In short. Use the Accented URL switch in SEO & URLs, check server rewriting support, and inspect a product after resetting its friendly URL.
Definition: PrestaShop's “Accented URL” setting controls whether friendly URLs can contain accented and other non-ASCII characters, meaning characters outside the basic ASCII character set. As of October 2026, the PrestaShop 8 guide places this option in “Set up URLs” on the “SEO & URLs” page.
Key facts
- PrestaShop's SEO and URLs guide documents an “Accented URL” option for product names containing non-ASCII characters.
- PrestaShop's URL settings form implements the option as a switch and associates it with the configuration key
PS_ALLOW_ACCENTED_CHARS_URL. - Google's URL structure guidance recommends percent encoding non-ASCII characters in links. Percent encoding represents characters using percent signs followed by hexadecimal values.
Where is the accented URL control?
In the back office, the route is Shop Parameters > Traffic & SEO > SEO & URLs. In “Set up URLs”, enabling “Accented URL” permits accented characters in friendly URLs; disabling it turns off that option. PrestaShop's settings form defines “Friendly URL” and “Accented URL” as separate switches.
A friendly URL is a readable address whose words can come from a product or category name or be entered manually. The user guide locates a product's “Friendly URL” field under its “SEO” tab and a category's field on its main configuration page. That field provides a place to inspect the actual wording after changing the character setting.
What must the server support?
URL rewriting lets the server handle friendly addresses. PrestaShop's server guidance requires rewriting support for friendly URLs and gives Apache's mod_rewrite as an example. It warns that enabling friendly URLs without that support can make the shop unavailable.
The same documentation explains that a warning about inactive rewriting can also mean PrestaShop cannot detect the server configuration. It calls for a test in that situation. A practical check is to open a product's friendly address on the actual hosting setup after saving the settings.
The guide also identifies Apache MultiViews, a content negotiation feature, as a possible source of friendly URL problems. Its “Disable Apache's MultiViews option” is a troubleshooting control when that conflict occurs.
How can the result be checked?
PrestaShop's accented URL functional test uses a product named TESTURLÉ. After changing the switch, it resets the product's friendly URL and checks the storefront address for testurlé when enabled and testurle when disabled. This provides a concrete verification sequence: change the setting, reset the friendly URL, then preview the product.
For links, Google's encoding example shows the German word gemüse in this encoded address:
https://example.com/gem%C3%BCse
The same guidance recommends using the audience's language in URLs. An encoded accented character therefore remains compatible with that recommendation.
Related terms
- How do I enable friendly URLs in PrestaShop?
- How do I configure canonical redirects in PrestaShop?
- How do I edit URL route patterns in PrestaShop?
- How should accented and non-Latin characters be encoded in URLs?
FAQ
Can I disable accented characters?
Yes. PrestaShop's SEO and URLs guide documents disabling “Accented URL” in “Set up URLs”.
How should I check a product after changing the switch?
Follow the sequence in PrestaShop's functional test: reset the product's friendly URL and preview its storefront page. Check the resulting address and that the page opens.
Does Google recommend removing every accent from URLs?
Google's URL guidance recommends words in the audience's language and percent encoding non-ASCII characters in links. Its examples include gemüse encoded as gem%C3%BCse.
Sources
- PrestaShop Project, “SEO and URLs”, undated, version 8 documentation
- PrestaShop Project, “SetUpUrlType.php”, undated, version 8.2.0 source
- PrestaShop Project, “04_enableDisableAccentedURL.ts”, undated, version 8.2.0 source
- Google Search Central, “URL structure best practices for Google Search”, 10 December 2025
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