How to Type Turkish Characters (ç, ğ, ı, İ, ö, ş, ü) on Mac, Windows, iPhone and Android

Turkish has six letters English keyboards don’t have, and one pair of letters behaves differently from English: ç, ğ, ı, İ, ö, ş, ü. You need them. Üç means “three” but uç means “tip”; şiş is a skewer, sis is fog. Leaving them out also teaches you the wrong spelling, and that makes vowel harmony harder, because ı and i (or o and ö) trigger different suffixes.

Here’s how to type them on every common device. If you just need a few characters right now, the online Turkish keyboard lets you click and copy them.

The characters and their codes

Note the two i’s: dotless ı pairs with capital I, and dotted i pairs with capital İ. Our guide to pronouncing ı, i and ğ explains why that matters.

Windows

Option 1: add the Turkish Q keyboard (recommended)

On Windows 11:

1. Open Settings → Time & language → Language & region.
2. Next to your language, open ⋯ → Language options → Add a keyboard and choose Turkish Q. You can also add Turkish as a language and use its default keyboard.
3. Switch layouts with Windows key + Space, or click the language code in the taskbar.

Windows 10 has the same options under Settings → Time & Language → Language.

Where the letters are on Turkish Q (compared with a US keyboard):

Some punctuation moves too. On Turkish Q, @ is AltGr + Q and the Turkish lira sign ₺ is AltGr + T. Keep the US layout installed and switch with Windows key + Space when you’re writing English or code.

Option 2: Alt codes (for occasional use)

Hold Alt, type the code on the numeric keypad, then release Alt:

These codes come from the Western European character set, which doesn’t include ğ, ş, ı or İ. On a standard English or Western European Windows setup there are no reliable Alt codes for those four.

Option 3: Microsoft Word’s Unicode shortcut

In Word (and some other Microsoft apps), type the hex code and press Alt+X: 011F → ğ, 011E → Ğ, 015F → ş, 015E → Ş, 0131 → ı, 0130 → İ.

Option 4: the symbol panel

On Windows 11, press Windows key + . (period), open the Ω symbols tab and look under Latin symbols. It’s slow, but it works in any app.

macOS

Option 1: add a Turkish input source (recommended)

1. Open System Settings → Keyboard.
2. Under Text Input, click Edit next to Input Sources, then +.
3. Choose Turkish, then a Turkish Q layout. Names vary slightly between macOS versions. Q is the QWERTY-based one; F is the traditional Turkish layout.
4. Switch with Control + Space or the Globe (fn) key, or from the menu bar.

To see where each letter sits, turn on “Show Input menu in menu bar” and open Show Keyboard Viewer.

Option 2: press and hold

On the standard English layouts, press and hold a letter to get an accent menu, then press the number shown:

• hold c → ç
• hold o → ö
• hold u → ü

Depending on your macOS version, the menus for s, g and i may not include ş, ğ and ı, so the Turkish input source is more reliable.

Option 3: Option-key shortcuts and the Character Viewer

On the US layout, Option + c gives ç, and Option + u followed by o or u gives ö or ü. For anything else, open the Character Viewer with Control + Command + Space and search for “dotless” or “breve”.

iPhone and iPad

1. Go to Settings → General → Keyboard → Keyboards → Add New Keyboard.
2. Choose Turkish (Türkçe) and pick the Q layout (or F if you prefer).
3. Tap the globe key to switch between keyboards.

On the Turkish keyboard ı, ğ, ş, ç, ö and ü have their own keys, and autocorrect uses Turkish spelling. On the English keyboard you can long-press c, o and u for ç, ö and ü, but the Turkish keyboard is much faster for real typing.

Android

Steps differ slightly by phone and keyboard app. With Gboard:

1. Open Gboard settings (tap the gear icon on the keyboard, or go to Settings → System → Languages & input).
2. Go to Languages → Add keyboard → Türkçe and pick the QWERTY (Q) or F layout.
3. Switch with the globe key or by long-pressing the space bar.

With Samsung Keyboard, go to the keyboard’s settings → Languages and types → Manage input languages and turn on Türkçe.

Gboard can also suggest words in two languages at once, which is handy if you text in both English and Turkish.

Linux (briefly)

• GNOME and most desktops: Settings → Keyboard → Input Sources → + → Turkish (Turkish Q is the default; Turkish F is also listed). Switch with Super + Space.
• Command line (X11): setxkbmap tr for Turkish Q, setxkbmap tr f for Turkish F.
• Compose key: if you’ve enabled one, the common sequences include Compose , c → ç, Compose , s → ş and Compose “ o → ö. Sequences for ğ and ı exist too. Check your system’s Compose table.

Common problems and how to fix them

Autocorrect “fixes” your Turkish. If your phone or word processor is set to English, it may change ışık to something English or underline every word. Add Turkish as a keyboard or proofing language so spellcheck recognises it.

Capital İ turns into I (or the other way round). Many apps capitalise text using English rules, so istanbul becomes “ISTANBUL” instead of İSTANBUL. Type the capital yourself when it matters, for example in names on official forms.

Your passwords stop working. If you created a password on a US layout and type it on Turkish Q, characters like ’ ; , . / come out differently. Check which layout is active before entering passwords.

You can’t find the apostrophe. Turkish uses it constantly for suffixes on proper names: İstanbul’da (in Istanbul), Ayşe’nin (Ayşe’s). On Turkish Q it moves to Shift + 2. Turn on the on-screen keyboard (Windows) or Keyboard Viewer (Mac) to check where your layout puts it.

Turkish F vs Turkish Q. Turkish F is a different, Turkish-specific layout designed around letter frequency, and some Turkish typists prefer it. If you already touch-type on QWERTY, choose Q: only a handful of keys move.

What happens if you leave the dots out

Informal texts without special letters are common, and Turks usually work out what you meant from context. But as a learner, typing the letters correctly helps you remember how each word is spelled and pronounced.

Which option should you choose?

• Learning seriously or living in Türkiye: install Turkish Q on every device. It takes a day or two to get used to, then you’ll never think about it again.
• Occasional use: press-and-hold (Mac, phone) or Alt codes (Windows) for ç, ö and ü, plus the online keyboard for the rest.
• Shared or work computers: the online keyboard. Type, copy and paste.

Practice this

Once you can type the letters, make sure you can say them: listen to each one in the alphabet soundboard, and read the Turkish alphabet and pronunciation guide for example words.