Infinity Symbol (∞) — Type It on Any Keyboard

The infinity symbol is ∞. On a Mac, press Option+5.

On Windows there’s no Alt code in the standard Western set, so in Word type 221E then press Alt+X, or in a Unicode-aware app hold Alt and type 8734 on the numeric keypad. Anywhere else, copy it from the button below.

Infinity symbol: every code at a glance

Method	Input	Works in
Mac shortcut	Option + 5	Most Mac apps
Windows Alt code (decimal)	221E then Alt+X in Word (numeric keypad)	Word, WordPad, Unicode-aware apps
Legacy DOS Alt code	Alt+0236	Code page 437 only (see note)
Word / Outlook / OneNote (hex)	221E then Alt+X	Word, Outlook, OneNote
Excel & Google Sheets	=UNICHAR(8734)	Spreadsheet cells
Chromebook / Linux (hex)	Ctrl+Shift+U then 221e	ChromeOS, Linux
HTML entity	∞ or ∞	Web pages
CSS escape (hex)	\221E	Stylesheets
LaTeX	\infty	Math typesetting
Unicode code point (hex)	U+221E	Universal

Two numbers, two jobs. Alt codes take the decimal value 8734.

The hex value 221E is for Word’s Alt+X, the Chromebook Ctrl+Shift+U method, CSS, and the U+ code point. Don’t feed 8734 into Alt+X, and don’t feed 221E into an Alt code, or you’ll get the wrong character or nothing at all.

Windows

There’s no Alt code for ∞ in Windows-1252, the modern Western character set, so the familiar Alt+0xxx form doesn’t exist for this glyph. Two routes work instead, plus a legacy one to avoid.

1. In a Unicode-aware app such as Word or WordPad, hold Alt and type 8734 on the numeric keypad, then release Alt. The keypad matters: the number row across the top won’t do it, and a laptop without a keypad needs one of the other methods.
2. Open the emoji and symbol panel with Win + . (period), click the symbols tab (the Ω icon), and pick ∞ from the math operators. This works in almost any text box.
3. Open Character Map from the Start menu, search “infinity”, select ∞, and copy.

An older code, Alt+0236, produces ∞ on machines using code page 437, the US default. On systems set to code page 850 (common in the UK, Ireland, Canada, and Australia) the same keys can give a different character, so skip it for anything you plan to share. If you hunt symbols this way often, our Alt code finder lists the values that actually work.

Mac

Press Option + 5. It works in Pages, TextEdit, Mail, Notes, and browser fields. If a different character appears, your input source may be remapped, so switch to U.S. or ABC under System Settings → Keyboard.

For a menu route, open Character Viewer with Control + Command + Space, type “infinity” in the search box, and double-click ∞.

Word, Outlook, OneNote, and PowerPoint

1. Type 221E, then press Alt+X. Word swaps the code for ∞. No numeric keypad needed, and the same trick runs in Outlook and OneNote.
2. Or go to Insert → Symbol → More Symbols, set the subset to Mathematical Operators, and choose ∞. You can also type 221E in the “Character code” box to jump straight to it. This Insert → Symbol dialog is identical in PowerPoint, so use it there.
3. To type it by name, add an AutoCorrect entry under File → Options → Proofing → AutoCorrect Options, mapping something like “inf8” to ∞.

Alt+X is a Word-family trick only. It does nothing in Excel, PowerPoint, or Google Docs, so reach for Insert → Symbol in PowerPoint and the methods below elsewhere.

Excel and Google Sheets

=UNICHAR(8734) returns ∞ in a cell, in both Excel and Google Sheets. Excel also offers Insert → Symbol, the same dialog as Word. Google Sheets has no Insert Symbol menu at all, so the formula or a paste is your route.

If you paste into a cell or use an OS input method, press F2 first to enter edit mode. Because =UNICHAR(8734) gives a live symbol, you can join it to text, for example =”0 to “&UNICHAR(8734).

Google Docs

Go to Insert → Special characters. Type “infinity” in the search box, or draw the lemniscate in the sketch pad on the right, then click the ∞ result. There’s no Alt code or Alt+X path here.

For equations, use Insert → Equation, type \infty, and press the space bar. It converts to ∞ inside the math field.

iPhone and Android

Neither stock keyboard has an ∞ key. Copy the symbol from the button near the top of this page, or set up a shortcut so you never paste again.

