get question mark and keyboard to work

Ian & Rhona Heslegrave 25 Reputation points
2025-09-18T18:27:14.2866667+00:00

I can-t get apostrophe or question mark on my keyboard. I am English, but sometimes use the Portuguese accent marks

Microsoft 365 and Office | Word | For home | Windows
0 comments
Answer accepted by question author
Thomas4-N 22,390 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator
2025-09-19T11:01:29.7866667+00:00

Hello Ian & Rhona Heslegrave, thanks for reaching out.

It looks like your keyboard layout might not be switching the way you expect, especially since you have both English and Portuguese installed.

To start, try pressing Alt + Shift (or Windows + Spacebar) to switch between keyboard layouts. Make sure it’s set to English when you want to type characters like ' and ?.

Then go to Settings > Time & Language > Language & Region. Under English (United Kingdom) > Options, check that the keyboard layout is set to United Kingdom. This matters because on Portuguese layouts, keys like ' or ? may act as accent keys (dead keys) or be mapped differently. If you don’t use Portuguese often, you can remove it from the list to avoid accidental switches.

Finally, check Settings > Time & Language > Typing > Advanced keyboard settings to see if any shortcuts are switching layouts unexpectedly. You can disable or adjust them there.

Let me know if this helps fix the issue. Warm regards,

If the answer is helpful, please click "Accept Answer" and kindly upvote it. If you have extra questions about this answer, please click "Comment".  

Note: Please follow the steps in our documentation to enable e-mail notifications if you want to receive the related email notification for this thread.

Was this answer helpful?

3 people found this answer helpful.
0 comments

4 additional answers

Sort by: Most helpful
Most helpful Newest Oldest
  1. Stefan Blom 353.9K Reputation points MVP Volunteer Moderator
    2025-09-18T18:34:56.5133333+00:00

    Do you have multiple input languages (keyboard languages) installed with Windows?

    Was this answer helpful?

    2 people found this answer helpful.
    0 comments
  2. Ian & Rhona Heslegrave 25 Reputation points
    2025-09-20T14:03:49.4166667+00:00

    Thanks for your comprehensive answer!

    Was this answer helpful?

    1 person found this answer helpful.
    0 comments
  3. Ian & Rhona Heslegrave 25 Reputation points
    2025-09-18T18:50:36.4433333+00:00

    Screenshot 2025-09-18 194412

    Was this answer helpful?

  4. Ian & Rhona Heslegrave 25 Reputation points
    2025-09-18T18:48:27.43+00:00

    English and Portuguese

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments

Your answer

Answers can be marked as 'Accepted' by the question author and 'Recommended' by moderators, which helps users know the answer solved the author's problem.