Are letters with diacritics allowed in macOS Ventura usernames and passwords?

The default password policy for MacOS accounts is simply 4 or more characters. There are no restrictions on what those characters must be (e.g. alpha, numeric, symbolic, diacriticals, etc.). You could literally have 4 spaces if you want.

However, there is one caveat. The GUI interface via System Settings for setting user passwords does not allow multi-keystroke characters to be typed in. For example, while ç (option-c), and å (option-a) are valid since they're a single keystroke combination, ñ, é, and î are not since they require multiple keystrokes (e.g. option-i for the circumflex followed by the i it is applied to).

These characters can still be used, but you need to type them elsewhere and paste them into the Change Password field in System Settings to actually apply them.

Tom Gewecke wrote:

Odd! Tried it on my 15.3.1 test install, and it still works. No problem with é in the login name or password, but only e accepted in the name of the system username.

I tried it again and it's working for me too. I wasn't having a good day yesterday.

But it's a really a moot point. Attempting to use non-ASCII (or ASCII "special" characters) in a user name or especially a password is very bad idea. Such characters can be represented in different ways, always out of control of the user. Apple does seem to support it in one specific situation. But is that going to work at system startup? There are a lot of edge cases to consider.

LupaCapitolina wrote:

Very interesting. What is "Canadian CSA"?

It's an Input Source you can find in the "French" category of MacOS which has a qwerty layout and top level keys producing ù, à, è, é, ç

Write in another language on Mac - Apple Support

Would you have to change your primary language in System Settings before shutting down or rebooting?

No.

etresoft wrote:

Or whether on other language layouts (Spanish has an ñ key, Canadian French has keys for ù, à, è, é ) those will work ok?

They will not.

I tested this on my Sonoma install, and was in fact able to create a new account with a password containing é when using the Canadian CSA input source which has a key devoted to that character.

Camelot wrote:

These characters can still be used, but you need to type them elsewhere and paste them into the Change Password field in System Settings to actually apply them.

+1 Although, it would be difficult to use on the Log In and Lock Screen.

Camelot wrote: However, there is one caveat. The GUI interface via System Settings for setting user passwords does not allow multi-keystroke characters to be typed in. For example, while ç (option-c), and å (option-a) are valid since they're a single keystroke combination, ñ, é, and î are not since they require multiple keystrokes (e.g. option-i for the circumflex followed by the i it is applied to).

Do you know of any reference from Apple or elsewhere which lays this out? I'm wondering whether the Accent Menu (accented characters via press and hold) can be used when characters need more than one key stroke? Or whether on other language layouts (Spanish has an ñ key, Canadian French has keys for ù, à, è, é ) those will work ok?

Tom Gewecke wrote:

I'm wondering whether the Accent Menu (accented characters via press and hold) can be used when characters need more than one key stroke?

It cannot.

Or whether on other language layouts (Spanish has an ñ key, Canadian French has keys for ù, à, è, é ) those will work ok?

They will not.

Tom Gewecke wrote:

I tested this on my Sonoma install, and was in fact able to create a new account with a password containing é when using the Canadian CSA input source which has a key devoted to that character.

I couldn't do that on Sequoia.

etresoft wrote:

Tom Gewecke wrote:

I tested this on my Sonoma install, and was in fact able to create a new account with a password containing é when using the Canadian CSA input source which has a key devoted to that character.

I couldn't do that on Sequoia.

Odd! Tried it on my 15.3.1 test install, and it still works. No problem with é in the login name or password, but only e accepted in the name of the system username.

Attempting to use non-ASCII (or ASCII "special" characters) in a user name or especially a password is very bad idea.

Agreed! You don’t want to be dependent on some special keyboard layout to make your. password.

I was wondering the same thing. Of course one could test by creating a second user account with the characters mentioned included.

LupaCapitolina wrote:

Very interesting. What is "Canadian CSA"?

The CSA keyboard, or CAN/CSA Z243.200-92, is the official keyboard layout of Canada.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CSA_keyboard