Symbol alt codes let you type characters your keyboard has no key for. Hold Alt, type a number on the numeric keypad, release. Alt+0169 gives ©, Alt+0153 gives ™, Alt+0128 gives €. The leading zero matters, they only work on Windows, and you need a real numeric keypad.
Below is a verified reference table, then the exact steps for every platform: Windows, Mac, Word, Excel, Google Docs and Sheets, phones, Chromebook, and the apps that have no shortcut at all. If you want to search codes interactively, the Alt Codes Finder tool looks them up as you type.
Symbol alt codes reference table
The columns are labelled on purpose. The Alt code is always decimal. The Unicode point is always hex. Do not swap them: U+20AC is the euro, but Alt+20AC types nothing useful. A dash means the character has no numeric-keypad Alt code, so use the Word or paste method instead.
| Symbol | Name | Alt code (decimal) | Unicode (hex) | HTML entity |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| € | Euro | 0128 | U+20AC | € |
| £ | Pound | 0163 | U+00A3 | £ |
| ¢ | Cent | 0162 | U+00A2 | ¢ |
| ¥ | Yen | 0165 | U+00A5 | ¥ |
| © | Copyright | 0169 | U+00A9 | © |
| ® | Registered | 0174 | U+00AE | ® |
| ™ | Trademark | 0153 | U+2122 | ™ |
| ° | Degree | 0176 | U+00B0 | ° |
| § | Section | 0167 | U+00A7 | § |
| ¶ | Pilcrow | 0182 | U+00B6 | ¶ |
| † | Dagger | 0134 | U+2020 | † |
| ‡ | Double dagger | 0135 | U+2021 | ‡ |
| – | En dash | 0150 | U+2013 | – |
| — | Em dash | 0151 | U+2014 | — |
| • | Bullet | 0149 | U+2022 | • |
| … | Ellipsis | 0133 | U+2026 | … |
| “ | Left double quote | 0147 | U+201C | “ |
| ” | Right double quote | 0148 | U+201D | ” |
| ‘ | Left single quote | 0145 | U+2018 | ‘ |
| ’ | Right single quote | 0146 | U+2019 | ’ |
| « | Left guillemet | 0171 | U+00AB | « |
| » | Right guillemet | 0187 | U+00BB | » |
| ± | Plus-minus | 0177 | U+00B1 | ± |
| × | Multiplication | 0215 | U+00D7 | × |
| ÷ | Division | 0247 | U+00F7 | ÷ |
| µ | Micro | 0181 | U+00B5 | µ |
| ² | Superscript 2 | 0178 | U+00B2 | ² |
| ³ | Superscript 3 | 0179 | U+00B3 | ³ |
| ¼ | One quarter | 0188 | U+00BC | ¼ |
| ½ | One half | 0189 | U+00BD | ½ |
| ¾ | Three quarters | 0190 | U+00BE | ¾ |
| √ | Square root | 251 (CP437) | U+221A | √ |
| ∞ | Infinity | 236 (CP437) | U+221E | ∞ |
| π | Pi | 227 (CP437) | U+03C0 | π |
| ≠ | Not equal | — (2260, Alt+X) | U+2260 | ≠ |
| ≤ | Less than or equal | — (2264, Alt+X) | U+2264 | ≤ |
| ≥ | Greater than or equal | — (2265, Alt+X) | U+2265 | ≥ |
| → | Right arrow | 26 | U+2192 | → |
| ← | Left arrow | 27 | U+2190 | ← |
| ↑ | Up arrow | 24 | U+2191 | ↑ |
| ↓ | Down arrow | 25 | U+2193 | ↓ |
| ♥ | Heart | 3 | U+2665 | ♥ |
| ♦ | Diamond | 4 | U+2666 | ♦ |
| ♣ | Club | 5 | U+2663 | ♣ |
| ♠ | Spade | 6 | U+2660 | ♠ |
| ☺ | Smiley | 1 | U+263A | ☺ |
| ★ | Star | — (2605, Alt+X) | U+2605 | ★ |
| ✓ | Check mark | — (2713, Alt+X) | U+2713 | ✓ |
How to type symbol alt codes on Windows
- Turn on Num Lock.
- Hold the Alt key.
- Type the decimal code on the numeric keypad, not the top row.
- Release Alt. The character appears.
The leading zero is not decoration. It picks the character table. Alt+0169 reads from Windows-1252, the modern set, and gives © on every machine. Drop the zero and Alt+169 reads from your system’s OEM code page instead, so it gives ⌐ on a US (CP437) computer but ® on UK, Irish, Canadian, and Australian ones (CP850). Same for Alt+0151, which is a reliable em dash, versus Alt+151, which varies by region. For anything going into a document, use the leading-zero form.
