Special Characters

From Luke Jackson

Tip sheet on special characters

On MacOS, the option key functions as a modifier key like the shift key. Hold it down and press another key simultaneously. For option - shift, hold down both the option and shift keys and press another key simultaneously.

On Windows, the Alt key functions as a modifier like the shift key. To make special characters, hold down the Alt key and type in the numbers from the numeric keypad.

   (Note: I’m mentioning a useful little program because I use it at home on my Macintosh and a Windows machine and it helps you find a special character when you forget the key combination for it. Here’s how the author describes it:

   If you don’t want to remember all these numbers, you should try the little shareware utility PopChar from ergonis software. One click, and PopChar displays a table of all characters of the current font. Select the desired character and it instantly appears in your document. You can also insert HTML symbols. PopChar is available for Mac OS 9, Mac OS X, and Windows.)

For posters at the Straight Dope Message Board: You can type in the HTML number code in your post, and after you submit your post the corresponding special character will appear. In an older version of the message board software you could type in the HTML name code, but that doesn’t seem to work with the current version of the board software. (For more HTML number codes, see Character entity references in HTML 4 HTML Name Code HTML Number Code Glyph MacOS Windows Description ‘ ‘ ‘ option - ] Alt + 0145 left single quote ’ ’ ’ option - shift - ] Alt + 0146 right single quote ‚ ‚ ‚ single low-9 quote “ “ “ option - [ Alt + 0147 left double quote ” ” ” option - shift - [ Alt + 0148 right double quote „ „ „ option - shift - w double low-9 quote † † † option - t Alt + 0134 dagger ‡ ‡ ‡ option - shift - 7 Alt + 0135 double dagger

