AltGr key
Template:Short description Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Hatnote list' not found. Template:DMCA
Page Module:Message box/ambox.css has no content.
This article needs additional citations for verification. (April 2017) |
AltGr (also Alt Graph) is a modifier key found on computer keyboards. It is primarily used to type characters that are used less frequently in the language that the keyboard is designed for, such as foreign currency symbols, typographic marks and accented letters.[1] The AltGr key is used to access a third and a fourth[a] grapheme for most keys. Most are accented variants of the letters on the keys, but some are additional symbols and punctuation marks. For example, when the US-International keyboard mapping is active, the Script error: No such module "key". key can be used to insert four different characters:
- Script error: No such module "key". → c (lowercase — first level)
- Script error: No such module "key". → C (uppercase — second level)
- Script error: No such module "key". → © (copyright sign — third level)
- Script error: No such module "key". → ¢ (cent sign — fourth level)
Some languages, such as Bengali, use this key when the number of letters of their alphabet is too large for a standard keyboard. On keyboard layouts that do not include an AltGr key, such as US keyboards, the key position is labelled as a right-hand Alt key. When a relevant keyboard mapping is chosen in the operating system, this key will function separately as AltGr (despite being marked identically to the left-hand Alt key).[2] In macOS, the Option key has functions similar to the AltGr key.
History
IBM states that AltGr is an abbreviation for alternate graphic.[3]
A key labelled with some variation of "Alt Graphic" was on many computer keyboards before the Windows international layouts. On early home computers the alternate graphemes were primarily box-drawing characters.[4]
This likely was the intended purpose of the Alt key on PC keyboards, however software quickly used this as a combination key for shortcuts, requiring a new key for producing additional characters.
Ctrl+Alt
Windows interprets Script error: No such module "key". as Script error: No such module "key"., to accommodate some compact keyboards like those of netbooks which have neither the AltGr key nor a right-hand Alt key. Thus Script error: No such module "key". has the same effect as Script error: No such module "key".. Because of this feature, Microsoft advises that Script error: No such module "key". not be used as part of any application keyboard shortcut, as it would prevent typing the matching Script error: No such module "key". character on such keyboards.[5][b]
Function by default national keyboard
In most of the keyboard diagrams the symbol one gets when holding down AltGr is in blue in the lower-right of the corner. If different, the symbol for Shift+AltGr is shown in the upper-right.
Bangladesh
Belgium
The Windows version of the Belgian keyboard may only support a subset of these characters. Several of the AltGr combinations are themselves dead keys, which are followed by another letter to produce an accented version of that letter.
Brazil
Some notes
- The Script error: No such module "key". combination results in the (obsolete) symbol ₢ for the former Brazilian currency, the Brazilian cruzeiro.
- The Script error: No such module "key"., Script error: No such module "key"., Script error: No such module "key". combinations are useful as a replacement for the "/?" key, which is physically absent on non-Brazilian keyboards.
- Some software (e.g. Microsoft Word) will map Script error: No such module "key". to ® and Script error: No such module "key". to ™.
Finland
The new Finnish keyboard standard of 2008 (SFS 5966) was designed for easily typing 1) Finnish, Swedish, Danish and Norwegian; 2) Nordic minority languages and 3) European Latin letters (based on MES-2, with emphasis on contemporary proper nouns), without needing engravings different from those on existing standard keyboards of Finland and Sweden. AltGr and dead diacritic keys are extensively used, although letters of Finnish and Swedish are mostly provided as normal keys.[6]
France
On AZERTY keyboards, AltGr enables the user to type the following characters:
Germany
On German keyboards, AltGr enables the user to type the following characters, which are indicated on the keyboard:
Windows 8 introduced the ability of pressing Script error: No such module "key". to produce ẞ (capital ß). Even though this is usually not indicated on the physical keyboard—potentially due to a lack of space, since the ß-key already has three different levels (Script error: No such module "key". → "ß", Script error: No such module "key". → "?", and, as shown above, Script error: No such module "key". → "\")—, it can be seen in the Windows On-Screen Keyboard by selecting the necessary keys with the German keyboard layout selected. Some newer types of German keyboards offer the assignment Script error: No such module "key". → capital ß.
Greece
Some of these key combinations also result in different characters if the polytonic layout is used.
Israel
Hebrew
On Hebrew keyboards, AltGr enables the user to type the Hebrew vowels and pronunciation marks. In addition, there are several combinations for special characters:
Page Template:Col-begin/styles.css has no content.
|
|
Yiddish
Using a Hebrew keyboard, one may write in Yiddish as the two languages share many letters. However, Yiddish has some additional digraphs not otherwise found in Hebrew, which are entered via AltGr:
Page Template:Col-begin/styles.css has no content.
|
Italy
On Italian keyboards, AltGr enables the user to type the following characters:
Page Template:Col-begin/styles.css has no content.
|
|
There is an alternate layout, which differ just in disposition of characters accessible through AltGr and includes the tilde and the curly brackets.
