The omega symbol is Ω. On a Mac, press Option+Z; on Windows, type 03A9 then press Alt+X in Word, or hold Alt and type 937 on the numeric keypad in any Unicode-aware app. Ω is the last letter of the Greek alphabet and the sign for electrical resistance in ohms.
Here’s every reliable way to type it, with decimal and hex kept separate so nothing gets crossed:
| Method | Input | Works in |
|---|---|---|
| Mac shortcut | Option + Z | Most Mac apps |
| Windows, Unicode apps | 03A9 then Alt+X in Word (decimal) | Word, WordPad, other Unicode-aware apps |
| Windows, legacy US | Alt+0234 (CP437) | US code-page apps — see note below |
| Word / Outlook / OneNote | 03A9 (hex) then Alt+X | Word, Outlook, OneNote |
| Excel & Google Sheets | =UNICHAR(937) | Excel, Google Sheets |
| Chromebook / Linux | Ctrl+Shift+U then 03a9 (hex) | ChromeOS, Linux |
| HTML (named) | Ω | Web pages |
| HTML (numeric) | Ω (decimal) or Ω (hex) | Web pages |
| CSS escape | \03A9 (hex) | Stylesheets |
| LaTeX | \Omega | LaTeX, MathJax |
| Unicode code point | U+03A9 | Universal reference |
Type the omega symbol on Windows
Windows has no omega in its standard Western (CP1252) character set, so the leading-zero Alt codes that make € or © don’t reach it. Two Alt routes still work, and both need the numeric keypad on the right of a full-size keyboard — the top number row won’t trigger them. If you type symbols often, our Alt code finder lists them all in one place.
03A9 then Alt+X in Word in Unicode-aware apps
- Click where you want Ω.
- Hold Alt.
- Type 937 on the numeric keypad.
- Release Alt.
This works in Word, WordPad, and other apps that read Unicode. Some older text boxes ignore it; if nothing appears, use the Word method or the copy button above.
Alt+0234 on US machines only
On a US Windows machine, holding Alt and typing 234 pulls Ω from the old CP437 code page. The catch: machines set to the UK, Ireland, Canada, or Australia default to CP850, where 234 produces Û instead. Outside the US, skip this code and use 03A9 then Alt+X in Word or the Word method.
Character Map (no keypad)
- Open the Start menu, type Character Map, and open it.
- Tick Advanced view at the bottom.
- In the search box type omega and click Search.
- Double-click Ω, click Copy, then paste with Ctrl+V.
The emoji panel (Win + .) is fast for emoji, but Greek letters aren’t reliably browsable there, so Character Map is the sure thing.
Type Ω on a Mac
Press Option+Z. On the standard US layout that types Ω straight away, and it works in Pages, Mail, TextEdit, Notes, and most other apps, no code, no keypad. Mac has no Alt codes, so this is the shortcut to remember.
If your keyboard layout maps Option+Z to something else, open the Character Viewer with Control+Command+Space, type omega in its search box, and double-click Ω to insert it.
Type Ω in Word and PowerPoint
Alt+X in Word, Outlook, and OneNote
Type 03A9, then press Alt+X. Word swaps the four characters for Ω on the spot. The same trick works in Outlook and OneNote, but not in PowerPoint, Excel, or Google Docs. Alt+X is a Word-family feature.
Insert Symbol in Word and PowerPoint
- Go to Insert → Symbol → More Symbols.
- Set the subset to Greek and Coptic, or type 03A9 in the Character code box with “from: Unicode (hex)”.
- Select Ω and click Insert.
The same Insert → Symbol route works in PowerPoint, which has no Alt+X of its own. To make Ω appear automatically, open File → Options → Proofing → AutoCorrect Options, put a trigger like omega in the Replace box and Ω in the With box, then click Add.
Type Ω in Excel and Google Sheets
Neither spreadsheet uses an Alt code, but both share one formula: put =UNICHAR(937) in a cell and press Enter to return Ω. To fold it into a label, use ="Resistance: "&UNICHAR(937).
Excel also has the same Insert → Symbol dialog as Word. Google Sheets has no Insert Symbol menu at all, so the formula or a paste is your route, and inside a Sheets cell, press F2 to enter edit mode before pasting or using any OS-level input method.
Type Ω in Google Docs
Google Docs has a built-in picker with no Alt-code support. Open Insert → Special characters, then either search omega in the box or draw the shape in the sketch pad on the right. Click Ω to drop it at the cursor.
Type Ω on iPhone and Android
Phones have no Alt codes, and Ω isn’t on the default English keyboard. The lasting fix is a text replacement so a short trigger expands to Ω everywhere you type.
- iPhone: Settings → General → Keyboard → Text Replacement → +. Put Ω in Phrase and omega in Shortcut. Adding a Greek keyboard under Keyboards → Add New Keyboard also puts the capital omega on its own layout.
