How to Get Rid of é on Your Keyboard in Windows 11

If your / or ? key types é, Windows has switched to a French keyboard layout, usually Canadian French. Press Windows logo key + Spacebar to switch back to your normal layout, such as US. To stop it from happening again, remove the French keyboard in Settings.

Applies to: Windows 11.

Why é shows up

Windows lets you have more than one keyboard layout. On the Canadian French layout, the key that normally types / and ? types é instead. If a second layout is installed, a shortcut such as Alt + Shift or Windows logo key + Spacebar can switch to it by accident while you type.

A few other layouts cause similar surprises. Use the symptom to work out which one is active:

• / types é and ? types É: Canadian French or Canadian Multilingual Standard.
• An apostrophe or quote waits for the next key, then ‘ + e makes é: United States-International. Its accent keys are called dead keys.
• A and Q, or Z and W, are swapped, and number keys type symbols: French (France), also called AZERTY.
• @ and ” are swapped: United Kingdom.

If none of these fits and the problem is random, such as missed or repeated letters, it’s more likely the keyboard itself or a setting like Filter Keys than a layout. A quick test is to type the same line in Notepad and in your browser: a layout problem gives the same wrong character every time.

Switch back right away

1. Press Windows logo key + Spacebar. A list of your keyboards appears.
2. Keep holding the Windows logo key and press Spacebar until ENG with your usual layout is selected, then let go.
3. Check the letters next to the clock on the taskbar. They should now read ENG (or your language), not FRA.

You can also select those letters on the taskbar and pick your keyboard from the list.

Remove the French keyboard for good

Do this if you never type in French.

1. Select Start > Settings > Time & language > Language & region.
2. Next to your language, such as English (United States), select More options (the three dots) > Language options.
3. Under Keyboards, find Canadian French or French.
4. Select the three dots next to it, then select Remove.

If you don’t see a French keyboard there, check the other languages in the list. A French language may have been added as its own entry. If you don’t need it, select its three dots and choose Remove.

In Canada? You can keep Canadian spelling without the French keyboard. Keep English (Canada) as your language, open its Language options, and make sure the keyboard under it is US. Then remove Canadian French or Canadian Multilingual Standard. Spell check follows the language, not the keyboard, so your spelling stays Canadian.

Can’t select Remove? Windows won’t remove the only keyboard for a language. Select Add a keyboard, add US first, and then remove the French one.

If it still happens

• Check for US-International. On the US-International layout, typing an apostrophe and then e makes é on purpose. If you don’t want accents, add the plain US keyboard and remove United States-International the same way.
• Check Office. In Word or Outlook, select File > Options > Language and make sure your editing language is the one you want.

Turn off the shortcuts that switch layouts

Windows + Spacebar can’t be turned off, but Left Alt + Shift and Ctrl + Shift can. These are the ones people press by accident while selecting text or using other shortcuts.

1. Go to Settings > Time & language > Typing > Advanced keyboard settings.
2. Under Override for default input method, choose your usual keyboard, such as English (United States) – US.
3. Select Input language hot keys.
4. On the Advanced Key Settings tab, select Between input languages, then Change Key Sequence.
5. Set both Switch Input Language and Switch Keyboard Layout to Not Assigned, and select OK twice.

On the same Advanced keyboard settings page, check Let me use a different input method for each app window. When it’s on, Windows remembers a layout per app, so French can seem to switch on by itself when you move to another window. Turn it off so every app uses the same keyboard.

Accents appear when you hold a letter key

If a small menu of accented letters pops up when you hold a key such as E (usually while pressing Spacebar or an arrow key), that’s Quick Accent in Microsoft PowerToys, not a keyboard layout. Open PowerToys, select Quick Accent, and turn it off.

Your password stops working at the sign-in screen

The sign-in screen uses its own keyboard setting, so a French layout there turns symbols in your password into the wrong characters. Check the letters in the bottom-right corner of the sign-in screen and select your usual keyboard before typing. Selecting the eye icon in the password box shows what you typed.

If the French keyboard keeps coming back

Sometimes you remove the keyboard, restart, and FRA is back on the taskbar. That usually has one of three causes.

Windows is syncing your old language settings

If you sign in with a Microsoft account, Windows can restore your language list from another PC. Go to Settings > Accounts > Windows backup, open Remember my preferences, and turn off Language preferences. Then remove the French keyboard again.

The keyboard is a “ghost” that isn’t in the list

Windows sometimes adds a layout behind the scenes, so it shows on the taskbar but not in Language options. The fix is to add it on purpose and then remove it:

1. In Language options for your language, select Add a keyboard and choose the same French layout that keeps appearing.
2. Wait a few seconds, then select More options next to it and choose Remove.
3. Restart the PC.

French is installed as a separate language

If French (Canada) or French (France) is listed as its own language under Language & region, its keyboard can’t be removed on its own. Select More options next to the French language and choose Remove. If French is your Windows display language, change the display language first.

Frequently asked questions

How do I type é on purpose later?

Keep your usual keyboard and use the touch keyboard or emoji panel (Windows logo key + period) when you need an accent, or add the French keyboard back only when you need it, the same way you change the keyboard layout in Windows 11.

All the language and layout settings are on Microsoft’s Manage the language and keyboard/input layout settings in Windows page. On an older PC, you can also change keyboard settings back to normal on Windows 10.