How to type Grave Accent
` is the key left of 1, in the same place on US and UK keyboards. Alt + 96 on the numeric keypad produces it on any Windows layout, which is the way in when the keyboard in front of you has no key for it, and ` writes it in HTML. Its codepoint is U+0060.
Grave Accent
- Copy it
- Unicode
- U+0060
- Windows
- Alt + 96
| Where | Shortcut | How |
|---|---|---|
| Windows | Alt + 96 | Hold Alt and type the number on the numeric keypad. |
| HTML | ` | Paste this into HTML source. |
| Unicode | U+0060 | GRAVE ACCENT |
Symbols related to Grave Accent
The Unicode code chart points from ` to ‘, and Unicode's confusables table, the one registrars use against spoofed domains, lists ', ’ and ′ as close enough to be mistaken for it, and the rest are filed under accent in CLDR, the keyword list Unicode publishes alongside the names.
Other punctuation symbols
` lives in the Basic Latin block (U+0000-U+007F), the original ASCII set: the letters, digits and punctuation printed on a US keyboard. Within Unicode it is classified as Sk, a modifier symbol. Standalone versions of marks that usually combine.
How to type ` in Microsoft Word
In Microsoft Word, type 0060 and press Alt + X. Word reads the four characters before the cursor as a hex codepoint and replaces them, and pressing Alt + X again turns ` back into 0060, which is the quickest way to check what a character really is.
What Grave Accent is used for
Unicode publishes a second list of names for ` in CLDR, the keywords its own search data offers rather than the formal name, and it is tone. That word is what somebody looking for this character is liable to type when Grave Accent is not the name they know it by, and the search on the symbol lists matches it as well as the Unicode name.
What ` gets confused with
Unicode's own confusables table, the one used to catch lookalike domain names, groups ` with ' (U+0027, Apostrophe), ´ (U+00B4, Acute Accent), ‘ (U+2018, Left Single Quote), ’ (U+2019, Right Single Quote) and ′ (U+2032, Prime). They are separate characters that render close enough to be mistaken for one another, so a search or a string comparison will separate them where your eye will not. If Grave Accent is not matching where you expect it to, one of these is the usual reason.
What Unicode says about Grave Accent
The standard recognises ` under another name as well: backtick, backquote. That is a formal alias, not a nickname, which is why it turns up in other people's documentation for the same codepoint.
Unicode annotates ` directly. Against U+0060 the code chart carries the note “This is a spacing character”. It adds: in some technical contexts functions as opening quote, paired with apostrophe. That is the standard saying what the character is for, rather than an inference from its name.
The code chart points from ` to Left Single Quote, acute accent (U+00B4), modifier letter grave accent (U+02CB), combining grave accent (U+0300), greek varia (U+1FEF) and reversed prime (U+2035). These are the characters the standard thinks you might have meant instead, which makes them the ones worth checking when Grave Accent looks nearly right but not quite.
How Grave Accent behaves in software
` takes one column in a terminal. It carries no direction of its own, so in a line that mixes English with Arabic or Hebrew it takes the direction of the text around it rather than forcing one.
What people ask about Grave Accent
How to add accents on keyboard?
the key left of 1, on both US and UK layouts. Alt + 96 on the numeric keypad also produces it.
How do you type accent marks in word?
In Word, type 0060 and press Alt+X, which converts the codepoint you just typed into `. Insert › Symbol › More Symbols finds it by its Unicode name, GRAVE ACCENT. Google Docs has no Alt+X, so use Alt + 96 there, or Insert › Special characters and search the same name.
Every way to write Grave Accent
| Form | Value |
|---|---|
| Codepoint | U+0060 |
| Decimal | 96 |
| UTF-8 bytes | 60 |
| UTF-16 bytes | 00 60 |
| HTML entity | ` |
| HTML numeric | ` or ` |
| CSS | \0060 |
| JavaScript | \u0060 |
| Python | \u0060 |
| URL-encoded | %60 |
| SVG | 0060.svg · (SIL Open Font License) |
If ` needs escaping
` is one byte in ASCII, in UTF-8 and in every code page in common use, so it never arrives corrupted. Its problem is the opposite one: it means something to the software reading it. In HTML it can be written `, in a URL it is %60, and inside a CSV field, a shell command or a regular expression it has to be quoted or escaped rather than typed plainly. That is also why ` is the character people substitute when the one they wanted will not type.