Latvia
The following letters can be input in the Latvian keyboard layout using AltGr:
Page Template:Col-begin/styles.css has no content.
|
|
North Macedonia
On Macedonian keyboards, AltGr enables the user to type the following characters:
Page Template:Col-begin/styles.css has no content.
|
|
|
Netherlands
Page Module:Hatnote/styles.css has no content.
Page Template:Col-begin/styles.css has no content.
|
|
|
|
Nordic countries and Estonia, except Iceland
The keyboard layouts in the Nordic countries Denmark (DK), Faroe Islands (FO), Finland (FI), Norway (NO) and Sweden (SE) as well as in Estonia (EE) are largely similar to each other. Generally the AltGr key can be used to create the following characters:
Page Template:Col-begin/styles.css has no content.
|
|
Other AltGr combinations are peculiar to just some of the countries:
Page Template:Col-begin/styles.css has no content.
|
|
Finnish multilingual
The Finnish multilingual keyboard standard adds many new characters to the traditional layout via the AltGr key, as shown in the image below (the blue characters can be written with the AltGr key; several dead key diacritics, shown in red, are also available as an AltGr combination).[7][8]
Poland
Typewriters in Poland used a QWERTZ layout specifically designed for the Polish language with accented letters in the Polish alphabet obtainable directly. When personal computers became available worldwide in the 1980s, commercial importing into Poland was not supported by its communist government, so most machines in Poland were brought in by private individuals. Most had US keyboards, and various methods were devised to make available the accented Polish letters. An established method was to configure the right Alt key as an AltGr key and to use it in combination with a Latin base letter to obtain the equivalent precomposed character (accented form of the letter).
- Script error: No such module "key". → ą
- Script error: No such module "key". → ć
- Script error: No such module "key". → ę
- Script error: No such module "key". → ł
- Script error: No such module "key". → ń
- Script error: No such module "key". → ó
- Script error: No such module "key". → ś
- Script error: No such module "key". → €
- Script error: No such module "key". → ź
- Script error: No such module "key". → ż
(Because there are two types of "z with diacritic" (Template:Char and Template:Char), Script error: No such module "key". is a special case.)
At the time of the Fall of communism and opening of commercial import channels this practice was so widespread that it was adopted as the de facto standard. Nowadays nearly all PCs in Poland have standard US keyboards and use the AltGr method to enter Polish diacritics. This keyboard mapping is referred to as the Polish programmers' layout (Script error: No such module "Lang".) or simply Polish layout.
Another layout is still used on typewriters, mostly by professional typists. Computer keyboards with this layout are available, though difficult to find, and supported by a number of operating systems; they are known as Polish typists' layout (Script error: No such module "Lang".). Older Polish versions of Microsoft Windows used this layout, describing it as Polish layout. On current versions it is referred to as Polish (214).
Romania
The keymap with the AltGr key:
Page Template:Col-begin/styles.css has no content.
+ the signs mostly pressed with Script error: No such module "key". prints the US keyboard signs |
â ß € r ț y u î o § „ ”
ă ș đ f g h j k ł ;
z x © v b n m « »
Russia
Since release 1903, versions of Windows 10 have the binding:
- Script error: No such module "key". → ₽ (Ruble sign)
South Slavic Latin and Czech keyboards
On South Slavic Latin (used in Croatia, Slovenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro and Serbia) and on Czech keyboards, the following letters and special characters are created using AltGr:
Page Template:Col-begin/styles.css has no content.
|
|
|
South Slavic cyrillic keyboards use a different layout.
Spain
- Script error: No such module "key". → \
- Script error: No such module "key". → |
- Script error: No such module "key". → @
- Script error: No such module "key". → #
- Script error: No such module "key". → ~
- Script error: No such module "key". → ¬
- Script error: No such module "key". → €
Switzerland
On Swiss keyboards, AltGr in combination with the following keys types the following characters:
Page Template:Col-begin/styles.css has no content.
|
|
|
Switzerland has four national Languages (German, French, Italian, and Romansh). The Swiss keyboard layout is therefore designed with compatibility in mind for all four languages. In German-speaking and Romansh-speaking Switzerland (as well as the Czech Republic), the Swiss German layout is used, while in the French-speaking and Italian-speaking Switzerland, the Swiss French layout is used. The two layouts only differ on three keys—OEM1, OEM5, and OEM7. On the Swiss German layout, these three keys are labelled Script error: No such module "key"., Script error: No such module "key"., and Script error: No such module "key"., respectively, while on the Swiss French layout, the labels are inverted as Script error: No such module "key"., Script error: No such module "key"., and Script error: No such module "key".; namely, the base layer and the Script error: No such module "key". layer are swapped. However, with respect to the Script error: No such module "key". layer, the region-specific layouts are irrelevant.
