Quick Umlaut

A lightweight Windows program that uses low-level keyboard hooks to enable German umlaut shortcuts.
You can type umlauts while keeping your QWERTY layout unchanged.

User Interface Preview

Installation

Download the latest release from the Releases page.

Key Combinations

Key Combo	Output
Ctrl + Alt + (Shift) + A	ä / Ä
Ctrl + Alt + (Shift) + O	ö / Ö
Ctrl + Alt + (Shift) + U	ü / Ü
Ctrl + Alt + (Shift) + S	ß / ẞ
Ctrl + Alt + [	„
Ctrl + Alt + ]	“

Usage

Once the app is running, press the key combinations listed above to insert umlaut characters.

Example

In any text editor (e.g., Notepad), press:

Ctrl + Alt + U → ü
Ctrl + Alt + Shift + A → Ä

No need to change your keyboard layout or language settings.

Build Instructions

Requires GCC (MinGW) and gdi32:

windres src/resource.rc -O coff -o build/resource.o
gcc src/main.c src/gui.c src/keymap.c build/resource.o -o build/app.exe -lgdi32 -municode -mwindows

Or use the included VS Code tasks.json for building and running.

Compatibility

• OS: Windows only (due to use of Windows API and keyboard hooks)
• Tested on: Windows 10, Windows 11