# Editing and Writing

Māori Language Week 2019 logo

Kia ora!

With [Māori Language Week](https://www.tewikiotereomaori.co.nz/about/) this week, a few people have been asking me how to type a vowel with a macron, especially outside of Word. I’ve talked about [using macrons](/content/2017/11/03/using-macrons/index.html) before, and as a commenter correctly pointed out, there is another way of putting a macron on a vowel, by loading and using the Māori keyboard on your computer.

**Notes:**

- this is a fraction slower for touch typists, so having loaded the keyboard, you might want to [create an autocorrect in Word](/content/2017/11/08/creating-a-word-autocorrect/index.html) for each word you need macrons in, for future use
- if you’re in a large organisation or Government department, your IT team may have disabled your ability to add keyboards; it’s worth checking though to see if you can.

**Loading the Māori keyboard on your Windows computer**

01. Click Start ().
02. Click Settings ().

**Result:** the **Windows Settings** screen displays.
03. Click **Time & Language**.
04. Click **Language** on the left-hand menu.
05. Check if English (New Zealand) is listed under the **Preferred languages** heading:

- If yes, go to step 11.
    - If no, go to step 6.
06. Click **Add preferred language**.
07. Type **English** in the text box.
08. Scroll down the options, and select **English (New Zealand)**.
09. Click **Next**.
10. Click **Install**.

**Result:** English (New Zealand) displays under **Preferred languages**.
11. Click **English (New Zealand)**, and click the up arrow to make it your preferred language.
12. Click **Options**.
13. Click **Add keyboard**.
14. Scroll down, and click **Māori**.
15. Close the Settings window.
16. Click ENG (), in the bottom right-hand corner of your screen, next to the date and time.
17. Highlight the **English (New Zealand) Māori keyboard**

**Result:** the code next to the time and date in the bottom right of your screen should change to . You have activated the Māori keyboard.

**To use the Māori keyboard to put a macron on a vowel (on the a in Māori in this example):**

1. Type the capital M.
2. Click the key to the left of the 1 on your keyboard (the key with \` and ~ on it).
3. Click the vowel key you want to use (a, in this example).

**Result:** an a with a macron is typed, ā.

**Notes:** for a capital letter with a macron, hold down shift key when you click the letter key, as you normally would for a capital letter.

**Troubleshooting:** If this ever doesn’t work, check that you still have  next to the date and time in the bottom right of your screen. You may need to re-select the English (New Zealand) Māori keyboard option.

Remember, **if you want Word to autocorrect** to having the word with a macron on the vowel, you can [create an autocorrect in Word](/content/2017/11/08/creating-a-word-autocorrect/index.html).