How to Insert Symbols in Microsoft Word
Six reliable methods for inserting special characters in Word, from the built-in Symbol dialog to quick copy-paste.
Microsoft Word documents often call for characters that are not on your keyboard: copyright notices, accented names, currency signs, mathematical operators, and typographic marks like em dashes. Word provides several built-in tools for inserting these characters, and there are a couple of external methods that can be even faster. This guide walks through every option so you can choose the one that fits your workflow.
Method 1 — The Symbol Dialog (Insert > Symbol)
The Symbol dialog is Word's dedicated interface for browsing and inserting special characters. It gives you access to every character in every font installed on your system.
Step-by-step:
- Place your cursor where you want the symbol to appear.
- Go to the Insert tab on the ribbon.
- Click Symbol on the far right of the ribbon. A small panel of recently used symbols appears.
- If you see the character you need, click it to insert. Otherwise, click More Symbols to open the full Symbol dialog box.
- In the dialog, use the Font dropdown to select a font (choose (normal text) for standard Unicode symbols, or Wingdings / Symbol for decorative characters).
- Use the Subset dropdown to jump to a specific Unicode block such as Latin Extended, Currency Symbols, Mathematical Operators, or General Punctuation.
- Click the character you want, then click Insert. The dialog stays open so you can insert multiple characters.
- Click Close when finished.
Pro tip: In the Symbol dialog, click the Shortcut Key button to assign a custom keyboard shortcut to any symbol you use frequently. For example, you could map Ctrl+Shift+D to the degree sign so it is always one keystroke away.
Method 2 — Copy and Paste (Quickest)
If you need a symbol right now and do not want to navigate dialog boxes or memorize codes, copy-paste is the fastest path. Find the character on a reference page, click to copy, and paste it straight into Word.
- Visit a symbol reference page on GYPU (see links below).
- Click the symbol you need — it is copied to your clipboard automatically.
- Switch to your Word document and press Ctrl+V to paste.
This method works in every version of Word (desktop, web, and mobile) and requires no special keyboard or settings.
Method 3 — Alt Codes
On Windows, you can type symbols directly by holding the Alt key and entering a numeric code on the number pad. Make sure Num Lock is on. This works in Word and virtually every other Windows application.
Important: Alt codes require the numeric keypad on the right side of a full-size keyboard. They do not work with the number row above the letters. If your laptop lacks a number pad, use the Alt+X method (Method 5) or copy-paste instead.
| Symbol | Name | Alt Code |
|---|---|---|
| © | Copyright | Alt + 0169 |
| ® | Registered | Alt + 0174 |
| ™ | Trademark | Alt + 0153 |
| ° | Degree | Alt + 0176 |
| € | Euro | Alt + 0128 |
| £ | Pound | Alt + 0163 |
| ñ | Enye | Alt + 0241 |
| ü | U Umlaut | Alt + 0252 |
| é | E Acute | Alt + 0233 |
| — | Em Dash | Alt + 0151 |
| – | En Dash | Alt + 0150 |
| • | Bullet | Alt + 0149 |
| ½ | One Half | Alt + 0189 |
| ± | Plus Minus | Alt + 0177 |
| ≠ | Not Equal | Alt + 8800 |
For a complete list of codes, visit our Alt Codes reference page.
Method 4 — AutoCorrect Shortcuts
Word's AutoCorrect feature automatically replaces certain text sequences with symbols as you type. You do not need to enable anything — these replacements are active by default.
| You Type | Word Inserts | Name |
|---|---|---|
| (c) | © | Copyright |
| (r) | ® | Registered |
| (tm) | ™ | Trademark |
| --> | → | Right arrow |
| <-- | ← | Left arrow |
| ==> | ⇒ | Double right arrow |
| <== | ⇐ | Double left arrow |
| ... | … | Ellipsis |
| 1/2 | ½ | One half |
| 1/4 | ¼ | One quarter |
| 3/4 | ¾ | Three quarters |
Adding custom AutoCorrect entries:
- Go to File > Options > Proofing > AutoCorrect Options.
- In the Replace field, type your shortcut text (for example,
degr). - In the With field, paste the symbol you want (for example, °).
- Click Add, then OK.
From now on, every time you type degr followed by a space, Word will replace it with °.
Method 5 — Unicode Code + Alt+X
This is a Word-specific trick that does not require a number pad. Type the hexadecimal Unicode code for a character directly into your document, then press Alt+X. Word converts the code into the symbol instantly.
Example:
- Type
00B0in your document. - Immediately press Alt+X.