No numeric keypad? The codes will not fire from the top-row numbers. Use the emoji panel with Win+. or open Character Map (search “charmap”). More options are in the guide to Alt key commands on Windows.
Mac: Option keys and the Character Viewer
Mac has no Alt codes. It uses Option combinations: Option+G for ©, Option+R for ®, Option+2 for ™, Option+Shift+8 for °, Option+Shift+2 for € on a US layout. For everything else, open the Character Viewer with Ctrl+Cmd+Space, search by name, and double-click. Full details are in how to use Alt codes on a Mac.
Word, Outlook, and OneNote: the Alt+X trick
Type the hex code, then press Alt+X. Type 20AC, hit Alt+X, and it flips to €. This is how you reach symbols with no numpad Alt code, like ✓ (type 2713) or ★ (type 2605). It also works in Outlook and OneNote. The Insert → Symbol dialog is the menu route, and the same Insert → Symbol path works in PowerPoint. To pin a symbol to a short abbreviation, add it under File → Options → Proofing → AutoCorrect. For colour emoji specifically, see how to insert emojis in Microsoft Word. Alt+X does not work in Excel, PowerPoint, or Google Docs.
Excel and Google Sheets
Windows Alt codes work inside Excel cells. Alt+X does not. For anything above the keyboard, use =UNICHAR() with the decimal code point: =UNICHAR(8364) returns €, =UNICHAR(169) returns ©. Insert → Symbol is also available.
Google Sheets has no Insert Symbol menu at all, whatever competitor pages claim. Use =UNICHAR(8364), or paste, or type the symbol elsewhere and copy it in. If you want an OS input method inside a cell, press F2 first to enter edit mode.
Google Docs
Insert → Special characters. Type the name in the search box, or draw the shape in the sketch pad and Docs matches it. No Alt codes here.
iPhone and Android
Phones have no Alt codes. Long-press a key for its variants: hold the $ for other currencies, hold the hyphen for the dashes. Use the emoji keyboard for hearts, stars, and arrows. To make one symbol permanent, add a text replacement (iOS: Settings → General → Keyboard → Text Replacement; Android: your keyboard’s dictionary), so a short trigger expands to the glyph.
Chromebook
ChromeOS has no Alt code subsystem, and a USB numpad will not add one, because the feature is Windows software, not keypad hardware. Instead press Ctrl+Shift+U, type the hex code, then Enter or Space. An underlined u confirms you are in input mode. Type the digits only, with no U+ prefix. The picker at Launcher+Shift+Space is the backup, and some web fields swallow the shortcut, in which case paste.
Notion, Slack, Discord, and Canva
None of these have a symbol keyboard shortcut. Paste is the reliable route. Slack and Discord read :shortcodes: for emoji, so :heart: becomes ❤, but arbitrary symbols still need a paste. In Notion and Canva, paste once and reuse. To stop re-pasting, set an OS-level text replacement and let it work in every app.
HTML and CSS
HTML takes named or numeric entities: ©, or © (decimal), or © (hex, note the x). CSS uses a backslash hex escape in generated content, with no ampersand and no U+: content: "\20AC";. Keep entities to genuinely web-facing markup; in a normal page body the character itself is fine in UTF-8.
When an Alt code fails
- Wrong character appears. You dropped or added a leading zero. Alt+0151 is an em dash; Alt+151 is not.
- Nothing happens. Num Lock is off, or the laptop has no numeric keypad, or you used the top-row numbers.
- Codes above 255 do nothing. Standard Alt input tops out unless you enable hex numpad in the registry. Skip the hassle: use Alt+X in Word or paste.
- Box, question mark, or a different glyph shows. The current font lacks that character. Switch to a broad Unicode font such as Segoe UI Symbol or Arial Unicode MS.
- Regional mismatch. A zero-less high code that works on your US machine can produce a different character on a UK or Australian one. The leading-zero form is safe everywhere.
Where these symbols show up
Currency marks in invoices and price lists. Degree, plus-minus, and micro in lab notes and specs. Copyright, registered, and trademark in footers and packaging. Em dash, en dash, and curly quotes in clean typesetting. Arrows, checks, and stars in slides, checklists, and ratings.
Related guides
- Browse more general symbol guides.
- Copy and paste special characters: the full list for when typing is slower than clicking.
- Keyboard shortcuts for symbols: full cheat sheet for the non-Alt routes.