SymbolHub

AE Ligature (æ) (æ)

The ae ligature (æ) æ is Unicode U+00E6, the Latin letter and typographic ligature combining a and e, known as ash. Press Copy to put it on your clipboard, or type it with Alt + 0230 on Windows or Option + ' on a Mac.

Unicode
U+00E6
HTML
æ
Windows
Alt + 0230
Mac
Option + '

How to type the ae ligature (æ) (æ)

The quickest way is to press Copy above and paste. To type æ yourself, use the method for your device below. On Windows the alt code is Alt + 0230. On a Mac it is Option + '.

Windows

  1. Hold Alt and type 0230 on the numeric keypad, then release Alt. Num Lock must be on. This uses the Windows-1252 code page, so it works in almost every Windows app.
  2. Hold Alt and type 145 on the numeric keypad. This older code (from code page 437) works in Notepad, Word and most desktop apps.
  3. In Word or Outlook, type 00E6 and press Alt + X. Alt + X converts the hex code before the cursor into the character, and back again.
  4. Press Win + R, type charmap and press Enter. Tick “Advanced view”, search for Latin Small Letter Ae, then Select and Copy. Character Map is built into every version of Windows.

Mac

  1. Press Option+'. On the standard US and US-International layouts.
  2. Press Control + Command + Space to open the Character Viewer, search for ae ligature and double-click it.

Linux & ChromeOS

  1. Press Ctrl + Shift + U, type e6, then press Enter or Space. Works in GTK and IBus apps (GNOME, Firefox, Chrome, LibreOffice) and on ChromeOS.
  2. Press your Compose key, then a e. Needs a Compose key set in your keyboard settings.

iPhone & iPad

  1. Touch and hold the a key on your iPhone or iPad keyboard, then slide your finger to æ.
  2. Copy æ from this page, then go to Settings → General → Keyboard → Text Replacement and add it with a shortcut such as ;ae. The shortcut then turns into the symbol as you type, in every app.

Android

  1. In Gboard, touch and hold the a key, then drag your finger to æ in the pop-up accent list.
  2. Copy æ here, then open Gboard settings → Dictionary → Personal dictionary and add it with a shortcut.

Microsoft Word

  1. Type 00E6, then press Alt + X.
  2. Insert → Symbol → More Symbols. Set “from” to Unicode (hex), type 00E6 in “Character code” and click Insert.
  3. On a Mac, Option+' works in Word too.

Google Docs

  1. Insert → Special characters, then search for “ae ligature” or draw it in the box.

Excel & Google Sheets

  1. Enter =UNICHAR(230) in a cell. It works in Excel 2013 and later and in Google Sheets.

HTML

  1. Write æ or æ in your HTML.

What does æ mean?

The letter ae ligature æ (capital Æ, Unicode name LATIN SMALL LETTER AE) is a historic typographic ligature fusing the lowercase letters a and e. In Old English and early medieval manuscripts, the character was called ash (from the Anglo-Saxon runic letter ᚫ æsc, meaning ash tree), where it represented an open front unrounded vowel /æ/ (the vowel in modern English trap).

In modern Danish, Norwegian, Faroese, and Icelandic, æ is not an optional ligature, but a fully independent vowel letter positioned after Z in their respective alphabets (corresponding phonetically to Swedish and German ä). In British English publishing, æ was historically preserved in Classical Latin and Greek loanwords like encyclopædia, archæology, and mediæval, though modern typography usually simplifies these to ae or e. In the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA), /æ/ remains the standard phonetic symbol for the “short a” vowel.

Common uses

  • Danish and Norwegian orthography: København er en smuk by; et værelse (a room)
  • Classical English literature and archival editions: dæmon, archæology, encyclopædia
  • Linguistic phonetic transcriptions: /kæt/ for cat
  • Old English texts and Beowulf manuscript transcriptions

AE Ligature (æ) codes for HTML, CSS and programming

Every code below produces æ. Use the HTML entity in web pages, the CSS escape in content, and the escape sequence in source code.

Unicode code pointU+00E6
HTML entity (named)æ
HTML decimalæ
HTML hexæ
CSS contentcontent: "\E6";
JavaScript"\u00E6"
Python"\u00E6"
Python (by name)"\N{LATIN SMALL LETTER AE}"
Java / C#"\u00E6"
LaTeX\ae
UTF-8 bytesC3 A6
UTF-1600E6
URL encoded%C3%A6
Windows Alt codeAlt + 0230
Alt code (CP437)Alt + 145
Mac shortcutOption + '

æ vs look-alike characters

These characters look similar to æ but have a different meaning and code. Pasting the wrong one can break search, sorting and screen readers.

CharNameWhen to use it
Latin Small Ligature Oe
U+0153		OE ligature (U+0153), a ligature of o and e used in French.
A with Diaeresis
U+00E4		A with umlaut (U+00E4), the Swedish and German equivalent sound.
A with Ring Above
U+00E5		A with ring (U+00E5), a different Nordic vowel.
Capital Ae
U+00C6		Uppercase AE ligature (U+00C6).

Symbols similar to æ

Click to copy, or open a symbol for its codes. See the full phonetic symbols collection.

æ character properties

Official Unicode name
LATIN SMALL LETTER AE
Also known as
ash, ae digraph, latin letter ae, scandinavian ae
Code point
U+00E6
Unicode block
Latin-1 Supplement (U+0080–U+00FF)
General category
Lowercase letter (Ll)
Added in
Unicode 1.1 (1993)
Plane
Basic Multilingual Plane (0)
Emoji
No, it is a text symbol

Frequently asked questions

What is the official name of the æ symbol?

In historical English typography, the character is officially called "ash". In modern Unicode, it is named "LATIN SMALL LETTER AE".

How do I type æ on a Mac?

Hold the Option key and tap the single quote key (') on the US keyboard layout.

What is the alt code for the ae ligature (æ)?

On Windows, hold Alt and type 0230 on the numeric keypad to get æ. The shorter code Alt + 145 also works in most desktop apps. On a laptop without a keypad, copy it from this page or use 00E6 then Alt + X in Word.

How do I type the ae ligature (æ) on a Mac?

Press Option + '. It works in every app on the US keyboard layout. You can also open the Character Viewer with Control + Command + Space and search for it.

What is the HTML code for the ae ligature (æ)?

Use the named entity æ or the numeric reference æ (hex æ). All three display æ in every browser.

What is the Unicode for the ae ligature (æ)?

æ is U+00E6, officially named LATIN SMALL LETTER AE, in the Latin-1 Supplement block. It has been part of Unicode since version 1.1 (1993).