How to Set Up your Keyboard to Type in Portuguese

There are three ways in which you can type the Portuguese accents. 

1) Add Portuguese to your computer. Any computer can do so. I am adding step by step instructions below. Please notice that the keyboards are different in Brazil and in the US, so you have to know what keys correspond to the accents. You can also find a picture of a Brazilian keyboard and have it as your guide. Finally, you can buy stickers for your keyboard.

Instructions for Windows Vista:

1. Click START
2. Go to CONTROL PANEL
3. Open CLOCK, LANGUAGE, AND REGION
4. Click on REGIONAL AND LANGUAGE OPTIONS
5. Click the KEYBOARDS AND LANGUAGES tab and then click CHANGE KEYBOARDS.
6. Under INSTALLED SERVICES, click ADD.
7. In the Add Input Language dialog box, select the keyboard layout you would like to add from the list available and click OK.
8. Click OK to save your changes
9. You can switch between different keyboard languages by clicking on the Language Bar button (bottom, right hand side of your screen, by your system tray; you will see PT for portuguese and EN for English) or by pressing the ALT + SHIFT keys.

Instructions for Windows XP:

1. Click START
2. Go to CONTROL PANEL
3. Open REGIONAL AND LANGUAGE OPTIONS
4. Click on the LANGUAGES tab
5. Under TEXT SERVICES AND INPUT LANGUAGES, click on DETAILS
6. Under INSTALLED SERVICES, click ADD
7. In the Add Input Language dialog box, choose the input language and keyboard layout or Input Method Editor you want to add.
8. Click OK twice.
9. You can switch between different keyboard languages by clicking on the Language Bar button (bottom, right hand side of your screen, by your system tray; you will see PT for portuguese and EN for English) or by pressing the ALT + SHIFT keys.

2) Use shortcut keys; to see what these are go to your computer's Word help and type “international characters” and it will give you a table of shortcuts. You can also assign your own shortcuts to anything; you can choose what combinations of keys will give you the accents. You can find instructions on how to do this in your word editor help or by googling it.

3) Use your computer’s Character Map. This is a table with all the accents. You copy and past the characters in your document. Here is how you can get to the Character Map:

1. Click on your Start Button
2. Click on System Tools
3. Click on Character Map

I hope this helps!

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