Alt Codes: Hidden Character Shortcuts

Image by Editors Keys

Keyboards are objects of compromise, with the choice in which keys to include a weigh-up between available space and functionality. Considering there are around 150,000 potential computer text symbols, the number of keys available on our keyboards can seem pretty limited!

What can we do when we need to enter specialised characters which aren’t on our physical keyboard? Depending on which app we’re working with, there might be an “Insert Symbol” menu option available (like in Microsoft Word) or we can hope that if we type “( + C + )” it will autocorrect to ©. But what if these options aren’t available and we want to enter a special character immediately with a keyboard shortcut?

Windows has a bit of a strange, but useful, shortcut system for inserting special symbols called “Alt Codes”. To enter a special symbol, you press and hold the Alt key, type in a specific number on the numpad (if your keyboard has one) and then release the Alt key. The symbol you need should then appear where you are typing. The benefit of this method is that it is guaranteed way to instantly insert a special symbol no matter which app you are using on a Windows computer. The downsides are that you need a numpad to enter these codes and there is no obvious mnemonic to remember them by!

Below is a list of some of the handiest Alt Codes. We’d suggest you save these in a Notepad file on your desktop as the only other way to remember them is by muscle memory!

Common Symbols

Alt + 0176 = ° (Degree symbol)

Alt + 0153 = ™ (Trademark)

Alt + 0169 = © (Copyright)

Alt + 0174 = ® (Registered)

Alt + 7 = • (Bullet point)

Alt + 9 = ○ (Blank bullet point)

Alt + 0150 = – (En dash)

Alt + 0151 = — (Em dash)

Currencies

Alt + 0128 = € (Euro)

Alt + 8369 = ₱ (Peso)

Alt + 156 = £ (Pound)

Alt + 8377 = ₹ (Rupee)

Alt + 157 = ¥ (Yen/Yuan)

Alt + 0162 = ¢ (Cent)

Accented Letters

Alt + 130 = é

Alt + 138 = è

Alt + 136 = ê

Alt + 137 = ë

Alt + 160 = á

Alt + 161 = í

Alt + 162 = ó

Alt + 163 = ú

Alt + 164 = ñ

Alt + 165 = Ñ

Pictorial

Alt + 1 = ☺

Alt + 3 = ♥

Alt + 4 = ♦

Alt + 5 = ♣

Alt + 6 = ♠

Alt + 13 = ♪

Alt + 14 = ♫

Alt + 30 = ▲

Alt + 31 = ▼

Alt + 219 = █

Alt + 254 = ■