How to type symbols on iPhone and iPad
To type symbols on an iPhone, tap 123 and then #+= for extra punctuation, and touch and hold keys to reveal hidden ones: hold 0 for °, the hyphen for — and $ for other currencies. For anything else, copy it once and save it as a Text Replacement.
The three keyboard pages
The iPhone keyboard has three pages. ABC holds the letters; tap 123 for digits and common punctuation; tap #+= on that page for brackets, maths signs, • and the currencies € £ ¥. Most people never go further, but the real symbol set is hidden under long presses.
Hidden symbols under long press
Touch and hold a key, and a row of alternatives appears. Slide your finger to one and lift. These are the most useful on the English keyboard:
| Hold this key (on the 123 page) | To get |
|---|---|
| 0 | ° (degree) |
| - (hyphen) | – en dash, — em dash, • bullet |
| $ | ¢ ₹ ₩ ₽ and other currencies |
| & | § (section sign) |
| . (period) | … (ellipsis) |
| ! and ? | ¡ and ¿ |
| " and ' | “ ” „ « » and ‘ ’ ‚ |
| % | ‰ (per mille) |
Letters work the same way. Hold e for è é ê ë ē ė ę, n for ñ ń, and s for ß ś š. Our step-by-step guides show this for individual characters, such as the degree symbol on iPhone.
Smart Punctuation
Settings → General → Keyboard → Smart Punctuation is on by default. It turns straight quotes into curly ones and two hyphens (--) into an em dash (—) as you type. If you are typing code or a password and need plain quotes, turn it off temporarily.
Text Replacement: make your own shortcuts
Symbols such as ©, ™, ✓ and → have no key at all. The fix takes a minute and lasts forever:
- Copy the symbol, for example from our check mark collection.
- Open Settings → General → Keyboard → Text Replacement and tap +.
- Paste the symbol into Phrase and type a shortcut such as ;tick.
- Tap Save. Now typing “;tick” and a space in any app turns it into ✓.
Replacements sync through iCloud to your iPad and Mac. A leading semicolon keeps shortcuts from firing while you type normal words.
The emoji keyboard and its search
Tap the 😀 key (or the globe key if you use several keyboards). Swipe to the Symbols category, marked with a heart and music note, for ❤️ ✅ ❌ ➡️ ♻️ ⚠️ and the zodiac signs. You can also search: type “arrow” or “star” in the search bar at the top. These are emoji, so they display in colour. For the plain text versions (→ rather than ➡️), copy from our arrow symbols page instead.
Other keyboards and languages
Adding a keyboard for another language gives you its letters and punctuation. Go to Settings → General → Keyboard → Keyboards → Add New Keyboard. Spanish adds ñ as a key, French puts accented letters closer, and the Japanese Kana keyboard has a large set of brackets and marks such as 「」 and ※. Switch between keyboards with the globe key.
Third-party keyboards from the App Store can add symbol pages, but they can read what you type. Only install ones from developers you trust, and do not give them “Full Access” unless a feature truly needs it.
Copy and paste from the web
For one-off characters, copying is simplest. Tap a symbol on SymbolHub to copy it, then touch and hold in your text field and choose Paste. The copy tray at the bottom of our pages lets you collect several symbols and copy them all at once, which is handy for bios and captions.
Extra tricks on iPad
The iPad keyboard shows symbols on the keys themselves. Swipe down on a key to type the grey character printed above its letter, such as swiping down on Q for 1 or on P for 0, without switching pages. With a hardware keyboard such as the Magic Keyboard, the Mac Option shortcuts work too: Option + G for ©, Option + Shift + 8 for ° and Option + E then E for é. Press the Globe key to open the emoji picker.
If a symbol will not paste or looks wrong
Some apps restrict what you can type. Username fields often allow only letters, numbers and a few punctuation marks, so a symbol pasted there is silently removed. Password fields may reject it too. If a symbol pastes as an emoji when you wanted plain text, you copied the emoji form: arrows, hearts and check marks exist in both styles. Copy the text version from a SymbolHub collection instead.
If a text replacement does not trigger, check that you typed a space or punctuation after the shortcut, and that the shortcut is not also a real word in your dictionary. Replacements can take a few minutes to sync to other devices after you add them on one.
Frequently asked questions
How do I get the degree symbol on my iPhone?
Tap 123, then touch and hold the 0 key and slide to °.
How do I type © or ™ on an iPhone?
There is no key for them. Copy the symbol once and save it as a Text Replacement in Settings → General → Keyboard → Text Replacement, with a shortcut such as “;c”.
Why does two hyphens turn into a long dash on my iPhone?
Smart Punctuation replaces -- with an em dash (—). You can turn it off in Settings → General → Keyboard.
Where are the hidden symbols on the iPhone keyboard?
Touch and hold keys on the 123 page: 0 for °, hyphen for dashes and •, $ for currencies, & for §, and the period for ….