You know the word ship starts with /ʃ/. Writing that down is another matter: there is no ʃ key, and the symbol you need in your notes, your worksheet or your Anki card is a character most keyboards cannot produce.
Every IPA symbol is an ordinary Unicode character, so any computer can type it. The only question is which route fits how often you need one. This guide covers the routes that come with your system, from a one-off copy and paste to shortcuts you set up once and use every day.
The Quickest Route: Copy and Paste
If you need a symbol or two, do not set anything up. Open the online IPA keyboard, click the symbols you need, and press Copy. The keyboard holds the consonants, vowels, stress marks and diacritics, and what it copies is plain Unicode text, so it pastes into Word, Google Docs, Anki, an email or a chat message like any other text.
This is also the safest route when you are on someone else's computer, because it needs no settings, no add-on and no account.
If you are not sure which symbol you need in the first place, start from the sound rather than the keyboard. The interactive IPA chart lays the symbols out by how they are pronounced, and how to read IPA explains the ones English learners meet first.
Typing IPA on a Mac
macOS has three built-in tools for this. None of them needs extra software.
The Character Viewer. Press Control-Command-Space in most apps, or choose Edit > Emoji & Symbols, to open it. The search box looks up characters by their Unicode name, so typing schwa finds ə and typing esh finds ʃ. In the expanded view, the list on the left can show a Phonetic Alphabet category with the IPA symbols together. If you do not see it, the list can be customized to include it. Double-click a symbol to insert it.
Unicode Hex Input. This input source lets you type any character from its code. Add it once in System Settings under Keyboard, in the list of input sources (it is filed under Others). Then switch to it, hold Option and type the four hex digits of the character: Option with 0259 gives ə, and Option with 02C8 gives the stress mark ˈ. The table of codes further down lists the common symbols. Switch back to your usual layout when you are done, because Unicode Hex Input changes what other Option combinations do.
Text Replacements. In System Settings, under Keyboard, you can define a short trigger that turns into a symbol, such as ;sh for ʃ or ;schwa for ə. Pick triggers you would never type by accident. Replacements work in most of Apple's own apps and in many others. Microsoft Word does not use them, though. It has its own AutoCorrect list, covered below.
Typing IPA on Windows
Character Map. Search the Start menu for Character Map. Tick Advanced view, type a name such as schwa into Search for, and the matching characters appear. Select one, press Select and then Copy, and paste it where you need it. Choose a font that contains IPA first, or the grid shows empty boxes. Arial has most IPA letters.
Numeric Alt codes are not a dependable route. Holding Alt and typing a number on the numeric keypad inserts characters from older code pages, and those hold accented letters such as é, not IPA symbols. Some sites list Alt codes for IPA anyway. Whether they work depends on the program you type into: a few accept them, and most do not.
An IPA keyboard layout. If you transcribe every day, a keyboard layout saves the most time. SIL International, which also makes the Charis and Doulos fonts, publishes an IPA keyboard for Keyman, a free keyboard program for Windows and macOS. You type an ordinary letter followed by a short key sequence, and the layout turns it into the IPA symbol. Its help page lists every sequence. Once installed, the layout works system-wide, in any app you type into.
Typing IPA in Microsoft Word
Word has a symbol picker of its own and one shortcut that no other app on this list offers.
Insert > Symbol > More Symbols. In the dialog, set the font to (normal text) and the Subset list to IPA Extensions. Most IPA letters are in that block. The stress and length marks are in Spacing Modifier Letters, and θ is in Greek and Coptic. Recently used symbols stay at the top of the Symbol menu, so the second time is one click. In Word for Mac, the symbol dialog is under Insert > Advanced Symbol.
Alt+X (Word for Windows). Type the hex code of a character and press Alt+X straight after it: 0259 then Alt+X becomes ə. Press Alt+X again with the cursor after a symbol and it turns back into its code, which is a quick way to check what you typed. Word for Mac does not have this shortcut. Use Unicode Hex Input there.
AutoCorrect. For symbols you use constantly, add AutoCorrect entries. On Windows the list is under File > Options > Proofing > AutoCorrect Options. On a Mac it is in Word's preferences, under AutoCorrect. Insert the symbol once and select it before you open the dialog, so it is already in the With box. Type your trigger in Replace, and Word swaps the trigger as you type.