- The text
00B0is replaced by the degree symbol: °
| Symbol | Name | Unicode Code |
|---|---|---|
| © | Copyright | 00A9 + Alt+X |
| ® | Registered | 00AE + Alt+X |
| ™ | Trademark | 2122 + Alt+X |
| ° | Degree | 00B0 + Alt+X |
| € | Euro | 20AC + Alt+X |
| £ | Pound | 00A3 + Alt+X |
| — | Em Dash | 2014 + Alt+X |
| – | En Dash | 2013 + Alt+X |
| • | Bullet | 2022 + Alt+X |
| ± | Plus Minus | 00B1 + Alt+X |
| ≠ | Not Equal | 2260 + Alt+X |
| ≤ | Less or Equal | 2264 + Alt+X |
| ≥ | Greater or Equal | 2265 + Alt+X |
| → | Right Arrow | 2192 + Alt+X |
| ∞ | Infinity | 221E + Alt+X |
Reverse lookup: You can also select a symbol already in your document and press Alt+X to see its Unicode code. This is useful when you encounter an unfamiliar character and want to know how to type it again.
Method 6 — Keyboard Shortcuts
Word has built-in keyboard shortcuts for accented characters and common symbols. These use a two-step pattern: press a modifier key combination, release, then type the base letter.
| Shortcut | Then Type | Result | Accent Type |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ctrl + ' (apostrophe) | e | é | Acute |
| Ctrl + ' (apostrophe) | a | á | Acute |
| Ctrl + ` (grave) | e | è | Grave |
| Ctrl + ` (grave) | a | à | Grave |
| Ctrl + Shift + ^ (caret) | e | ê | Circumflex |
| Ctrl + Shift + ^ (caret) | o | ô | Circumflex |
| Ctrl + Shift + ~ (tilde) | n | ñ | Tilde |
| Ctrl + Shift + ~ (tilde) | a | ã | Tilde |
| Ctrl + Shift + : (colon) | u | ü | Umlaut / Diaeresis |
| Ctrl + Shift + : (colon) | o | ö | Umlaut / Diaeresis |
| Ctrl + Shift + & (ampersand) | s | ß | Eszett (German) |
| Ctrl + , (comma) | c | ç | Cedilla |
These shortcuts work with any vowel (and some consonants) as the base letter. For example, Ctrl+' followed by o produces ó, and Ctrl+Shift+: followed by a produces ä.
Quick Reference Table
The most commonly needed symbols with every Word insertion method at a glance. Click any symbol to copy it to your clipboard.
| Symbol | Name | Alt Code | Unicode + Alt+X | AutoCorrect |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| © | Copyright | Alt+0169 | 00A9 | (c) |
| ® | Registered | Alt+0174 | 00AE | (r) |
| ™ | Trademark | Alt+0153 | 2122 | (tm) |
| ° | Degree | Alt+0176 | 00B0 | — |
| € | Euro | Alt+0128 | 20AC | — |
| £ | Pound | Alt+0163 | 00A3 | — |
| ñ | Enye | Alt+0241 | 00F1 | — |
| ü | U Umlaut | Alt+0252 | 00FC | — |
| é | E Acute | Alt+0233 | 00E9 | — |
| — | Em Dash | Alt+0151 | 2014 | — |
| – | En Dash | Alt+0150 | 2013 | — |
| • | Bullet | Alt+0149 | 2022 | — |
| ½ | One Half | Alt+0189 | 00BD | 1/2 |
| ± | Plus Minus | Alt+0177 | 00B1 | — |
| ≠ | Not Equal | Alt+8800 | 2260 | — |
| → | Right Arrow | — | 2192 | --> |
| ← | Left Arrow | — | 2190 | <-- |
| ¼ | One Quarter | Alt+0188 | 00BC | 1/4 |
| ¾ | Three Quarters | Alt+0190 | 00BE | 3/4 |
| … | Ellipsis | Alt+0133 | 2026 | ... |
Which Method Should You Use?
- One-off symbol: Copy and paste from GYPU is the fastest option — no memorization needed.
- Frequent symbols: Learn the AutoCorrect shorthand like (c) for © or set up custom entries for symbols you use daily.
- Accented letters: Use the keyboard shortcuts (Ctrl+' then e for é) — they become second nature quickly.
- No number pad: Use the Alt+X Unicode method. Type the hex code and press Alt+X.
- Full keyboard: Alt codes are fast once memorized. Alt+0169 for © takes under a second.
- Browsing or exploring: The Insert > Symbol dialog lets you see every character and discover new ones.