How to Type the Enye Symbol (Ñ ñ) on Any Keyboard

The enye — the letter N with a tilde (Ñ ñ) — is one of the most recognizable characters in the Spanish alphabet. It represents a distinct sound, carries its own place in the alphabet between N and O, and cannot simply be replaced with a plain N without changing the meaning of a word entirely. This guide covers every way to type Ñ and ñ on any device and platform.

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What Is the Enye?

The enye Ñ ñ is the 15th letter of the modern Spanish alphabet. Its name comes from the word eñe — the Spanish name for the letter itself. The tilde (~) above the N evolved in medieval Spanish manuscripts as a scribal shorthand: monks copying texts would write a small N above another N to indicate a doubled NN sound, which over centuries compressed into the tilde mark we use today.

The sound it represents — a palatal nasal, written /ɲ/ in the International Phonetic Alphabet — does not exist as a standalone letter in English, though it appears in words borrowed from Spanish like canyon (from cañón) and piñata.

The enye appears in:

Language	Example Words
Spanish	año (year), mañana (tomorrow), niño (child), señor (sir)
Filipino (Tagalog)	Iñigo, Niño, ñoño
Galician	señor, España
Basque	ñabarra, ñiñi
Breton	borrowed usage in loanwords
Guaraní	ñande (our), ñu (field)

Symbol	Name	Unicode
Ñ	Latin capital letter N with tilde	U+00D1
ñ	Latin small letter n with tilde	U+00F1

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How to Type Enye on Windows

Method 1: Alt Code (Fastest on Windows)

Make sure Num Lock is on, hold Alt, type the code on the numeric keypad, then release Alt:

• Alt + 164 → ñ (lowercase)
• Alt + 165 → Ñ (uppercase)

These are among the shorter and more memorable Alt codes — 164 and 165 are easy to commit to memory if you type in Spanish regularly.

For the four-digit versions: Alt + 0241 → ñ and Alt + 0209 → Ñ. Both sets work on most Windows systems.

Method 2: Unicode Input (Microsoft Word)

1. Type the Unicode code point:
   • 00F1 for ñ
   • 00D1 for Ñ
2. Immediately press Alt + X
3. Word converts it instantly

Method 3: Copy and Paste

Copy directly from this page and paste anywhere: ñ Ñ

Works in every browser, app, text field, and document editor.

Method 4: Character Map

1. Open Start and search “Character Map”
2. Search for “n with tilde” or “enye”
3. Select ñ or Ñ
4. Click Select, then Copy
5. Paste into your document

Method 5: Windows Emoji Panel

1. Press Windows key + . (period)
2. Go to the Symbols tab
3. Search for “tilde” or “enye”
4. Click to insert

Method 6: Add a Spanish Keyboard Layout

For regular Spanish typing, switching your keyboard layout is the most natural long-term solution:

1. Go to Settings > Time & Language > Language & Region
2. Click Add a language and choose Spanish
3. Switch layouts using Windows key + Space
4. On a Spanish keyboard layout, ñ has its own dedicated key — typically to the right of the L key

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How to Type Enye on Mac

Method 1: Press and Hold (Easiest)

On macOS, press and hold the N key and a popup appears with accent options. Press 1 or click ñ to insert it.

This is the fastest method and works in every app on macOS with no configuration required.

For uppercase Ñ: press and hold Shift + N and select from the popup, or press Shift after inserting ñ.

Method 2: Option Key Shortcut

Mac has a two-step shortcut for the enye:

1. Press Option + N — this types a “floating” tilde accent
2. Immediately press N again
3. The two combine to produce ñ

For uppercase:

1. Press Option + N
2. Press Shift + N
3. Produces Ñ

This is a classic Mac dead-key sequence — the Option + N acts as an accent modifier rather than producing a visible character immediately.

