How to type Greek letters on a keyboard
Greek is not an accent on a Latin letter, it is a different alphabet, so the fix is not a shortcut but a second keyboard layout. It takes a minute to add, it does not disturb the one you have, and after that the keys are where you would guess: A types alpha, B types beta, and the handful that cannot line up that way are listed below.
Turn the layout on first
On a Mac, open System Settings, then Keyboard, then Input Sources, press Add and choose Greek. On Windows 11, Microsoft's own path is Start, then Settings, then Time & language, then Language & region; press the ellipsis beside your display language, choose Language options, and under Keyboards press Add a keyboard. Both put a switcher in the menu bar or the taskbar, and both leave your existing layout alone.
Switch between them with the input menu, or with Control and Space on a Mac and the Windows key and Space on Windows. Nothing you have typed changes; only what the next keystroke produces.
Which key types which letter
Read this as the keyboard you already own. The letter Greek has and English does not, final sigma, sits on W, and the letters whose sounds do not match a Latin key are the ones worth learning: psi on C, xi on J, theta on U, omega on V.
| Key | Types | With Shift | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| A | α | Α | Alpha |
| B | β | Β | Beta |
| C | ψ | Ψ | Psi |
| D | δ | Δ | Delta |
| E | ε | Ε | Epsilon |
| F | φ | Φ | Phi |
| G | γ | Γ | Gamma |
| H | η | Η | Eta |
| I | ι | Ι | Iota |
| J | ξ | Ξ | Xi |
| K | κ | Κ | Kappa |
| L | λ | Λ | Lamda |
| M | μ | Μ | Mu |
| N | ν | Ν | Nu |
| O | ο | Ο | Omicron |
| P | π | Π | Pi |
| R | ρ | Ρ | Rho |
| S | σ | Σ | Sigma |
| T | τ | Τ | Tau |
| U | θ | Θ | Theta |
| V | ω | Ω | Omega |
| W | ς | — | Final Sigma |
| X | χ | Χ | Chi |
| Y | υ | Υ | Upsilon |
| Z | ζ | Ζ | Zeta |
The accents
The tonos is a dead key: press it, nothing appears, then press the vowel. It sits on the semicolon key, which is why typing a semicolon in Greek and getting nothing is the single most common surprise here.
| Press | Gives | Name |
|---|---|---|
| ;, then A | ά | Alpha with Tonos |
| ;, then E | έ | Epsilon with Tonos |
| ;, then H | ή | Eta with Tonos |
| ;, then I | ί | Iota with Tonos |
| ;, then O | ό | Omicron with Tonos |
| ;, then V | ώ | Omega with Tonos |
| ;, then Y | ύ | Upsilon with Tonos |
| Shift + ;, then I | ϊ | Iota with Dialytika |
| Shift + ;, then Y | ϋ | Upsilon with Dialytika |
| W, then I | ΐ | Iota with Dialytika And Tonos |
| W, then Y | ΰ | Upsilon with Dialytika And Tonos |
| ;, then SHIFT + A | Ά | Alpha with Tonos |
If you only need one letter
Switching layout is worth it for a word and not for a character. 35 of the letters here have a page of their own with the Windows Alt code, the Mac shortcut and the HTML entity, and every one of them can be copied from it. For one sigma in a maths sentence that is the faster route, and for a paragraph of Greek it is not.
The key map above was read from the layout macOS ships, through UCKeyTranslate, rather than copied from a picture of a keyboard. Key labels are the ones printed on a US keycap.