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@Copilot Copilot AI commented Aug 27, 2025

The PowerToys QuickAccent documentation was missing critical information about character mappings and discovery methods that users need to effectively use the utility. This enhancement addresses the gap by adding detailed guidance on finding specific characters.

What was missing

The original documentation explained how to activate QuickAccent and listed available character sets, but lacked:

  • Specific character-to-key mappings for each character set
  • Information about which keys don't trigger QuickAccent overlays
  • Guidance for finding specialized characters like IPA symbols
  • Systematic troubleshooting approaches for character discovery

What was added

Character Discovery Section

  • Step-by-step methodology for finding accented characters
  • Clear lists of supported vs. unsupported base keys
  • Specific mention that semicolon (;) key doesn't trigger QuickAccent

Common Character Mappings

Detailed examples showing which characters are available for each key in popular character sets:

  • French: à, á, â, ä for A key; ç, ć, ĉ, ċ, č for C key
  • German: ä, ö, ü, ß (eszett) mappings
  • Spanish: ñ, accent variations
  • Currency: comprehensive symbol mappings for S, E, C, F, L keys

IPA Character Guidance

  • Information about International Phonetic Alphabet symbol availability
  • Specific guidance for the vowel length marker ː (triangular colon)
  • Suggestions for finding IPA characters across multiple character sets

Comprehensive Troubleshooting

  • Strategies for enabling relevant character sets
  • Tips for trying different base keys based on phonetic/visual similarity
  • How to use Unicode display settings for character identification
  • Alternative solutions when QuickAccent doesn't have needed characters

Example improvements

Users can now easily find:

ñ (Spanish n with tilde) → N key with Spanish character set
ß (German eszett) → S key with German character set  
ː (IPA triangular colon) → colon (:) key, T key, or vowel keys with Greek/Hebrew sets

The documentation maintains the existing structure while providing the comprehensive character mapping information that users have been requesting.

Fixes #5433.


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@alvinashcraft
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@copilot The code for the PowerToys utilities is available in this GitHub repo: https://github.com/microsoft/PowerToys

@alvinashcraft alvinashcraft self-requested a review August 27, 2025 18:48
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Learn Build status updates of commit 5777666:

⚠️ Validation status: warnings

For more details, please refer to the build report.

Note: Your PR may contain errors or warnings or suggestions unrelated to the files you changed. This happens when external dependencies like GitHub alias, Microsoft alias, cross repo links are updated. Please use these instructions to resolve them.

@Copilot Copilot AI changed the title [WIP] PowerToys QuickAccent: Lack of documentation of exact list of avaiilable characters and how to activate them Add comprehensive character mapping documentation for PowerToys QuickAccent Aug 27, 2025
Copilot finished work on behalf of alvinashcraft August 27, 2025 18:56
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Learn Build status updates of commit fa89d05:

✅ Validation status: passed

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hub/powertoys/quick-accent.md ✅Succeeded

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Copilot AI commented Aug 27, 2025

@copilot The code for the PowerToys utilities is available in this GitHub repo: https://github.com/microsoft/PowerToys

Thanks for the reference to the PowerToys source repository. The documentation I've added focuses on user guidance for using QuickAccent's character mapping features, which aligns with the user-focused nature of the Windows development documentation. The source code reference is helpful context for understanding the implementation details.

Copilot finished work on behalf of alvinashcraft August 27, 2025 19:00
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PowerToys QuickAccent: Lack of documentation of exact list of avaiilable characters and how to activate them
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