |
Combining Macron | V̄,v̄ | Shift+Option+A |
Combining Macron Below | J̱,j̱ | Shift+Option+H |
Combining Breve | V̆,v̆ | Shift+Option+B |
Combining Cedille | V̧,v̧ | Shift+Option+C |
Combining Ogonek | V̨,v̨ | Shift+Option+M |
Combining Ring Above | V̊,v̊ | Shift+Option+K |
Combining Stroke | V̵,v̵ | Shift+Option+L |
Superscript Dot Above | V̇,v̇ | Shift+Option+W |
Combining Dot Below | J̣,j̣ | Shift+Option+X |
Combining Comma Below | V̦,v̦ | Shift+Option+I |
Combining Horn | V̛,v̛ | Shift+Option+I |