 	… 	… 	option - ; 	  	horizontal ellipsis

‰ ‰ ‰ option - shift - r Alt + 0137 per mill sign ‹ ‹ ‹ option - shift - 3 Alt + 0139 single left-pointing angle quote › › › option - shift - 4 Alt + 0155 single right-pointing angle quote ♠ ♠ ♠ black spade suit ♣ ♣ ♣ black club suit ♥ ♥ ♥ black heart suit ♦ ♦ ♦ black diamond suit ‾ ‾ ‾ overline, = spacing overscore ← ← ← leftward arrow ↑ ↑ ↑ upward arrow → → → rightward arrow ↓ ↓ ↓ downward arrow ™ ™ ™ option - 2 Alt + 0153 trademark sign " " " double quotation mark & & & ampersand < < < less-than sign > > > greater-than sign [ [ left square bracket ] ] right square bracket – – – option - hyphen Alt + 0150 en dash — — — option - shift -hyphen Alt + 0151 em dash     Alt + 0160 nonbreaking space ¡ ¡ ¡ option - 1 Alt + 0161 inverted exclamation ¢ ¢ ¢ option - 4 Alt + 0162 cent sign £ £ £ option - 3 Alt + 0163 pound sterling ¤ ¤ ¤ Alt + 0164 general currency sign ¥ ¥ ¥ option - y Alt + 0165 yen sign ¦ or &brkbar; ¦ ¦ Alt + 0166 broken vertical bar § § § option - 6 Alt + 0167 section sign ¨ or &die; ¨ ¨ option - shift - u Alt + 0168 umlaut © © © option - g Alt + 0169 copyright ª ª ª option - 9 Alt + 0170 feminine ordinal « « «  option - \ Alt + 0171 left angle quote ¬ ¬ ¬ option - l Alt + 0172 not sign ­ ­ ­ Alt + 0173 soft hyphen ® ® ® option - r Alt + 0174 registered trademark ¯ or &hibar; ¯ ¯ Alt + 0175 macron accent ° ° ° option - shift - 8 Alt + 0176 degree sign ± ± ± option - shift - = Alt + 0177 plus or minus ² ² ² Alt + 0178 superscript two ³ ³ ³ Alt + 0179 superscript three ´ ´ ´ option - shift - e Alt + 0180 acute accent µ µ µ option - m Alt + 0181 micro sign ¶ ¶ ¶ option - 7 Alt + 0182 paragraph sign · · · option - shift - 9 Alt + 0183 middle dot ¸ ¸ ¸ option - shift - z Alt + 0184 cedilla ¹ ¹ ¹ Alt + 0185 superscript one º º º option - 0 Alt + 0186 masculine ordinal » » » option - shift - \ Alt + 0187 right angle quote ¼ ¼ ¼ Alt + 0188 one-fourth ½ ½ ½ Alt + 0189 one-half ¾ ¾ ¾ Alt + 0190 three-fourths ¿ ¿ ¿ option - shift - ? Alt + 0191 inverted question mark À À À option - ` A Alt + 0192 uppercase A, grave accent Á Á Á option - e A Alt + 0193 uppercase A, acute accent    option - i A Alt + 0194 uppercase A, circumflex accent à à à option - n A Alt + 0195 uppercase A, tilde Ä Ä Ä option - u A Alt + 0196 uppercase A, umlaut Å Å Å option - shift - a Alt + 0197 uppercase A, ring Æ Æ Æ option - shift - ' Alt + 0198 uppercase AE Ç Ç Ç option - shift - c Alt + 0199 uppercase C, cedilla È È È option - ` E Alt + 0200 uppercase E, grave accent É É É option - e E Alt + 0201 uppercase E, acute accent Ê Ê Ê option - i E Alt + 0202 uppercase E, circumflex accent Ë Ë Ë option - u E Alt + 0203 uppercase E, umlaut Ì Ì Ì option - ` I Alt + 0204 uppercase I, grave accent Í Í Í option - e I Alt + 0205 uppercase I, acute accent Î Î Î option - i I Alt + 0206 uppercase I, circumflex accent Ï Ï Ï option - u I Alt + 0207 uppercase I, umlaut Ð Ð Ð Alt + 0208 uppercase Eth, Icelandic Ñ Ñ Ñ option - n N Alt + 0209 uppercase N, tilde Ò Ò Ò option - ` O Alt + 0210 uppercase O, grave accent Ó Ó Ó option - e O Alt + 0211 uppercase O, acute accent Ô Ô Ô option - i O Alt + 0212 uppercase O, circumflex accent Õ Õ Õ option - n O Alt + 0213 uppercase O, tilde Ö Ö Ö option - u O Alt + 0214 uppercase O, umlaut × × × Alt + 0215 multiplication sign Ø Ø Ø option - shift - o Alt + 0216 uppercase O, slash Ù Ù Ù option - ` U Alt + 0217 uppercase U, grave accent Ú Ú Ú option - e U Alt + 0218 uppercase U, acute accent Û Û Û option - i U Alt + 0219 uppercase U, circumflex accent Ü Ü Ü option - u U Alt + 0220 uppercase U, umlaut Ý Ý Ý Alt + 0221 uppercase Y, acute accent Þ Þ Þ Alt + 0222 uppercase THORN, Icelandic ß ß ß option - s Alt + 0223 lowercase sharps, German à à à option - ` a Alt + 0224 lowercase a, grave accent á á á option - e a Alt + 0225 lowercase a, acute accent â â â option - i a Alt + 0226 lowercase a, circumflex accent ã ã ã option - n a Alt + 0227 lowercase a, tilde ä ä ä option - u a Alt + 0228 lowercase a, umlaut å å å option - a Alt + 0229 lowercase a, ring æ æ æ option - ' Alt + 0230 lowercase ae ç ç ç option - c Alt + 0231 lowercase c, cedilla è è è option - ` e Alt + 0232 lowercase e, grave accent é é é option - e e Alt + 0233 lowercase e, acute accent ê ê ê option - i e Alt + 0234 lowercase e, circumflex accent ë ë ë option - u e Alt + 0235 lowercase e, umlaut ì ì ì option - ` i Alt + 0236 lowercase i, grave accent í í í option - e i Alt + 0237 lowercase i, acute accent î î î option - i i Alt + 0238 lowercase i, circumflex accent ï ï ï option - u i Alt + 0239 lowercase i, umlaut ð ð ð Alt + 0240 lowercase eth, Icelandic ñ ñ ñ option - n n Alt + 0241 lowercase n, tilde ò ò ò option - ` o Alt + 0242 lowercase o, grave accent ó ó ó option - e o Alt + 0243 lowercase o, acute accent ô ô ô option - i o Alt + 0244 lowercase o, circumflex accent õ õ õ option - n o Alt + 0245 lowercase o, tilde ö ö ö option - u o Alt + 0246 lowercase o, umlaut ÷ ÷ ÷ Alt + 0247 division sign ø ø ø option - o Alt + 0248 lowercase o, slash ù ù ù option - ` u Alt + 0249 lowercase u, grave accent ú ú ú option - e u Alt + 0250 lowercase u, acute accent û û û option - i u Alt + 0251 lowercase u, circumflex accent ü ü ü option - u u Alt + 0252 lowercase u, umlaut ý ý ý Alt + 0253 lowercase y, acute accent þ þ þ Alt + 0254 lowercase thorn, Icelandic ÿ ÿ ÿ option - u y Alt + 0255 lowercase y, umlaut