Where is ñ on the keyboard?

I know that you have been caught trying to type on the computer a Spanish name or word and have been very fustrated in your attempt tried to find the ñ on the keyboard. I know that you saw the n key and the ~key and wondered how do you put the one above the other.  Or after it was printed with just an “n” you went back over it with a black pen and put in the tilde (swiggly line) Well you are not alone.  It seems to be a secret that those who know how to find it don’t like to tell others how to do it.

Yes every keyboard can do the ñ as well as the ¡ and ¿ .  Many think the answer is using the character map program located in  Start  then Programs then Accessories then System Tools, but that is rather cumbersome and time consuming. 

Is there a quicker way?

YES, the keyboard doesn’t just have 101 character keys it has 256 characters built into it. You see every time you press a key it transmits a 4 digit numerical code to the computer which then reproduces the corresponding character on the screen. The letter “a” is 0097. Guess what the letter “b” is. You got it, 0098. This is the hard one …. what is the letter “c” , I know, duh 0099.

But bear with me now.

Did you ever wonder what the “Alt” key on your keyboard was for? It is for  the alternate method of accessing  characters , not only the ones you see but also the ones that are not on your keyboard! Remember there are 256 characters. On the right side of your keyboard is a numeric keypad, press the NumLock key once; a light should come on telling you that your keypad is in the number mode. Now hold down the Alt key (next to the space bar, left side). Keeping it depressed punch in the numbers 0097 then let go of the Alt key What did you get ? If you didn’t get anything, you have to be in notepad or MS Word or a text file or any word or text processor. Sorry I thought it was pretty obvious 🙂

With everybody in notepad or MSWord, what did you get? You got the letter “a”.  Pressing the alt key  with a four digit number you are doing what the keyboard does when you press a key.

Here we go now…. holding the alt key down, punch in 0241 then let go on the alt key and presto you get an “ñ”

Try the alt key with 0161 and then 0191 isn’t that cool ?!

Here is the test…… what number keys did I press with the alt key to get the following?

 

 

Here are the answers but they are not in the correct  order

0153   0174   0169   0190    0189   0188   0247   0165   0128   0163   0162

But my favorite is

🙂

 (alt with the 1 key)

Enjoy !