Alt codes.
Hold Alt, type the number on the numeric keypad, then release — and the symbol appears. Every code below is Windows-only; tap any row to copy the character instead.
Most-searched Alt codes
| Alt code | Character | Name | Unicode |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alt + 7 | • | Bullet point | U+2022 |
| Alt + 0149 | • | Bullet point (Windows codes) | U+2022 |
| Alt + 3 | ♥ | Heart | U+2665 |
| Alt + 0176 | ° | Degree sign | U+00B0 |
| Alt + 0169 | © | Copyright | U+00A9 |
| Alt + 0174 | ® | Registered trademark | U+00AE |
| Alt + 0153 | ™ | Trademark | U+2122 |
| Alt + 0151 | — | Em dash | U+2014 |
| Alt + 0150 | – | En dash | U+2013 |
| Alt + 0133 | … | Ellipsis | U+2026 |
| Alt + 26 | → | Right arrow | U+2192 |
| Alt + 251 | √ | Square root | U+221A |
Symbols & shapes (Alt + number, no leading zero)
| Alt code | Character | Name | Unicode |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alt + 1 | ☺ | Smiley face | U+263A |
| Alt + 2 | ☻ | Filled smiley | U+263B |
| Alt + 3 | ♥ | Heart | U+2665 |
| Alt + 4 | ♦ | Diamond | U+2666 |
| Alt + 5 | ♣ | Club | U+2663 |
| Alt + 6 | ♠ | Spade | U+2660 |
| Alt + 7 | • | Bullet | U+2022 |
| Alt + 8 | ◘ | Inverse bullet | U+25D8 |
| Alt + 9 | ○ | Open circle | U+25CB |
| Alt + 11 | ♂ | Male sign | U+2642 |
| Alt + 12 | ♀ | Female sign | U+2640 |
| Alt + 13 | ♪ | Eighth note | U+266A |
| Alt + 14 | ♫ | Beamed notes | U+266B |
| Alt + 15 | ☼ | Sun | U+263C |
| Alt + 16 | ► | Right pointer | U+25BA |
| Alt + 17 | ◄ | Left pointer | U+25C4 |
| Alt + 18 | ↕ | Up-down arrow | U+2195 |
| Alt + 19 | ‼ | Double exclamation | U+203C |
| Alt + 20 | ¶ | Pilcrow | U+00B6 |
| Alt + 21 | § | Section sign | U+00A7 |
| Alt + 24 | ↑ | Up arrow | U+2191 |
| Alt + 25 | ↓ | Down arrow | U+2193 |
| Alt + 26 | → | Right arrow | U+2192 |
| Alt + 27 | ← | Left arrow | U+2190 |
| Alt + 29 | ↔ | Left-right arrow | U+2194 |
| Alt + 30 | ▲ | Up triangle | U+25B2 |
| Alt + 31 | ▼ | Down triangle | U+25BC |
Punctuation & typography (Alt + 0number)
| Alt code | Character | Name | Unicode |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alt + 0133 | … | Ellipsis | U+2026 |
| Alt + 0150 | – | En dash | U+2013 |
| Alt + 0151 | — | Em dash | U+2014 |
| Alt + 0145 | ‘ | Left single quote | U+2018 |
| Alt + 0146 | ’ | Right single quote / apostrophe | U+2019 |
| Alt + 0147 | “ | Left double quote | U+201C |
| Alt + 0148 | ” | Right double quote | U+201D |
| Alt + 0167 | § | Section sign | U+00A7 |
| Alt + 0182 | ¶ | Pilcrow | U+00B6 |
| Alt + 0134 | † | Dagger | U+2020 |
| Alt + 0135 | ‡ | Double dagger | U+2021 |
| Alt + 0171 | « | Left guillemet | U+00AB |
| Alt + 0187 | » | Right guillemet | U+00BB |
| Alt + 0161 | ¡ | Inverted exclamation | U+00A1 |
| Alt + 0191 | ¿ | Inverted question mark | U+00BF |
| Alt + 0183 | · | Middle dot | U+00B7 |
Currency
| Alt code | Character | Name | Unicode |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alt + 0128 | € | Euro | U+20AC |
| Alt + 0163 | £ | Pound sterling | U+00A3 |
| Alt + 0165 | ¥ | Yen | U+00A5 |
| Alt + 0162 | ¢ | Cent | U+00A2 |
| Alt + 0164 | ¤ | Generic currency | U+00A4 |
