How do I enable french accents on my new Macbook Air keyboard

I have a 2020 MacBook Air and my keyboard does not allow for French accents in the way I used it before by holding in an e and the circumflex ^ would be one of the option I can select or for resume, I am looking for the accents on the e's. I know there is a roundabout way of using the option key, but that is cumbersome. Can anybody enlighten me on how I activate it on my Mac keyboard so that it is available in all the apps like Word and WhatsApp. I know I can enable a French keyboard, but that would not solve the problem of using French or in my case Afrikaans words with accents. What I am looking for is the ability to enable this.


MacBook

Posted on Nov 13, 2020 3:01 AM

Reply
5 replies

Nov 13, 2020 4:57 AM in response to Linvanti

Linvanti wrote:

I have a 2020 MacBook Air and my keyboard does not allow for French accents in the way I used it before by holding in an e and the circumflex ^ would be one of the option I can select or for resume, I am looking for the accents on the e's.

Are you saying it does not work now for any app, including Mail, Safari, Notes, etc?


What exactly do you have on your list in system preferences > keyboard > input sources?

Nov 13, 2020 5:16 AM in response to Linvanti

Linvanti wrote:

Hi Tom, It does not work on Mail, Safari, WhatsApp, MS Word or any other app. Under input sources it just says British and I added a French keyboard for when I write in French. Do I need to add another?

No, it should work with either British or French. Try this


Open the Terminal app (Applications > Utilities) and type


defaults write -g ApplePressAndHoldEnabled -bool true


and then restart



This thread has been closed by the system or the community team. You may vote for any posts you find helpful, or search the Community for additional answers.

How do I enable french accents on my new Macbook Air keyboard

Welcome to Apple Support Community
A forum where Apple customers help each other with their products. Get started with your Apple Account.