How to type ñ on any keyboard

The short answer

On a laptop without a number pad

This is the most common case, and the one where Alt codes don't work. You have three options:

1. Add the United States-International keyboard (Settings › Time & language › Language & region). Then ~ followed by n gives ñ.
2. Or add Spanish (Latin America): ñ gets its own key right of L (where the semicolon was).
3. Or open the symbol panel with Win . and find it in the Ω tab.

Switch keyboards with Win Space.

On a Mac

Press ⌥ Option + N, let go, then type n. You can also hold the n key until the menu appears and pick ñ. If holding a key repeats it instead, press-and-hold is turned off; the Option shortcut still works.

On a phone

On iPhone (Apple keyboard) and Android (Gboard, Samsung), hold n and slide to ñ. With a Spanish keyboard added, ñ has its own key.

On a Chromebook

1. Open Settings › Device › Keyboard and inputs › Inputs (on older versions: Settings › Advanced › Languages and inputs).
2. Choose Add input methods and pick US International keyboard or Latin American keyboard.
3. Switch with Ctrl ⇧ Space. With US International, ~ then n gives ñ, or Right Alt N. Only the right Alt key works for this.

Without changing anything, you can also use the Unicode code: Ctrl ⇧ U, type f1, then Enter (or Space).

On Linux

In GNOME, KDE and most desktops, Ctrl ⇧ U, f1, Enter gives ñ. If you turn on a Compose key (GNOME: Settings › Keyboard › Compose Key), Compose ~ n gives ñ too. You can also add the “Spanish” or “Spanish (Latin American)” layout under Settings › Keyboard › Input Sources.

In Word and Google Docs

• Word (Windows): Ctrl ⇧ ~, then n. Or type 00f1 and press Alt X; Word turns it into ñ. From the menu: Insert › Symbol › More Symbols, font “(normal text)”, subset “Latin-1 Supplement”.
• Word (Mac): ⌥ N, then n, like everywhere else on the Mac. From the menu: Insert › Advanced Symbol.
• Google Docs: Insert › Special characters, then search “n tilde” or draw it. Tip: in Tools › Preferences › Substitutions you can add a rule that turns n~ into ñ as you type.

For the web and code

Why ñ matters

Ñ is its own letter, and leaving it out changes the word:

Everyday words with ñ: España, mañana (tomorrow), niño (child), señor, compañía (company), pequeño (small), baño (bathroom), cumpleaños (birthday).

Common mistakes

• Writing “ny”, “nh” or “gn” instead of ñ. Those are how Catalan, Portuguese, and French or Italian spell the same sound; Spanish only uses ñ: España, not Espanya.
• Dropping ñ in capitals. It's ESPAÑA and AÑO, never ESPANA.
• Replacing ñ with n in names. If your surname is Muñoz or Peña, keep the ñ on documents; many online forms accept it now.
• Mixing up words with and without ñ: uña (fingernail) vs una (one); sueño (dream) vs sueno (I sound); cañón (canyon, cannon) vs canon; leña (firewood) vs lena.

Where ñ comes from

Medieval scribes saved space by writing a double n (nn) as one n with a small line on top. That line, the tilde, turned the shorthand into a letter of its own: Latin annus became año. Today ñ is the fifteenth letter of the Spanish alphabet, sits between n and o in dictionaries, and has become a symbol of the language.

When sorting, ñ comes after every n: nube, nuevo, ñandú, ñoño, obra. Many English-language programs sort it wrong; in Excel and Google Sheets, set the locale to Spanish to get the right order.