How To Type Symbols On Your Mac

There are a lot of symbols that you may want to enter while you are using your Mac. Not all symbols and characters appear on the Apple keyboard. Even though they are not on your keyboard, it does not mean that they don’t exist. Sometimes, however, it can be difficult to find the symbol you need. This article explains how you can easily enter symbols into a document, email, or text message.

There are basically two ways:

1. You can use keyboard combinations (shortcuts).
2. You can also use the Keyboard Character Viewer.

You can also customize your shortcut symbols.

See also: USB Keyboard Not Working On Your Mac?

Foreign characters

Here are some of the most common foreign characters.

Symbol	Description	Shortcut
¡	Upside-down exclamation mark	Option+1
¿	Upside-down question – inverted- mark	Shift+Option+?
Ç,ç	French C cedilla	Shift+Option+C (caps) Option+C (lowercase)
ß	German Sharp/Double S	Option+S
Ø,ø	Nordic O slash	Shift+Option+O (caps) Option+O (lowercase)
Å,å	Nordic A ring	Shift+Option+A (caps) Option+A (lowercase)
« »	Spanish/French quotation marks	Option+\ Shift+Option+\
Ú	Latin uppercase U with acute	Shift+Option+;
Ô	Latin uppercase O with circumflex	Option + Shift + j
Ò	Latin uppercase O with grave	Option + Shift + l
Ï	Latin uppercase I with diaeresis	Option + Shift + f
Â	Latin uppercase A with circumflex	Option + Shift + m
ı	Latin lowercase dotless I	Option + Shift + b
Æ,æ	Latin  Æ	Option + Shift + ‘ (caps) Option + ‘(lowercase)

Currency symbols

Here is how you can enter currency symbols.

Symbol	Description	Shortcut
¢	Cent	Option+4
£	UK Pound	Option+3
¥	Japanese Yen	Option+Y
€	Euro	Shift+Option+2
ƒ	Dutch Florin	Option+F
$	US Dollar	Shift+4

Copyright and trademark symbols

Here is how you can enter the trademark and copyright symbols on your Mac.

Symbol	Description	Shortcut
©	Copyright symbol	Option+G
®	Registered	Option+R
™	Trademark	Option+2
	Apple symbol	Option+Shift+k

Punctuation marks

Here is how you can enter the punctuation marks on your Mac.

Symbol	Description	Shortcut
“	Left double quotation mark	Option+[
”	Right double quotation mark	Option+Shift+[
‘	Left single quotation mark	Option+]
’	Right single quotation mark	Option+Shift+]
„	Double low quotation mark	Option+Shift+w
•	Bullet – dot	Option+8
¶	Paragraph symbol	Option+7
§	Section	Option+6
–	En-dash	Option+-
—	Em-dash	Shift+Option+-

Mathematical symbols

Are you a mathematician? Then following shortcuts are for you.

Symbol	Description	Shortcut
#	Number sign	Option+3
÷	Division	Option+?
≤	Less than or equal to	Option+<
≥	Greater than or equal to	Option+>
^	Circumflex	Option+i
√	Square root	Option+v
≠	Not equal to	Option+=
≈	Almost equal to	Option+x
±	Plus-minus	Option+Shift+=
∞	Infinity	Option+5
ø	Empty set	Option+o
∑	Summation or Sigma	Option+w
ƒ	Function	Option+f
∫	Integral	Option+b
∂	Partial differential	Option+d
‰	Per Mil (1/1000)	Shift+Option+R
µ	Micro	Option+m
Ω	Ohm or omega sign	Option+z
∏	Product Pi Symbol	Shift+Option+p
Δ	Delta/Difference	Option+j
π	Pi symbol	Option+p
°	The degree symbol	Shift+Option+8
¬	Not sign	Option + l
◊	Diamond or lozenge	Option + Shift + v

See also: Keyboard Double Space Problem

Using the Keyboard Character Viewer

macOS has a rather useful built-in utility called the Keyboard Viewer. You can use this tool to have access to nearly all Unicode & special characters. There are two ways to use this tool:

1. Use its shortcut to open it: Press Control–Command–Space bar. This will open a popup that lets you enter all kinds of emojis and symbols. You can open this popup anytime you want. When you are done, you can click the (x) icon to close it.
2. You can also add this option in your menu bar for easy access. You will need to activate it. Here is how:
   1. Click the Apple menu and System Preferences.
   2. Click Keyboard.
   3. Check the “Show keyboard and emoji viewers in menu bar” box.
   4. Now you will see the Keyboard Viewer in the menu bar.
   5. Click the icon, and then click Show Emoji and Symbols. There are a lot of symbols that you can enter easily.

Creating custom Mac keyboard shortcuts symbols

You can create custom shortcuts for all keyboard symbols so that you can input easily. You may want to do this, for example, if you need to enter certain symbols very often. Here is how:

1. Click the Apple menu and System Preferences.
2. Click Keyboard.
3. Click the Text tab.
4. You can add or remove (by clicking the plus or minus sign).

See also: How To Show Hidden Files On Your Mac