Copy and Paste Special Characters: The Full List

Special characters are the symbols not printed on your keyboard: bullets, arrows, check marks, stars, boxes, and hundreds more. The fastest way to copy and paste special characters is to click one in the block below, then paste with Ctrl+V on Windows or Cmd+V on Mac. It works in every app.

Below the click-to-copy buttons is one reference table with the Alt code, Unicode point, and HTML entity for the symbols people copy most. After that, the exact steps for each platform, and what to do when a pasted symbol shows up as a box.

Special character quick reference

Alt codes use decimal numbers and need a numeric keypad. Unicode points are written in hex. Do not put a Unicode hex value into an Alt code — they are different numbers for the same character. A dash means there is no reliable Windows-1252 Alt code, so paste it or use the Word method.

One trap in that Alt code column: the leading zero picks the character set. Alt+0149 gives •, but Alt+149 (no zero) reads from an older DOS table and gives a different character, one that also shifts by region. Use the leading-zero form. Full details are in the full Alt code list.

Copy and paste on Windows

1. Highlight the symbol, press Ctrl+C, click where you want it, press Ctrl+V.
2. No source to copy from? Press Win+. (period) to open the emoji and symbol panel, then click the Ω tab for symbols.
3. For the classic route, open Character Map (search charmap), pick a glyph, Select, Copy.

Alt codes are the fourth option, but they only produce the characters that live in the Windows-1252 or DOS tables, arrows, stars, and check marks are not among them. See the guide to Alt key commands or grab any code from the Alt Codes Finder.

Copy and paste on Mac

1. Select the symbol, press Cmd+C, then Cmd+V to paste.
2. For a picker, press Ctrl+Cmd+Space to open the Character Viewer, search by name (type “arrow” or “star”), and double-click to insert.

Mac has no Alt codes. The Windows numbers in the table above will not work here, use Option shortcuts or the Character Viewer instead, covered in Alt codes on a Mac.

Word, Excel, and PowerPoint

Pasting works in all three. Beyond that, each has its own insert route:

• Word: type the Unicode hex (for example 2713) and press Alt+X to swap it for the glyph. Or use Insert → Symbol → More Symbols. Alt+X also works in Outlook and OneNote.
• PowerPoint: the same Insert → Symbol dialog is there. Alt+X does not work in PowerPoint, so use Insert → Symbol or paste.
• Excel: Alt+X does not work here either. Use =UNICHAR(9731) with the decimal code point, or Insert → Symbol.

Google Docs and Sheets

In Google Docs, go to Insert → Special characters and either search by name or draw the shape in the box to find it. Google Sheets has no such menu. Use =UNICHAR(9731) in a cell, paste the character in, or type it elsewhere and copy it across. To use an OS input method inside a cell, press F2 first to enter edit mode.

iPhone and Android

Long-press related keys to reveal variants, hold the hyphen for dashes, hold a currency key for others. For anything not on the keyboard, paste it. To keep a symbol handy, set up a text replacement: iOS under Settings → General → Keyboard → Text Replacement, Android under your keyboard’s dictionary or text-shortcut settings. Assign something like xchk to expand into ✓.

Chromebook

ChromeOS has no Alt codes. Press Ctrl+Shift+U, release, type the hex code (no U+ prefix), then press Enter or Space. An underlined u confirms input mode. You can also open the symbol picker with Launcher+Shift+Space; newer models have a dedicated Quick Insert key. Some web text fields swallow the shortcut — if nothing appears, paste instead.

Notion, Slack, Discord, and Canva

None of these has an Alt code system. The reliable answer is paste, plus a per-app shortcut where one exists:

• Notion: paste, or type / for the insert menu. There is no special-character picker.
• Slack and Discord: paste works. Both also accept emoji shortcodes like :star:, but those insert an emoji, not the plain text glyph.
• Canva: paste into any text box. Canva has no symbol menu of its own.

To stop re-copying the same symbol, save it as a text replacement in your OS. It then expands in every app, including all four above.

HTML and CSS

On a web page, use the entity from the table: named where one exists (•), or numeric in decimal (•) or hex (•, note the x). In CSS content, escape with a backslash and the hex value: content: "\2022";.

When a pasted symbol breaks

• It shows as □ or a box with numbers. The font has no glyph for that character. Switch to a broad font. Segoe UI Symbol, Arial Unicode MS, or Noto, and it appears.
• It shows as ?. The text was saved in a non-Unicode encoding. Save the file as UTF-8.
• A star or checkbox turns colour on your phone but stays black on your laptop. Symbols like ★ and ☑ have an emoji form. The platform decides which to show. Append U+FE0E to force the plain text version, or U+FE0F to force colour.
• Word “corrects” your character. A pasted arrow can trigger AutoCorrect or AutoFormat. Undo once (Ctrl+Z) right after paste to reverse only the correction.

Where these symbols get used

Bullets and dashes structure lists and prose. Arrows show steps and direction in instructions. Check marks, boxes, and crosses build printable checklists and comparison tables. Stars mark ratings. Circles, diamonds, and triangles work as list markers or status dots in documents and slides.

Related guides

• Symbol Alt Codes: The Complete List for Windows — the full pillar reference with every code.
• Keyboard Shortcuts for Symbols: Full Cheat Sheet, type common symbols without copying.
• How to Insert Emojis in Microsoft Word, for colour emoji rather than plain glyphs.
• General Guides, the rest of this category.