How to type ʻokina and kahakō on your computer

 

Last August of 2025, the state of Hawaiʻi made the ʻokina and kahakō official for license plates and state documents.  Beyond government, this has become more normal in the culture.  The ʻokina is the letter that transcribes the glottal stop consonant in Hawaiian.  The kakahō notes a long, stressed sound over vowels.  The book ‘Ōlelo ‘Ōiwi: Hawaiian Language Fundamentals teaches these and more diacriticals used in Hawaiian.

Here is a good article about why.

With the help of Google Search, this month I discovered that my computer can, in fact, be programmed for Hawaiian language.  A friend had already shown me how to do this on my iPhone.

If you would like to download a Hawaiian format for your computer:

Open Settings

Go to Time and Language

Add Language - Hawaiian

Click and Hold the Hawaiian, and move it above the English

You may also have to set Keyboard to Hawaiian

To get the ʻokina, you will now use the Comma key.  To get the kahakō over any vowel, you just press Alt-(Vowel) for lower case or Shift-Alt-Vowel for upper case.

To get an English apostrophe on a Hawaiian keyboard: Alt-Comma.