Swiss German: Script error: No such module "key". → {
Swiss French: Script error: No such module "key". → {
Turkey
In Turkish keyboard variants the AltGr can be used to display the following characters:
Page Template:Col-begin/styles.css has no content.
- Script error: No such module "key". → æ
- Script error: No such module "key". → ß
- Script error: No such module "key". → €
- Script error: No such module "key". → ₺
- Script error: No such module "key". → @
- Script error: No such module "key". → i
- Script error: No such module "key". a → ã
- Script error: No such module "key". a → ä
- Script error: No such module "key". a → á
- Script error: No such module "key". a → à
Ukraine
In Ukrainian (enhanced) keyboard, added in Windows Vista, combination Script error: No such module "key". (or as it is written in Cyrillic keyboards Script error: No such module "key". gives letter ґ and Ґ.
United Kingdom and Ireland
Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Hatnote list' not found. United Kingdom keyboard layout
Page Template:Col-begin/styles.css has no content.
|
|
In UK and Ireland keyboard layouts, only two alternative use symbols are printed on most keyboards, which require the AltGr key to function. These are:
- € the euro sign. Located on the "4/$" key.
- ¦ the broken bar symbol. Located on the "`/¬" key, to the immediate left of "1".
Using the AltGr key on Linux produces many other characters and symbols, e.g. ¹²³€½{[]}@łe¶ŧ←↓→øþæßðđŋħjĸł«»¢“”nµΩŁE®Ŧ¥↑ıØÞƧЪŊĦJ&Ł<>©‘’Nº×÷· (If reconfigured as a compose key, an even larger repertoire is available).
With the UK extended keyboard setting (below), ChromeOS offers a large repertoire of symbols and precomposed characters.
Scotland and Wales
For the diacritics used by Welsh (ŵ and ŷ) and Scottish Gaelic (à, è, ì, ò and ù), the UK extended keyboard setting is needed. This makes available Script error: No such module "key". (for circumflex accent) and Script error: No such module "key". (for grave accent) as dead keys.
UK extended keyboard layout
The UK-Extended keyboard mapping (available with Microsoft Windows, Linux and ChromeOS) allows many characters with diacritical marks (including those used in other European countries) to be generated by using the AltGr key, dead keys or a compose key, in combination with others.
| ¬ ◌ ◌ ¦ |
! ¡ 1 ¹ |
" ½ 2 ◌ |
£ ⅓ 3 ³ |
$ ¼ 4 € |
% ⅜ 5 ½ |
^ ⅝ 6 ◌ |
& ⅞ 7 { |
* ™ 8 [ |
( ± 9 ] |
) ° 0 } |
_ ¿ - \ |
+ ◌ = ◌ |
| tab | Q Ω q @ |
W Ẃ w ẃ |
E É e é |
R ® r ¶ |
T Ŧ t ŧ |
Y Ý y ý |
U Ú u ú |
I Í i í |
O Ó o ó |
P Þ p þ |
{ ◌ [ ◌ |
} ◌ ] ◌ |
| ◉ | A Á a á |
S § s ß |
D Ð d ð |
F ª f đ |
G Ŋ g ŋ |
H Ħ h ħ |
J ◌ j ◌ |
K & k ĸ |
L Ł l ł |
: ◌ ; ◌ |
@ ◌ ' ◌ |
~ ◌ # ◌ |
| shift | | ¦ \ | |
Z < z « |
X > x » |
C Ç c ç |
V ‘ v “ |
B ’ b ” |
N N n n |
M º m µ |
< × , ─ |
> ÷ . · |
? ◌ / ◌ |
Notes: Dotted circle (◌) is used here to indicate a dead key, invoked using AltGr. The Script error: No such module "key". (grave accent) key is the only one that acts as a free-standing dead key and thus does not respond as shown on the key-cap. (For a complete list of the characters generated using dead keys, see QWERTY#ChromeOS.)
Script error: No such module "key". (°) is a degree sign; Script error: No such module "key". (º) is a masculine ordinal indicator. Script error: No such module "key". is an em-dash; there is no provision for en-dash.
United States
Most keyboards sold in the US do not have an (engraved) Script error: No such module "key". key. However, if there is a right-hand Script error: No such module "key". key it will act as Script error: No such module "key". if a layout using it is installed (conversely a foreign keyboard Script error: No such module "key". will act like the right-hand Script error: No such module "key". if the standard US keyboard layout is installed).
