Πis the Latin capital OE ligature. On Windows, hold Alt and type 0140 on the numeric keypad, then release.
Mac has no Alt code for it, so open Character Viewer with Ctrl+Cmd+Space and search OE. In Microsoft Word, type 0152 and press Alt+X. The lowercase form is œ.
That covers the fast paths. Below is every verified method for the oe ligature across Windows, Mac, Office, Google, mobile, Chromebook, and the web, plus what to do when the glyph shows up as a box or a plain OE.
Πtyping methods at a glance
The Alt codes below are decimal, entered on the numeric keypad. The Word and Chromebook methods take the hexadecimal value 0152. Do not mix them: 0152 is hex, 338 is decimal, and both point to the same character by different routes.
| Method | Input | Works in |
|---|---|---|
| Windows Alt code (decimal) | Alt + 0140 | Most Windows apps |
| Unicode-aware Alt code (decimal) | Alt+0140 | Word, WordPad, apps with Unicode Alt input |
| Word Alt+X (hex) | 0152 then Alt+X | Word, Outlook, OneNote |
| Chromebook / Linux (hex) | Ctrl+Shift+U 0152 | ChromeOS, Linux |
| Excel / Sheets formula | =UNICHAR(338) | Excel, Google Sheets |
| HTML numeric | Πor Π| Web pages |
| CSS escape | \0152 | Stylesheets, generated content |
| Mac | Character Viewer (Ctrl+Cmd+Space) | Most Mac apps |
| Unicode code point | U+0152 | Universal reference |
Πhas no named HTML entity, so use the numeric form. It also has no legacy DOS (CP437) Alt code, which is why the zero-less Alt+140 does not give you the ligature. Use Alt+0140, with the leading zero, every time.
Type Πon Windows
- Make sure Num Lock is on.
- Hold the Alt key.
- Type 0140 on the numeric keypad.
- Release Alt. Πappears.
Alt codes need a real numeric keypad, not the number row across the top. On a laptop without one, use the emoji and symbol panel instead: press Win+.
(period), then search OE. Character Map (search “charmap” in the Start menu) is the other built-in fallback: find Œ, click Select, then Copy.
The leading zero matters. Alt+0140 reads from the modern Windows-1252 table and gives Œ.
The zero-less Alt+140 reads from your machine’s OEM code page, which is CP437 in the US and CP850 across the UK, Ireland, Canada, and Australia, so it produces a different character depending on the reader’s region. Stick with the zero form.
Type Πon Mac
Mac does not use Alt codes, and there is no single Option shortcut for Πon the standard US layout. The reliable route is Character Viewer.
- Press Ctrl+Cmd+Space to open Character Viewer.
- Type OE or “ligature” in the search box.
- Double-click Πto insert it at the cursor.
If you type Œ often, add it under System Settings, Keyboard, Text Replacements. Map a trigger like “oeL” to Œ and it expands system-wide.
Type Πin Word, Outlook, and OneNote
Word has the quickest method of any app. Type the hex code 0152, then press Alt+X. Word converts it into Œ. Press Alt+X again immediately after the character to toggle it back to the code if you need to check it.
You can also go to Insert, then Symbol, then More Symbols, and search the character code 0152. The same Alt+X trick and Insert menu work in Outlook and OneNote. They do not work in Excel, PowerPoint, or Google Docs, so do not carry the Alt+X habit into those apps.
Type Πin Excel, PowerPoint, and Google Sheets
Excel has no Alt+X. Use the formula =UNICHAR(338) in a cell, which returns Œ. To keep the letter as text rather than a live formula, copy the cell and paste it back as values. Insert, then Symbol also works if you prefer a menu.
PowerPoint uses the same Insert, then Symbol route as Word, minus the Alt+X shortcut. Google Sheets has no Insert Symbol menu at all.
Use =UNICHAR(338), or paste Πin from elsewhere. Inside a Sheets cell, press F2 to enter edit mode before using any OS-level input method.
Type Πin Google Docs
- Open Insert, then Special characters.
- Type OE or “ligature” in the search field, or draw the shape in the sketch box.
- Click Πto drop it at the cursor.
Docs also has its own text substitution under Tools, then Preferences, if you want a short trigger to expand into Πautomatically.
Type Πon iPhone and Android
On iPhone, press and hold the O key to see accented and ligature variants, then slide to Πif your keyboard offers it. If it is not in the pop-up, set up a shortcut under Settings, General, Keyboard, Text Replacement: type Πonce in the Phrase field and give it a short trigger.
Android with Gboard works the same way: long-press O for variants, and use Settings, System, Languages and input, Personal dictionary to add a shortcut. When the character is not offered by the keyboard, pasting Πonce and saving a replacement is the fastest permanent fix on both platforms.
Type Πon Chromebook
ChromeOS has no Alt codes, and adding a USB numpad does not change that, because Alt codes are Windows software rather than keypad hardware. Use the Unicode shortcut instead.
- Hold Ctrl+Shift+U. An underlined u appears.
