Online German keyboard for umlauts and ß

Type normally on your keyboard; AltGr (or Alt) + a letter gives its variant (e.g. a → ä).

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Long-press a key for variants (e.g. a → ä).

This German keyboard online works with the QWERTY or AZERTY keyboard you already have and adds the letters it is missing: ä, ö, ü and ß, with their capitals. Type umlauts with AltGr, a long-press or a panel, then copy your German text wherever you need it.

How to use

Type as you normally do: your usual letters stay where they are, and Y and Z are not swapped.
To type an umlaut, hold AltGr (the right Alt key on many keyboards, Option on a Mac) and press the vowel: A for ä, O for ö, U for ü.
Press AltGr+S for ß, and add Shift for the capitals Ä, Ö, Ü and ẞ.
On a phone or tablet, press and hold a, o, u or s (each marked with a small dot), or open the Umlauts and ß panel.
Click Copy and paste the text into your email, homework or chat.

A German keyboard online that leaves your keys alone

Computers sold in Germany and Austria use the QWERTZ layout: Y and Z swap places, ü sits to the right of P, ö and ä to the right of L, and ß next to 0. Switching your system to that layout means relearning where several keys are. This page takes the opposite route: your keyboard stays exactly as it is, and the four extra German letters arrive through shortcuts. It suits language students, people writing to a German office or landlord, job applicants and anyone sending a quick message to German friends.

Umlaut and ß shortcuts at a glance

Letter	Shortcut	Capital	Long-press on screen
ä	AltGr + A	Ä	a
ö	AltGr + O	Ö	o
ü	AltGr + U	Ü	u
ß	AltGr + S	ẞ	s
€	AltGr + E	—	—

Add Shift to a shortcut to get the capital. What matters is the letter printed on the key, not its position, so set the Physical keyboard option to QWERTY or AZERTY to match yours. Keys that hide a variant show a small dot on screen, and the on-screen AltGr key (Alt on mobile) works with a click or a tap. A long-press on the hyphen also offers the en dash – and the em dash —.

Rules worth knowing: umlauts, ß and quotes

Umlauts are not decoration. They change the sound and often the meaning: zahlen means “to pay” while zählen means “to count”, and Bruder (brother) becomes Brüder in the plural. A missing pair of dots can turn a sentence into something else.

The choice between ß and ss depends on the vowel in front of it. Compare Maße (measurements), with a long a, and Masse (mass), with a short one.

For quotations, German puts the opening mark low and the closing mark high: „ja“. Many books prefer inward-pointing chevrons instead: »ja«. The Quotes and signs panel collects these marks, along with the section sign § used in legal texts, the degree sign ° and the ellipsis.

When you have finished, copy the text in one click, download it as a .txt file or turn it into a PNG image. The Share button sends it to WhatsApp, Messenger or email. On Chrome and Edge for desktop, the floating keyboard opens a small window that stays above your other apps. Install the page as an app and it keeps working offline. Your text never leaves your browser.

The Turkish keyboard applies the same idea to ç, ğ, ı and ş, handy in German-Turkish families. For Taqbaylit, the Kabyle keyboard adds ɛ, ɣ and the dotted letters to your Latin keyboard.

Frequently asked questions

How do I type umlauts on an English keyboard?

Hold AltGr and press the plain vowel: A gives ä, O gives ö and U gives ü. Add Shift for Ä, Ö and Ü. The shortcuts follow the letter printed on the key, so they work the same way on QWERTY and AZERTY keyboards.

How do I type the German ß (Eszett)?

On this page, hold AltGr and press S to get ß, also called Eszett or sharp s. Shift+AltGr+S gives the capital ẞ. On a touch screen, a long-press on s offers the same letter.

Can I write ae, oe and ue instead of ä, ö and ü?

Yes. When umlauts are not available, German replaces ä with ae, ö with oe, ü with ue and ß with ss. You will see this in email addresses and web domains, such as muenchen for München. In a letter or an essay, the real letters still look more correct.

When is ß used instead of ss in German?

Since the 1996 spelling reform, ß follows a long vowel or a diphthong (Fuß, weiß, Straße), while ss follows a short vowel (Kuss, Schloss, dass). Switzerland and Liechtenstein do not use ß at all and always write ss.

Is there a capital letter for ß?

Yes. The capital ẞ has been officially allowed since 2017, so a word in capitals can be written GROẞ or GROSS, and both spellings are correct. On this keyboard, use Shift+AltGr+S, or long-press S while Shift is on.

Does this keyboard use the German QWERTZ layout?

No. It keeps your QWERTY or AZERTY layout and only adds the German letters. You do not have to hunt for Z where Y used to be or learn new places for symbols, which is easier if you write German only now and then.

How do I type German quotation marks „ and “?

German opens a quotation with a low mark „ and closes it with a high mark “. Long-press the straight double-quote key on the on-screen keyboard to choose „, “, ”, » or «, or pick them from the Quotes and signs panel. The apostrophe key gives the single marks ‚ and ‘ in the same way.

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Updated October 7, 2026