Typing IPA in Google Docs
Insert > Special characters. The dialog has a search box that takes Unicode names (schwa, eng, turned r) and a drawing box: sketch the symbol with your mouse and Docs suggests the characters that match. Drawing is often faster than guessing the name of a symbol you have only seen in a dictionary.
Substitutions. Under Tools > Preferences > Substitutions, add your own pairs, such as ;sh and ʃ. Docs replaces the trigger when you type a space after it. The list belongs to your Google account, so it follows you to any computer where you open Docs.
Docs runs in the browser, so the Mac and Windows tools above work here too. The Character Viewer and Unicode Hex Input on a Mac, and a Keyman layout on Windows, all type into a Docs page.
The Codes for Common Symbols
These are the code points behind the symbols English transcriptions use most. Use them with Unicode Hex Input on a Mac, Alt+X in Word for Windows, or the search boxes above.
| Symbol | Unicode name | Code | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| ə | Latin small letter schwa | 0259 | about /əˈbaʊt/ |
| ʃ | Latin small letter esh | 0283 | ship /ʃɪp/ |
| ʒ | Latin small letter ezh | 0292 | vision /ˈvɪʒən/ |
| θ | Greek small letter theta | 03B8 | think /θɪŋk/ |
| ð | Latin small letter eth | 00F0 | this /ðɪs/ |
| ŋ | Latin small letter eng | 014B | sing /sɪŋ/ |
| æ | Latin small letter ae | 00E6 | cat /kæt/ |
| ɪ | Latin letter small capital I | 026A | sit /sɪt/ |
| ʊ | Latin small letter upsilon | 028A | foot /fʊt/ |
| ʌ | Latin small letter turned v | 028C | cup /kʌp/ |
| ɛ | Latin small letter open e | 025B | bed /bɛd/ |
| ɹ | Latin small letter turned r | 0279 | red /ɹɛd/ |
| ˈ | Modifier letter vertical line | 02C8 | primary stress, about /əˈbaʊt/ |
| ˌ | Modifier letter low vertical line | 02CC | secondary stress |
| ː | Modifier letter triangular colon | 02D0 | length, see /siː/ |
For the sounds behind the symbols, the guide to the two TH sounds, θ and ð is a good example of how much one symbol can change a word.
Look-Alikes That Break a Transcription
Most typing mistakes in IPA are characters that look right and are not the IPA symbol.
- Apostrophe for the stress mark. ˈ (02C8) is a separate character from the apostrophe ', and Word and Docs may also curl an apostrophe into ’ as you type. A search tool or a script that looks for stress will not find either.
- Colon for the length mark. ː (02D0) is two small triangles, not a colon. A colon, as in si:, is common in plain-text sources, but it is a different character.
- The two g's. Unicode has a separate IPA ɡ (0261) alongside the ordinary g. Many transcriptions use the keyboard g, and in many fonts the two look the same. If you need your text to match a source exactly, check which one the source uses.
- Empty boxes. A box or a question mark where a symbol should be means the font lacks that character, not that the character is wrong. Switch to a font with full IPA coverage. Charis SIL, Doulos SIL and Gentium are free fonts made for this.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the shortcut for the schwa symbol?
There is no default key for ə on either system. On a Mac, switch to Unicode Hex Input and press Option with 0259. In Word for Windows, type 0259 and press Alt+X. Anywhere else, copy it from the IPA keyboard or set up a text replacement once.
Can I type IPA directly into Anki?
Yes. Anki fields hold ordinary Unicode text, so pasting works, and on the desktop the Mac and Windows tools above type into Anki like any other app. If you would rather not type the IPA at all, adding IPA and audio to Anki automatically shows how to have the cards filled in for you.
Why does my IPA look different on another computer?
The characters are the same, but the font is not. Each system draws IPA with whatever font it has that contains the symbol, so spacing and shapes vary. If a document must look identical everywhere, set it in one IPA font and export it as a PDF.
Do I need to know the Unicode names?
No. They help with search boxes, but the drawing box in Google Docs, the Phonetic Alphabet list in the Mac Character Viewer and the IPA keyboard all let you pick a symbol by its shape.
Trying It Yourself
Typing IPA by hand makes sense when you already know the transcription. When you want the transcription itself, you do not have to type anything.
IPAtics shows the IPA of any word you select in any app on your Mac or Windows PC with one hotkey, across 14 languages. To try it in the browser first, paste a word into the IPA translator.