"Extended" characters are made by depressing either  "Alt"  key, then typing the following numbers - using the numeric keypad on the right side of keyboard. For example:  Alt 241 = ñ  This is a great way to add support for any foreign word or name that is directed at clients. The letter appears in your document after the Alt key is released. The letter or symbol will appear in the font selected in your document. While your Windows machine comes with a simple character map you may want one with more usefulness. For a glimpse of a very useful character map utility to assist you, scroll to the bottom section of the page.

    Below is a Screen Capture of a freeware character map ( you can compare it with your Windows "Character Map" already installed with your version of Windows ). This utility is designed to allow you to see each character in a larger size. As you pass the cursor over a character, it appears in the box in the lower right of the window ( in the real program ). It makes it much easier to find just the right character you need. For this particular program, search for "characteristica" in your favorite search engine. It's a nice little add-on. There are other freeware and shareware character map utilities available too.

    This very well done freeware utility will allow you to select a font from your installed font list, including True Type fonts and symbols, and view a character enlarged in the window in the lower right ( you can even zoom in or out on the character chosen ) with the Alt+Num code right above the window. It also shows you the ASCII code for use in HTML coding for web pages. It allows you to select multiple characters as shown in the small window at the upper left, and to copy those characters to the clipboard for use in your document.
    Below is a screen capture of the Windows Character Map for comparison. Both are shown at actual size.