US-International
Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Hatnote list' not found. Microsoft provides a US-International keyboard layout that uses Script error: No such module "key". (or right-hand Script error: No such module "key". or Script error: No such module "key".) key to produce more characters:
Red characters are dead keys; for example ä can be entered with Script error: No such module "key"..
Other operating systems such as Linux and ChromeOS follow this layout but increase the repertoire of glyphs provided.
X Window System
In the X Window System (Linux, BSD, Unix), AltGr can often be used to produce additional characters with almost every key on the keyboard. Furthermore, with some keys, AltGr will produce a dead key; for example on a UK keyboard, semicolon can be used to add an acute accent to a base letter, and left square bracket can be used to add a trema:
- Script error: No such module "key". followed by Script error: No such module "key". → é
- Script error: No such module "key". followed by Script error: No such module "key". → Ö
This use of dead keys enables one to type a wide variety of precomposed characters that combine various diacritics with either uppercase or lowercase letters, achieving a similar effect to the Compose key.
Keyboard maps
Below are some diagrams and examples of country-specific key maps. For the diagrams, the grey symbols are the standard characters, yellow is with Script error: No such module "key"., red is with Script error: No such module "key"., and blue is with Script error: No such module "key"..
Danish keyboard
The Danish keymap features the following key combinations:
- Script error: No such module "key". → Ω
- Script error: No such module "key". → œ
- Script error: No such module "key". → µ
Italian keyboard
The Italian keymap includes, among other combinations, the following:
Page Template:Col-begin/styles.css has no content.
|
|
Norwegian keyboard
Polish keyboard
The Polish keymap on X-based systems features changed combination for € sign:
- Script error: No such module "key". → €
Script error: No such module "key". results in ↓ instead. It also introduces several symbols and characters from different languages, including among others:
- Script error: No such module "key". → ß
- Script error: No such module "key". → þ
- Script error: No such module "key". → ð
- Script error: No such module "key". → π
- Script error: No such module "key". → Ω
- Script error: No such module "key". → µ
- Script error: No such module "key". → ∞
- Script error: No such module "key". → æ
- Script error: No such module "key". → œ
Swedish keyboard
See also
- Template:Anl
- Template:Anl
- Template:Anl
- Template:Anl
- Template:Anl
- Template:Anl
- Template:Anl
- Template:Anl (Windows)
Notes
Page Template:Reflist/styles.css has no content.
- ^ when Script error: No such module "key". is also pressed
- ^ In general the substitution for the AltGr-key with Script error: No such module "key". works as expected, but in some programs unexpected results can occur. For example in a local MS Outlook 365 installation the key combo Script error: No such module "key". is not recognized as an AltGr.
References
Page Template:Reflist/styles.css has no content.
- ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."What is AltGr key?". 10 January 2024.
- ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Microsoft Support. "How to use the United States-International keyboard layout in Windows 7, in Windows Vista, and in Windows XP". Microsoft. Retrieved 30 May 2020.
- ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."AIX® Version 6.1 Keyboard Technical Reference" (PDF). IBM. September 2010. p. 1015. Retrieved 2 June 2025.
- ^ Kaplan, Michael S.: "To start press the ALTGR key." Hmm... where's the ALTGR key?. 28 December 2004.
- ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Raymond Chen (29 March 2004). "Why Ctrl+Alt shouldn't be used as a shortcut modifier". Microsoft.
- ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Suomalainen monikielinen näppäimistökaavio, viimeiseksi tarkoitettu luonnos" (PDF) (in suomi). 20 June 2006. Archived from the original (PDF) on 20 July 2011.
- ^ SFS 5966 Keyboard layout. Finnish-Swedish multilingual keyboard setting. Finnish Standards Association SFS. 3 November 2008.
- ^ Kotoistus: Uusi näppäinasettelu = Status of the new Keyboard Layout Script error: No such module "webarchive".. A bi-lingual (Finnish + English) presentation page collecting drafts of the Finnish Multilingual Keyboard. CSC – IT Center for Science Ltd. Page updated 28 December 2006.
| Page Template:Navbar-header/styles.css has no content. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Esc | F1 | F2 | F3 | F4 | F5 | F6 | F7 | F8 | F9 | F10 | F11 | F12 | PrtSc/ SysRq |
Scroll Lock |
Pause/ Break |
|||||||||
Error: Image is invalid or non-existent. |
Insert | Home | Page Up |
Num Lock |
∕ | ∗ | − | |||||||||||||||||
| Delete | End | Page Down |
7 | 8 | 9 | + | ||||||||||||||||||
| 4 | 5 | 6 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| ↑ | 1 | 2 | 3 | Enter | ||||||||||||||||||||
| ← | ↓ | → | 0 Ins |
. Del | ||||||||||||||||||||
Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Navbox/configuration' not found.
