How to Type the Cent Symbol on Keyboard on iPhone and Mac
Reading Time: 3 minutes For U.S. currency, the dollar sign is far more common than the cent sign but you might occasionally need the cent symbol (¢). On the standard Mac keyboard, the dollar sign is on the 4 key, but the cent sign is nowhere to be found. It also doesn’t show up on the iPhone keyboard.
Fortunately, the cent symbol is accessed easily enough if you know the right keyboard shortcut on Mac, and it is also pretty easy to access on the iPhone keyboard when you know where to look. In this article, we’ll tell you how to type the cents symbol on iPhone, iPad and Mac.
First, we’ll take a brief look at the cent symbol for U.S. currency.
Using the cent sign for U.S. currency
Feel free to skip this section if you are already familiar with the conventions for writing U.S. currency.
The dollar sign goes before
Most of the time, an amount of U.S. dollars and cents can be written using the dollar sign, with the dollar sign preceding the amount. The cents are written after a period. For example, you would write thirty-four dollars and ten cents as:
- $34.10
You can also write a number of cents (with no dollar amount) using the dollar sign. For example, twenty-five cents can be written:
- $0.25
The cent sign goes after
When you want to use the cent symbol, it should follow the amount, and no period is used. For example, we can also write twenty-five cents like:
- 25¢
The cent symbol keyboard shortcut on Mac
There are many symbols accessible by using keyboard shortcuts on Mac. Many just require pressing the Option key plus one other key. Although the symbol isn’t printed on the key, the key often has something to do with the symbol you are typing.
So, for the cent symbol, we will be pressing the same key as the dollar symbol. That should make it a little easier to remember.
To type the cent symbol using a keyboard shortcut on Mac, press Option–4.
The cent sign on iPhone and iPad
When you open up the iPhone (iPad) keyboard, you will just see keys with letters. To access numbers and symbols, you have to press the 123 key. When you do that, you will see numbers, punctuation marks and a few common symbols: $, & and @. You might try the #+= key to see if the cent sign is there, but it isn’t.
On Mac, you use the Option key to access “hidden” symbols. On iPhone, you long press a key to bring up more options. When you access the hidden symbols this way, they are usually related to the key you long pressed.
So, for the cent symbol, we will long press the $ key.
To type the cent symbol on iPhone or iPad, first tap the 123 key, then long press the $ key and slide your finger to select ¢.
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