- Android (Gboard): open Gboard settings → Dictionary → Personal dictionary → English → +, enter Ω, and set a shortcut like omega. Adding Greek as a Gboard language gives you the letter directly.
On either phone you can also just tap the copy button near the top of this page and paste.
Type Ω on a Chromebook
ChromeOS has no Alt codes, and a USB numpad won’t change that — Alt codes are Windows software, not keypad hardware. Use the Unicode shortcut instead.
- Place the cursor where you need Ω.
- Press Ctrl+Shift+U. A small underlined u appears.
- Type 03a9, the hex code only, no U+ prefix.
- Press Enter or Space to confirm.
You can also open the built-in picker with Launcher+Shift+Space (a dedicated Quick Insert key on newer Chromebooks). If a website’s text box swallows Ctrl+Shift+U, paste Ω instead.
Type Ω in Notion, Slack, Discord, and Canva
None of these has a symbol shortcut for Ω, so the reliable move is to paste it, copy from the button above once, then paste wherever you need it. To make it permanent, set an operating-system text replacement (the iPhone, Windows, or Mac trick above) so a trigger like omega expands to Ω inside every app.
Notion has one extra option: type an inline equation (press /inline equation or wrap text in $ $), then type \Omega to render Ω. Slack and Discord have no built-in omega shortcode, and Canva has no special-character menu, so paste is the answer in all three.
Put Ω on a web page with HTML and CSS
In HTML, use the named entity Ω or the numeric forms Ω (decimal) and Ω (hex, note the x). Case matters: Ω is the capital Ω, while ω is the small ω, so don’t mix them up.
For CSS generated content, escape the hex code point: content: '\03A9';. The full symbol Alt code list has the same entity-and-escape set for the other Greek letters.
When Ω looks wrong or won’t type
Two near-identical characters cause most of the trouble: the Greek capital letter omega Ω (U+03A9) and the ohm sign Ω (U+2126). They look the same in almost every font. Unicode treats U+03A9 as the preferred character even for the electrical unit, and U+2126 normalizes to it, so use the Greek omega — everything in this guide, unless a specific legacy system demands the ohm sign.
If Alt+0234 gives you Û instead of Ω, your machine is on the CP850 code page (common in the UK, Ireland, Canada, and Australia). Switch to 03A9 then Alt+X in Word in a Unicode app, the Word Alt+X method, or paste.
If Ω shows as □ or ? , the current font has no Greek glyph, rare, but it happens with decorative and icon fonts.
Switch to Arial, Calibri, Times New Roman, or Segoe UI, all of which include it. And remember Ω is not a capital Latin O or a zero, so if a search or code comparison fails, check you didn’t type one of those by mistake.
What Ω is used for
In electronics and physics, Ω is the ohm, the unit of electrical resistance, a 100 Ω resistor, for example. Physics also uses it for solid angle and angular frequency, and computer science uses big-Omega (Ω) for an algorithm’s asymptotic lower bound. As the last letter of the Greek alphabet, it stands for “the end” in the phrase Alpha and Omega.
Related guides
Ω is one of several Greek letters that come up in technical writing. If you also need the Pi symbol (π), the Sigma symbol (Σ), or the Delta symbol (Δ), each has its own guide with the same platform-by-platform codes.
For temperature work alongside your resistance figures, see how to type the degree Celsius symbol (℃) and the degree Fahrenheit symbol (℉). For the wider set, browse more math and science symbol guides.
Frequently asked questions
How do I type a lowercase omega (ω)?
The small omega ω is a separate character, U+03C9. In Word, type 03C9 and press Alt+X. In a spreadsheet, use =UNICHAR(969).
On a Chromebook, press Ctrl+Shift+U and type 03c9. Mac’s Option+Z gives only the capital Ω, so for ω use the Character Viewer or paste it.
Why won’t the omega Alt code work on my laptop?
Alt codes need a real numeric keypad, and most laptops don’t have one, the top-row numbers won’t trigger them. Either turn on the embedded numpad with Fn plus the overlaid keys (often around the J, K, L cluster), use Word’s 03A9 then Alt+X, or copy Ω from the button above.
Does the omega symbol have a colour emoji version?
No. Ω is a plain text letter, not an emoji, so it renders as the same monochrome glyph on a phone and a laptop. There are no colour or variation-selector versions, which is why you won’t find it among the emoji keyboard’s smiley tabs, look under symbols or add a Greek keyboard instead.
What’s the LaTeX command for a lowercase versus capital omega?
Use \Omega for the capital Ω and \omega for the small ω, both inside math mode (between $ signs or in an equation environment). Outside math mode they won’t compile. The uppercase command is capitalised; the lowercase one is not.
How do I insert Ω into a Gmail message?
Gmail has no symbol picker. The quickest way is to copy Ω from the button above and paste it into the message. If you write in Google Docs often, insert it there with Insert → Special characters, then paste the result into your email.