Maths & fractions
| Alt code | Character | Name | Unicode |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alt + 0177 | ± | Plus-minus | U+00B1 |
| Alt + 0215 | × | Multiplication | U+00D7 |
| Alt + 0247 | ÷ | Division | U+00F7 |
| Alt + 0188 | ¼ | One quarter | U+00BC |
| Alt + 0189 | ½ | One half | U+00BD |
| Alt + 0190 | ¾ | Three quarters | U+00BE |
| Alt + 0185 | ¹ | Superscript one | U+00B9 |
| Alt + 0178 | ² | Superscript two | U+00B2 |
| Alt + 0179 | ³ | Superscript three | U+00B3 |
| Alt + 0181 | µ | Micro sign | U+00B5 |
| Alt + 0176 | ° | Degree | U+00B0 |
| Alt + 251 | √ | Square root | U+221A |
| Alt + 241 | ± | Plus-minus | U+00B1 |
| Alt + 246 | ÷ | Division | U+00F7 |
| Alt + 247 | ≈ | Approximately equal | U+2248 |
| Alt + 248 | ° | Degree | U+00B0 |
| Alt + 253 | ² | Superscript two | U+00B2 |
| Alt + 230 | µ | Micro sign | U+00B5 |
| Alt + 228 | Σ | Sigma (sum) | U+03A3 |
| Alt + 227 | π | Pi | U+03C0 |
| Alt + 234 | Ω | Omega | U+03A9 |
The leading zero changes everything
This is the part almost nobody explains, and it is why the same "Alt code" can give two different characters. Windows has two separate code sets:
- Alt + number with no leading zero uses the old IBM code page 437.
Alt + 7gives a bullet •,Alt + 3gives a heart ♥. - Alt + 0number with a leading zero uses Windows code page 1252.
Alt + 0149also gives a bullet •, butAlt + 0151gives an em dash —.
So if a code produces the wrong character, check whether you typed the zero. The two sets overlap in places and diverge wildly in others.
It has to be the numeric keypad
Alt codes only read the numeric keypad, not the number row above the letters. Num Lock must be on. This is the single most common reason a code does nothing at all.
On a laptop without a separate keypad you have three options: hold Fn to use the embedded number keys if your model has them, press Win + . to open the emoji and symbol picker and search by name, or open Character Map (search "charmap") and copy from there. For most people on a laptop the emoji picker is genuinely faster than any Alt code.
Mac does not have Alt codes
If you are on a Mac, none of the codes above will work — Alt codes are a Windows convention. macOS uses Option combinations instead: Option + 8 gives a bullet •, Option + Shift + 8 a degree °, Option + G a copyright ©, and Option + Shift + hyphen an em dash —. For anything else, open Character Viewer with Control + Command + Space and search by name.
When there is no Alt code
Alt codes only cover a few hundred characters, so most of Unicode has none at all — there is no Alt code for subscript ₂, for an arrow like ⇒, or for any emoji. Three ways round it:
- In Word: type the Unicode hex value and press
Alt + X. Typing2082then Alt + X turns it into ₂. - Anywhere in Windows:
Win + .opens the emoji and symbol panel. - Copy it: the tables above, plus our symbols, emoji and superscript and subscript pages, cover the characters that have no code.
For the underlying numbering these codes are built on, see the ASCII table; for the web equivalents, the HTML entities reference.