Method 3: Character Viewer

1. Press Control + Command + Space
2. Search for “enye” or “n with tilde”
3. Double-click ñ or Ñ to insert

Method 4: Unicode Hex Input

1. Enable Unicode Hex Input under System Settings > Keyboard > Input Sources
2. Hold Option and type 00F1 → ñ
3. Or type 00D1 → Ñ

Method 5: Spanish Keyboard Layout on Mac

1. Go to System Settings > Keyboard > Input Sources
2. Click + and add Spanish
3. Switch using the input menu in the menu bar
4. On the Spanish layout, ñ has its own dedicated key next to L

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How to Type Enye on iPhone and iPad

Method 1: Press and Hold (Built-In — Easiest)

The iOS keyboard supports accent popups natively — no setup needed:

1. Press and hold the N key
2. A popup row appears showing ñ
3. Slide to ñ and release

For uppercase Ñ:

1. Tap Shift first to enable caps, then press and hold N
2. Or press and hold N and the popup will show Ñ when Shift is active

This is the standard method for the vast majority of iPhone users typing occasional Spanish words.

Method 2: Add a Spanish Keyboard

For frequent Spanish writing, adding the Spanish keyboard gives you a dedicated ñ key:

1. Go to Settings > General > Keyboard > Keyboards
2. Tap Add New Keyboard
3. Select Spanish (choose Spanish – Spain or Spanish – Latin America depending on your preference)
4. While typing, tap the globe icon to switch to the Spanish keyboard
5. The ñ key appears to the right of the L key, exactly where it sits on a physical Spanish keyboard

Method 3: Text Replacement Shortcut

For a quicker workaround without switching keyboards:

1. Go to Settings > General > Keyboard > Text Replacement
2. Tap +
3. In Phrase, paste ñ
4. In Shortcut, type something like nn or nyt
5. Tap Save

Typing your chosen shortcut will now auto-suggest ñ.

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How to Type Enye on Android

Method 1: Press and Hold (Built-In — Easiest)

Like iOS, most Android keyboards support long-press accent popups:

1. Press and hold the N key
2. A row of variants appears including ñ
3. Slide to ñ and release

This works on Gboard and most other major Android keyboards out of the box.

Method 2: Add Spanish to Gboard

1. Open Gboard
2. Tap the globe icon or go to Gboard Settings > Languages
3. Tap Add Keyboard
4. Select Spanish
5. Tap Done
6. Switch to Spanish while typing using the globe icon
7. The ñ key will appear on the keyboard as its own dedicated character

Method 3: Personal Dictionary Shortcut

For a quick shortcut without switching keyboards:

1. Go to Gboard Settings > Dictionary > Personal Dictionary
2. Select your language
3. Tap +
4. Add ñ as the word and nn as the shortcut
5. Tap the checkmark to save

Gboard will suggest ñ whenever you type nn.

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How to Type Enye in Microsoft Word

Method 1: Alt + X (Fastest in Word)

Type 00F1 then press Alt + X — Word instantly converts it to ñ. For uppercase: type 00D1 then Alt + X → Ñ

Method 2: Built-In Word Shortcut

Word has a dedicated shortcut for tilde accents:

1. Press Ctrl + Shift + ~
2. Then press N
3. Produces ñ

For uppercase:

1. Press Ctrl + Shift + ~
2. Then press Shift + N
3. Produces Ñ

This is the cleanest method in Word and works regardless of your system keyboard layout.

Method 3: AutoCorrect Setup

Set Word to automatically replace a key sequence with ñ:

1. Go to File > Options > Proofing > AutoCorrect Options
2. In Replace, type something like (enye) or ~n
3. In With, paste ñ
4. Click Add, then OK

Method 4: Insert > Symbol

1. Go to Insert > Symbol > More Symbols
2. Set Subset to Latin-1 Supplement
3. Find ñ or Ñ
4. Click Insert

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How to Type Enye in Google Docs

Method 1: Insert > Special Characters

1. Go to Insert > Special Characters
2. Search for “n with tilde” or “enye”
3. Click ñ or Ñ to insert

Method 2: Copy and Paste

Copy ñ or Ñ from this article and paste directly into your Google Doc.

Method 3: Substitutions

1. Go to Tools > Preferences > Substitutions
2. In Replace, type ~n
3. In With, paste ñ
4. Add a second rule: Replace ~N With Ñ
5. Click OK

Google Docs will auto-replace these sequences as you type.