• iPhone: Settings → General → Keyboard → Text Replacement, tap +, put ∞ in “Phrase” and something like “infsym” in “Shortcut.”
• Android (Gboard): Settings → System → Languages & input → On-screen keyboard → Gboard → Dictionary → Personal dictionary, then add ∞ with a shortcut like “infsym.”

After that, typing your shortcut offers ∞ as a suggestion in any app.

Chromebook

Press Ctrl + Shift + U, release, then type 221e and press Enter or Space. A small underlined u shows while you type the code. Use the hex value only, with no U+ prefix.

Newer Chromebooks add a Quick Insert key, or you can open the picker with Launcher + Shift + Space and search “infinity.” If a web field grabs the shortcut before ChromeOS does, paste instead.

Notion, Slack, Discord, and Canva

None of these have a built-in shortcut for ∞, so paste it, or lean on the phone and OS text replacement above to make it automatic.

• Notion: for math, add an equation block with /equation and type \infty for a properly rendered ∞.
• Slack and Discord: no symbol shortcut, so paste, or save ∞ as an OS text replacement.
• Canva: paste into a text box. If it shows as a box, the chosen font lacks the glyph, so switch to a standard font.

HTML and CSS

• HTML: ∞ (named), ∞ (decimal), or ∞ (hex). All three render ∞.
• CSS generated content: content: "\221E"; (a backslash plus the hex value, no ampersand or semicolon).
• LaTeX and MathJax: \infty, used in math mode.

When the infinity symbol won’t show up

An empty box (□) or a question mark means the current font has no ∞. It’s included in Arial, Calibri, Segoe UI, Times New Roman, and Cambria Math, so switch to one of those. Decorative and icon fonts often drop it.

If 221E then Alt+X in Word does nothing, the app isn’t Unicode-aware for that input, or you used the top-row numbers instead of the keypad. Use a real numeric keypad, switch to Word’s 221E then Alt+X, or just paste.

Don’t confuse ∞ with ∝, the “proportional to” sign, which has an open curl on the right. And a digit 8 turned on its side is still the number 8, not a symbol, so always insert the real ∞ (U+221E).

Where the infinity symbol is used

The infinity sign shows up in calculus for limits and unbounded ranges, as in x → ∞, and across set theory and cardinality. It marks the focus setting on camera lenses and the “open circuit” reading on a multimeter, where resistance is effectively infinite.

Spreadsheets and code use it to flag an overflow or a value with no ceiling. Outside math, the lemniscate turns up on jewelry and logos to mean “forever.”

Related guides

If you’re building equations, these cover the symbols that usually appear alongside ∞:

• Square Root Symbol (√): How to Type It in Word & Excel
• How to Type the Cube Root Symbol (∛) Fast
• Theta Symbol (θ) — Type It on Any Keyboard
• How to Type the Beta Symbol (β) Fast
• Psi Symbol (ψ): How to Type It in Word & Excel

You can also browse the full Math & Science symbol category or keep the complete Alt code list handy for everything else.

Frequently asked questions

Why does 221E then Alt+X in Word do nothing in Notepad or a web form?

That Alt-plus-decimal method only works in apps that accept Unicode input this way, like Word and WordPad. Classic Notepad, many browser fields, and some chat boxes ignore it or wrap the number. When it fails, paste the symbol or use Word’s 221E then Alt+X and copy the result across.

Is the infinity symbol just a sideways number 8?

It looks like one, but ∞ is its own character (U+221E), often called a lemniscate. A rotated digit 8 is still the number 8 and won’t be treated as a math symbol, so always insert the real ∞ rather than faking the shape.

How do I type infinity on a laptop with no numeric keypad?

The 221E then Alt+X in Word route needs a real keypad, and there’s no Windows-1252 code for ∞ anyway. On a laptop, use Word’s 221E then Alt+X, open the emoji and symbol panel with Win + . and grab it from the math tab, or copy it from the top of this page.

Why does the infinity symbol look different on my phone than on my computer?

The plain ∞ (U+221E) has no emoji version, so it stays monochrome text on every device and only changes with the font. If you’re seeing a rounded, coloured infinity, you’ve typed the separate infinity emoji ♾️, which is a different character, not the one in this guide.

Can I type \infty outside a math environment in LaTeX?

No. \infty only works in math mode, so wrap it in $ . . .

$ or an equation environment. Outside math mode LaTeX throws an error, and the same rule applies in MathJax and KaTeX-based tools like Notion equations.