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I very much like the way Smartphone keyboards work. Pressing, a tangent for example, 'A' gives me the different variations/alternatives to 'A':

enter image description here

Is there something very similar to use on a Windows (8) desktop computer? That is just pressing a specific key on my physical keyboard would make something similar popup?

I will have great use of something like that especially when using letters from different languages for example the german 'ß' or french 'Œ' and 'Æ'.

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    The MIT-licensed SymWin answer in this question use CapsLock to trigger displaying the different accents, the developer mentioned some problem with Metro apps. Meanwhile there's a dirt cheap freemium app that exactly mimic smartphone style
    – Martheen
    Commented Mar 28, 2016 at 4:07
  • Some of the answers at superuser.com/questions/110605/… show scripts to achieve this.
    – Arjan
    Commented Aug 7, 2016 at 17:10
  • today in 2024, the suggestion right below of PowerToys by @HonzaZidek is a great way to have what most people want -- totally free Microsoft app with zero scripting
    – Mike M
    Commented Feb 7 at 12:51

2 Answers 2

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  1. Install Microsoft PowerToys. It should be safe as it comes directly from Microsoft.
  2. Open the program.
  3. Activate "Quick Accent" - see the documentation.
  4. Hold any letter key + an activation key (e.g. →). Keep holding the key. A selection toolbar appears:

enter image description here

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    wow . . . how have I never heard of PowerToys before . . . love it !!! This is a great solution for working in your native keyboard setup and still using diacritics for other languages - probably what most people would want to start with.
    – Mike M
    Commented Feb 7 at 12:48
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Windows 8 (or 10) allows you to add the touch keyboard button to the taskbar. Simply right-click the taskbar and select "Show touch keyboard button". You can then control the keyboard with the mouse, using the same long press as you described for a phone keyboard. This keyboard allows access to Œ through O and Æ through A. It also has additional keyboards of emoji, etc.

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    Thank you. That might do it but it would take up space on the screen though. If possible I would prefer using my physical keyboard (though selecting the alternative character might need using the mouse depending upon how it's implemented).
    – fredrik.hjarner
    Commented Mar 27, 2016 at 10:23
  • Actually... the touch keyboard was better than I first thought. I first though you meant the old-style virtual keyboard that is worse. I am a little bit annoyed by the size of the keys though, if they could be shrinked then I would be maximally happy.
    – fredrik.hjarner
    Commented Mar 27, 2016 at 10:51
  • The bottom right corner button (keyboard options) will allow you to select a split keyboard which will be smaller. (On Windows 8 it will be shorter, but on Windows 10 you will actually get two separate keyboard windows)
    – Mooseman
    Commented Mar 27, 2016 at 23:26

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