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Enye in HTML and CSS

For web developers and publishers building Spanish-language content:

Character	Named Entity	Hex Entity	Decimal Entity
ñ	ñ	ñ	ñ
Ñ	Ñ	Ñ	Ñ

CSS example:

css

/* Using the enye in generated content */
.spanish-label::after {
  content: "\00F1";
}

Best practice: ñ is one of the original named HTML entities dating back to HTML 2.0, making it universally supported across every browser and platform. Use it freely. If your file is UTF-8 encoded (always include <meta charset="UTF-8"> in your <head>), you can also paste ñ directly into your HTML without an entity.

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Why the Enye Matters: Never Substitute a Plain N

Unlike some accent marks that are sometimes omitted in informal digital writing, the tilde on the enye is never optional — it changes the letter entirely and with it the meaning of the word. Here are some examples of how critical the distinction is:

With Ñ	Meaning	Without Ñ	Meaning
año	year	ano	anus
mañana	tomorrow / morning	manana	not a word
ñoño	bland / square	nono	ninth (ordinal)
cañón	canyon	canon	canon / rule
pañal	diaper	panal	honeycomb
niño	child	nino	godfather
señor	sir / mister	senor	not standard
dueño	owner	dueno	not a word

As the table makes clear, dropping the tilde on ñ is not a minor formatting issue — in several cases it produces a completely different word, and in the most notable example (año vs ano), an embarrassing one.

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The Enye on a Physical Spanish Keyboard

On a physical Spanish keyboard — used throughout Spain and Latin America — the enye is a first-class citizen with its own dedicated key. It sits in the same position as the semicolon key on a US English keyboard: immediately to the right of the L key on the home row.

If you type Spanish regularly, switching to or purchasing a Spanish keyboard layout is the single biggest quality-of-life improvement you can make. Spanish keyboards also reposition symbols like @, brackets, and the backslash to accommodate the additional letters (ñ, accent marks, ¿, ¡), so there is a short adjustment period coming from a US layout.

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Related Spanish Characters You May Also Need

While you’re here, these other Spanish-specific characters are worth having at your fingertips:

Symbol	Name	Unicode	Mac Shortcut	Windows Alt Code	HTML Entity
ñ	Enye (lowercase)	U+00F1	Option + N, N	Alt + 164	ñ
Ñ	Enye (uppercase)	U+00D1	Option + N, Shift+N	Alt + 165	Ñ
á	A with acute	U+00E1	Option + E, A	Alt + 160	á
é	E with acute	U+00E9	Option + E, E	Alt + 130	é
í	I with acute	U+00ED	Option + E, I	Alt + 161	í
ó	O with acute	U+00F3	Option + E, O	Alt + 162	ó
ú	U with acute	U+00FA	Option + E, U	Alt + 163	ú
ü	U with umlaut	U+00FC	Option + U, U	Alt + 129	ü
¿	Inverted question mark	U+00BF	Option + Shift + ?	Alt + 168	¿
¡	Inverted exclamation	U+00A1	Option + 1	Alt + 173	¡

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Quick Reference: Enye Cheat Sheet

	ñ	Ñ
Unicode	U+00F1	U+00D1
HTML entity	ñ	Ñ
HTML numeric	ñ	Ñ
Windows Alt code	Alt + 164	Alt + 165
Word shortcut	Ctrl+Shift+~ then N	Ctrl+Shift+~ then Shift+N
Word (Alt+X)	Type 00F1 + Alt+X	Type 00D1 + Alt+X
Mac shortcut	Option + N, then N	Option + N, then Shift+N
Mac (press & hold)	Hold N, select ñ	Hold Shift+N, select Ñ
iPhone / Android	Hold N, slide to ñ	Hold Shift+N, slide to Ñ
Spanish keyboard	Dedicated key (right of L)	Shift + dedicated key
CSS escape	\00F1	\00D1

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Final Thoughts

The enye is one of the most important characters in the Spanish language — and unlike many special symbols that can be approximated or skipped in casual writing, ñ must never be replaced with a plain n. The meaning changes, sometimes dramatically. For casual or occasional use, press and hold on Mac, iPhone, and Android gets you there instantly with no setup. Windows users can memorize the short Alt + 164 code for ñ — one of the easier Alt codes to remember. For anyone who writes in Spanish regularly, adding the Spanish keyboard layout to your device is the single best investment, giving ñ its own dedicated key exactly where it belongs. Developers building Spanish-language web content should use ñ — a named entity with universal browser support since the earliest days of HTML.