# Feature request: Ignore diacritics in search **URL:** \ **Category:** Suggestions\ **Created:** [November 3, 2024, 3:42pm UTC](https://forums.ankiweb.net/t/feature-request-ignore-diacritics-in-search/51520 "2024-11-03T15:42:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![symba06](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aeb1de/32.png) [@symba06](https://forums.ankiweb.net/u/symba06)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2024, 3:42pm UTC](https://forums.ankiweb.net/t/feature-request-ignore-diacritics-in-search/51520/1 "2024-11-03T15:42:07Z")
Feature request: Normalize diacritics in search terms. Words like ‘brûlée’ or ‘žluťoučký’ will be indexed as ‘brulee’ and ‘zlutoucky’. In practical terms, when writing “brulee” in the search bar, cards containing ‘brûlée’ will show up. ---
**Author:** ![Danika\_Dakika](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/user_avatar/forums.ankiweb.net/danika_dakika/32/17815_2.png) [@Danika\_Dakika](https://forums.ankiweb.net/u/Danika_Dakika)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2024, 4:01pm UTC](https://forums.ankiweb.net/t/feature-request-ignore-diacritics-in-search/51520/2 "2024-11-03T16:01:02Z")
This should work for that – > **[Searching - Anki Manual](https://docs.ankiweb.net/searching.html#ignoring-accentscombining-characters)** > > Anki's user manual. Anki is a flashcard program that makes learning easier. ---
**Author:** ![symba06](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aeb1de/32.png) [@symba06](https://forums.ankiweb.net/u/symba06)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2024, 7:55pm UTC](https://forums.ankiweb.net/t/feature-request-ignore-diacritics-in-search/51520/3 "2024-11-03T19:55:46Z")
That works! Thanks! Please close the topic ---
**Author:** ![violetsister](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/bbe5ce/32.png) [@violetsister](https://forums.ankiweb.net/u/violetsister)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2026, 12:11am UTC](https://forums.ankiweb.net/t/feature-request-ignore-diacritics-in-search/51520/4 "2026-07-21T00:11:31Z")
I feel like this should be the default. Most users probably don’t know about the NC search feature are just going to be frustrated. I added separate fields on my notes where I entered a no-diacritic version of a gloss to make it more easily searchable. I only found out about the non-combining search feature now when I finally was about to make a feature request. I had assumed it was just an oversight. ---
**Author:** ![Eltaurus](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/user_avatar/forums.ankiweb.net/eltaurus/32/10287_2.png) [@Eltaurus](https://forums.ankiweb.net/u/Eltaurus)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2026, 12:35am UTC](https://forums.ankiweb.net/t/feature-request-ignore-diacritics-in-search/51520/5 "2026-07-21T00:35:13Z")
It can be enabled in settings for all searches, but it’s not the default, because of its negative performance impact: ![image](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/uploads/anki2/original/3X/1/c/1c6f16c6150533b344b6bfd646a7176b471258e7.png) > [@violetsister](#): > > I added separate fields on my notes where I entered a no-diacritic version of a gloss to make it more easily searchable. This way is still useful, since it allows the search to use data directly stored in the database instead of doing a runtime conversion in each comparison. ---
**Author:** ![Danika\_Dakika](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/user_avatar/forums.ankiweb.net/danika_dakika/32/17815_2.png) [@Danika\_Dakika](https://forums.ankiweb.net/u/Danika_Dakika)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2026, 12:50am UTC](https://forums.ankiweb.net/t/feature-request-ignore-diacritics-in-search/51520/6 "2026-07-21T00:50:39Z")
From the link: > Searches that ignore combining characters are slower than regular searches. On top of that – in some languages, things you might call “diacritics” are actually really important. A word might not be spelled correctly without them, or it might not even be the same word. Having Anki distinguish between the words in search by default helps users find what they’re looking for, and learn how to spell each word correctly. For example, in Turkish – these pairs are completely separate words – eksi ekşi akış akis odun ödün ---
**Author:** ![violetsister](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/bbe5ce/32.png) [@violetsister](https://forums.ankiweb.net/u/violetsister)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2026, 8:36pm UTC](https://forums.ankiweb.net/t/feature-request-ignore-diacritics-in-search/51520/7 "2026-07-23T20:36:50Z")
> [@Eltaurus](#): > > It can be enabled in settings for all searches, but it’s not the default, because of its negative performance impact: Ah, thanks!! > [@Danika\_Dakika](#): > > On top of that – in some languages, things you might call “diacritics” are actually really important Yeah, I get that. But I just felt the inconvenience of having to switch keyboard layout (are macrons even available on any Windows keyboard layout?) or copy paste or whatever to find one’s cards was not worth the benefit you mention. Firefox has a “Match Diacritics” checkbox when you Ctrl F. Simple. Maybe there could be a checkbox directly in the Browse window of Anki. ---
**Author:** ![Danika\_Dakika](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/user_avatar/forums.ankiweb.net/danika_dakika/32/17815_2.png) [@Danika\_Dakika](https://forums.ankiweb.net/u/Danika_Dakika)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2026, 9:09pm UTC](https://forums.ankiweb.net/t/feature-request-ignore-diacritics-in-search/51520/8 "2026-07-23T21:09:46Z")
> [@violetsister](#): > > (are macrons even available on any Windows keyboard layout?) It seems likely that if they’re used in a language, they’re available in that language’s keyboard layout – [Windows keyboard layouts - Globalization | Microsoft Learn](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/globalization/windows-keyboard-layouts) – and you can quick-swap between installed keyboard layouts with `[Win] [Space]`. Some might even say that learning to type in a language is an important step in learning the language. > [@violetsister](#): > > Firefox has a “Match Diacritics” checkbox when you Ctrl F. Simple. Maybe there could be a checkbox directly in the Browse window of Anki. Using Find within a single webpage is a more limited search than searching your entire collection database. But it seems like surfacing that setting to the Browse window would be a good fit for an add-on – just for folks who want to enable/disable it more easily without having to use the `nc` search filter.