How to type symbols on a Mac

The Option key: a hidden symbol keyboard

Every key on a Mac keyboard has two extra layers. Hold Option for the first and Option + Shift for the second. Nothing is printed on the keys, but the layers have been the same on the US layout for decades, so a few are worth memorising.

That is only a taste. Our full list of Mac Option key shortcuts covers all of them, including the accent dead keys.

See the layer on screen

You do not need a cheat sheet. Turn on “Show Input menu in menu bar” in System Settings → Keyboard → Text Input, then choose Show Keyboard Viewer from the menu. Hold Option, or Option + Shift, and the on-screen keyboard shows what every key types. Keys outlined in orange are dead keys for accents.

Accents: press and hold, or dead keys

For accented letters, press and hold the letter. A small menu appears with numbered choices: hold e, then press 2 for é. It works in almost every app, as long as key repeat is set to the default.

The faster method is the dead keys. Press Option + E, let go, then type a vowel to get an acute accent (é á í ó ú). Option + ` adds a grave (è), Option + I a circumflex (ê), Option + U an umlaut (ü) and Option + N a tilde (ñ). See how to type accents for every language.

The Character Viewer: every symbol

Press Control + Command + Space. On recent Macs you can also press the Globe (fn) key if it is set to “Show Emoji & Symbols”. A small emoji picker opens at the cursor. Type a name such as “arrow”, “check” or “degree” to search, then click the result.

Click the icon in the top-right corner to expand it into the full Character Viewer. It lists categories such as Arrows, Bullets/Stars, Math Symbols, Currency Symbols and Pictographs. If a category is missing, open the ⋯ menu, choose Customize List and tick it. Characters you use appear under Frequently Used, so the second time is always faster.

Unicode Hex Input for power users

If you know code points, add the Unicode Hex Input keyboard: System Settings → Keyboard → Text Input → Edit → + → search “Unicode”. Switch to it, hold Option and type the four-digit code, for example Option + 2713 for ✓. The rest of the keyboard stays US English, so many developers leave it on permanently. Find any code with our Unicode lookup.

Text replacements that sync to your iPhone

For symbols with no Option shortcut, make your own. In System Settings → Keyboard → Text Replacements, click + and enter a shortcut such as ;check with the replacement ✓. The replacement works in most Mac apps and syncs through iCloud to your iPhone and iPad. Start each shortcut with a character you never type, like a semicolon, so it never triggers by accident.

Symbols in Pages, Word and Google Docs

Option shortcuts work in every app, including Microsoft Word and browsers. Word for Mac also has Insert → Advanced Symbol, and Google Docs has Insert → Special characters. Pages uses the system Character Viewer via Edit → Emoji & Symbols.

Note that shortcuts depend on the active input source. The table above is for the US and US-International layouts; the British layout differs, with Option + 3 giving # and Shift + 3 giving £. When in doubt, the Keyboard Viewer always shows the truth for your layout.

When an Option shortcut types the wrong thing

If Option + G gives something other than ©, check three things. First, the input source in the menu bar: “ABC”, “U.S.” and “U.S. International – PC” all behave as described here, but “British”, “German” and other national layouts move many symbols. Second, the app: a few programs, such as some games, terminals and remote-desktop clients, capture Option for their own shortcuts. In Terminal you can change this under Settings → Profiles → Keyboard, where “Use Option as Meta key” must be off for symbols to work. Third, a dead key may be waiting: if you pressed Option + E and nothing appeared, the Mac is holding an accent for the next letter. Press Space once to clear it.

The Character Viewer never has these problems, because it inserts the character directly. When a shortcut misbehaves in one app, use the viewer there and keep the shortcut for everywhere else.