- Type 0152 (the code only, no U+ prefix).
- Press Enter or Space. Πappears.
You can also open the symbol picker with Launcher+Shift+Space; newer Chromebooks have a dedicated Quick Insert key. Some web text fields swallow Ctrl+Shift+U, so if nothing happens, paste the character instead.
Type Πin Notion, Slack, Discord, and Canva
None of these has a built-in shortcut for Œ, and Discord’s :emoji: system does not cover it. Paste the glyph from the copy button at the top of this page. To make it permanent, lean on the OS layer: a Mac or Windows text replacement, or an iOS/Android shortcut, will expand a trigger into Œ inside any of these apps.
Slack’s own text replacements only cover its emoji shortcodes, so the system-level replacement is the more reliable choice across all four.
Type Πon the web with HTML and CSS
There is no named entity for this character, so use the numeric reference: Πin decimal or Πin hexadecimal. Note the x that marks the hex form. In CSS content values, escape it as \0152.
Serving the page as UTF-8 lets you paste the raw Πstraight into your markup, which is easier to read than the numeric entity. Both approaches render identically.
Precomposed character vs OE typed as two letters
Πis a single Unicode code point (U+0152), not the letter O followed by the letter E. That distinction is invisible on screen but changes how software treats the text.
Search and sorting are where it shows up. A search for “coeur” may or may not match “cœur,” depending on whether the system normalizes the ligature to the two letters OE. Some databases and filename systems fold Œ to OE automatically; others keep them distinct, so two files that look the same can sort or match differently.
Forms and logins are the practical trap. If a username or password contains Œ, type it the same way every time, because the ligature and a literal OE are different strings to the server. When in doubt for a machine-read field, spell out OE.
Troubleshooting Œ
- You see a box or a question mark. The current font lacks the glyph. Switch to a broad font like Arial, Calibri, Times New Roman, or Segoe UI. Very old or decorative fonts often skip Œ.
- Alt+0140 does nothing. Num Lock is off, you used the top number row instead of the keypad, or the app does not accept Alt codes. Try Alt+0140 in a Unicode-aware app, or paste instead.
- You got the wrong character. You probably dropped the leading zero. Alt+140 reads from a regional code page and is not Œ. Use Alt+0140.
- It pasted as OE. The destination normalized the ligature, or a paste-as-plain-text step split it. Retype it with a code method if the single character matters.
- Wrong letter on a non-US keyboard. Layout differences move the number and symbol keys. Alt codes still work off the physical keypad, but verify Num Lock and keypad position first.
Where Πis used
Œ appears in French spelling, in words such as cœur, œuvre, bœuf, and sœur, and in the lowercase form œ. It also turns up in Latin and older scientific and typographic text. In English it is mostly a typographic nicety in borrowed words and proper names.
Related symbols
Πgets mixed up with a few other letters that share its rounded shape. If you landed here for one of these instead, here is how they differ.
- The slashed O (Ø) is a single letter with a stroke through it, used in Danish and Norwegian, and it is not a ligature.
- The German sharp S (ß) is another ligature-derived letter, but it stands for a double s sound, not two vowels.
- The Spanish ñ is a base letter plus a tilde, a different kind of combined mark from a ligature.
- The distinction between a diaeresis and an umlaut matters if you are chasing a two-dot accent rather than a joined pair of letters.
Related guides
For a broader walkthrough, read the complete guide to typing accented letters, or browse every accented-letter guide in one place. When you want to click a character straight into your document instead of memorizing codes, the accent keyboard tool has Πand its relatives ready to copy.
Frequently asked questions
How do I type the lowercase œ?
The lowercase ligature is œ, code point U+0153. In Word, type 0153 then press Alt+X. On other platforms, use the same method you would for the capital but with the lowercase code point, or grab it from the accent keyboard tool.
Is Œ the same as the Danish Ø?
No. Œ is a ligature of O and E joined together. Ø is a single O with a diagonal stroke, used in Danish and Norwegian. They look different and carry different code points, so one will not substitute for the other.
Why does searching “coeur” not find “cœur”?
Because some search systems treat the Πligature as a distinct character rather than folding it to the two letters OE. If a site normalizes, both match; if it does not, they are different strings. When exact matching matters, try both spellings.
Why doesn’t Alt+0140 work in Notepad?
The decimal Unicode Alt input (Alt+0140) only works in Unicode-aware apps such as Word or WordPad. In many basic editors it fails. Use Alt+0140 there, or paste the character in.
Does Πneed a special font?
No. Common system fonts like Arial, Calibri, Times New Roman, Georgia, and Segoe UI all include it. Only very old, minimal, or heavily stylized fonts leave it out, in which case it shows as a box.
Is there an Alt+X code that works outside Word?
The 0152 then Alt+X trick is a Word feature that also runs in Outlook and OneNote. It does nothing in Excel, PowerPoint, browsers, or Google Docs. For those, use Alt+0140, =UNICHAR(338), the special-characters menu, or paste.