Apple calls the character a grave accent; most people say backtick. You need it for code and Markdown, and macOS uses its key in one shortcut worth knowing: ⌘`, which switches between the windows of the app you're using.
US layout
On a US keyboard, the backtick key is the first key of the number row, left of 1 and above Tab. Press it alone for `, and with ⇧ for ~. The ABC layout puts both characters on the same key.
| Keys | On U.S. and ABC |
|---|---|
| ` | Types a backtick, `. |
| ⇧` | Types a tilde, ~. |
| ⌥` | Starts a grave accent: press a letter next, as in ⌥` then e for è. See ⌥` and accents. |
| ⌘` | Switches to the front app's next window. See ⌘` switches windows. |
Symbols such as ⌥ and ⌘ are explained in Mac keyboard symbols.
UK and other ISO layouts
macOS knows three types of keyboard: ANSI, used in North America and many other parts of the world, ISO (Europe) and JIS (Japan). Apple's guide to identifying your keyboard layout tells them apart by the Return key, which on an ISO keyboard is tall and spans two rows. An ISO keyboard also has one more key, between the left Shift and the first letter of the bottom row.
On Apple's British keyboard, the key left of 1 is marked § and ±. The backtick is on that extra key, between the left Shift and Z, again with ~ when you add ⇧.
US layout on a British keyboardIf you type with the U.S. or ABC layout on an ISO keyboard, the key above Tab types § and ±, and ` is on the key next to the left Shift, as on the British layout.
Other layouts
On the German, French, Spanish and Swedish layouts the backtick is a dead key, a key that waits for the next one. Press it, then a vowel for an accented letter (` then e gives è), or the Space bar for the backtick on its own.
| Layout | Where ` is | Then |
|---|---|---|
| German | ⇧ and the ´ accent key, left of Delete | Press Space |
| French (AZERTY) | The key left of Return (£ with ⇧) | Press Space |
| Spanish | The key right of P (^ with ⇧) | Press Space |
| Swedish | ⇧ and the ´ accent key, left of Delete | Press Space |
| Italian | ⌥ and the key left of 1 (\ on its own) | Nothing: it types ` straight away |
| U.S. International – PC | The key left of 1, as on a US keyboard | Press Space |
To check your own layout, open the Keyboard Viewer: choose Show Keyboard Viewer from the Input menu in the menu bar. If there's no Input menu, turn on Show Input menu in menu bar in System Settings › Keyboard › Text Input › Edit. Hold ⇧ or ⌥ to see what each key types with it; Apple's Keyboard Viewer guide notes that dead keys get an orange outline.
⌥` and accents
On the U.S., ABC and British layouts, ⌥` is a dead key for the grave accent. Press ⌥`, then e, and you get è; press ⌥` then the Space bar for a plain `. ⌥E, ⌥I, ⌥N and ⌥U start other accents the same way.
For an occasional accent there's a quicker way, from Apple's guide to entering characters with accent marks: press and hold a letter, such as e, then pick è from the menu that appears, by clicking it or pressing the number shown below it.
Because ⌥` is how many people type accents, an app that uses ⌥` as a shortcut in every app takes it away from typing while it runs. That's worth knowing before you give it to a window switcher or a launcher.
⌘` switches windows
Apple's list of Mac keyboard shortcuts gives ⌘` as the shortcut to switch between the windows of the app you're using, and ⇧⌘` to go the other way. It acts on the front app, the one named in the menu bar, so with three Safari windows open, ⌘` brings the next one forward. To reach another app, press ⌘Tab first. More on this in switching between windows of the same app.
Apple adds that the second key varies by keyboard and is generally the key above Tab, left of 1. On a US keyboard that's the backtick key; on a British keyboard ⌘` uses the backtick key next to the left Shift. On other layouts it can be a key that types something else. To see which keys your Mac uses, or to pick easier ones, find Move focus to next window in System Settings › Keyboard › Keyboard Shortcuts › Keyboard; the steps are in checking the ⌘` shortcut, along with the other fixes for when it does nothing.
With Flick
Flick puts a list of the front app's windows on this key, ⌘` with its ⌘Tab trigger or ⌥` with the default ⌥Tab. ⌥` starts off for the reason above: once on, it switches windows in every app and stops typing accents, and Flick's Settings warn you when ⌥` is a dead key on your layout. Flick finds the key by its position, so on some layouts it types something else; using Flick with a non-US keyboard covers those.
See the front app's windows in Flick
Sources
Checked on . Apple's Mac User Guide opens on macOS 27; the Keyboard Viewer, accent marks and keyboard shortcuts guides were compared with their macOS 26 Tahoe, macOS 15 Sequoia and macOS 14 Sonoma versions and give the same steps. What each layout types was checked with the keyboard layouts in macOS 26.2, and the name Move focus to next window in System Settings on macOS 26.2.
- How to identify your Apple keyboard layout by country or region, Apple Support
- Mac keyboard shortcuts, Apple Support
- Use the Keyboard Viewer on Mac, Mac User Guide
- Enter characters with accent marks on Mac, Mac User Guide
- Use macOS keyboard shortcuts, Mac User Guide
- Specify a keyboard type on Mac, Mac User Guide
