Approximately Equal Symbol (≈)

The approximately equal symbol ≈ is Unicode U+2248, meaning “approximately equal to”. Press Copy to put it on your clipboard, or type it with Alt + 247 on Windows or Option + X on a Mac.

Unicode: U+2248
HTML: ≈
Windows: Alt + 247
Mac: Option + X

How to type the approximately equal symbol (≈)

The quickest way is to press Copy above and paste. To type ≈ yourself, use the method for your device below. On a Mac it is Option + X.

Windows

Hold Alt and type 247 on the numeric keypad. This older code (from code page 437) works in Notepad, Word and most desktop apps.
In Word or Outlook, type 2248 and press Alt + X. Alt + X converts the hex code before the cursor into the character, and back again.
Press Win + R, type charmap and press Enter. Tick “Advanced view”, search for Almost Equal to, then Select and Copy. Character Map is built into every version of Windows.

Mac

Press Option+X. On the standard US and US-International layouts.
Press Control + Command + Space to open the Character Viewer, search for almost equal and double-click it.

Linux & ChromeOS

Press Ctrl + Shift + U, type 2248, then press Enter or Space. Works in GTK and IBus apps (GNOME, Firefox, Chrome, LibreOffice) and on ChromeOS.

iPhone & iPad

Tap 123, then #+=, then touch and hold = and slide to ≈.
Copy ≈ from this page, then go to Settings → General → Keyboard → Text Replacement and add it with a shortcut such as ;appr. The shortcut then turns into the symbol as you type, in every app.

Android

Copy ≈ here, then open Gboard settings → Dictionary → Personal dictionary and add it with a shortcut.

Microsoft Word

Type 2248, then press Alt + X.
Insert → Symbol → More Symbols. Set “from” to Unicode (hex), type 2248 in “Character code” and click Insert.
On a Mac, Option+X works in Word too.

Google Docs

Insert → Special characters, then search for “almost equal” or draw it in the box.

Excel & Google Sheets

Enter =UNICHAR(8776) in a cell. It works in Excel 2013 and later and in Google Sheets.

HTML

Write ≈ or ≈ in your HTML.

What does ≈ mean?

≈ means that two values are close but not exactly equal: π ≈ 3.14, or 1 mile ≈ 1.6 km. It is the correct sign for rounded results, estimates and unit conversions, where a plain = would overstate the precision.

Several look-alikes carry stricter meanings. ≃ means “asymptotically equal” and ≅ means “congruent” in geometry or “isomorphic” in algebra. ∼ can mean “of the same order as” or “is distributed as” in statistics (X ∼ N(0, 1)). In everyday writing the tilde ~ is often used as “about” (~50 people). That is fine informally, but ≈ is the one to use in a formula.

Common uses

Rounded values: √2 ≈ 1.414
Unit conversions: 100 °F ≈ 37.8 °C
Engineering estimates and back-of-the-envelope calculations

Approximately Equal Symbol codes for HTML, CSS and programming

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

Codes for ≈
Unicode code point	`U+2248`
HTML entity (named)	`≈`
HTML decimal	`≈`
HTML hex	`≈`
CSS content	`content: "\2248";`
JavaScript	`"\u2248"`
Python	`"\u2248"`
Python (by name)	`"\N{ALMOST EQUAL TO}"`
Java / C#	`"\u2248"`
LaTeX	`\approx`
UTF-8 bytes	`E2 89 88`
UTF-16	`2248`
URL encoded	`%E2%89%88`
Alt code (CP437)	`Alt + 247`
Mac shortcut	`Option + X`

≈ vs look-alike characters

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

Char	Name	When to use it
	Tilde `U+007E`	Tilde. The ASCII character people type for “about” in chat, and a logical NOT in some notations.
	Tilde Operator `U+223C`	Tilde operator (U+223C). Means “similar to”, “of the order of” or “is distributed as”.
	Approximately Equal to `U+2245`	Approximately equal or congruent to. In geometry it states that two shapes are congruent.
	Asymptotically Equal to `U+2243`	Asymptotically equal to.
	Approximately Equal to Or The Image of `U+2252`	Approximately equal to or the image of. The form preferred in Japanese school maths.

Symbols similar to ≈

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

≈ character properties

Official Unicode name: ALMOST EQUAL TO
Also known as: approximately equal to, almost equal to, approx sign, wavy equals
Code point: U+2248
Unicode block: Mathematical Operators (U+2200–U+22FF)
General category: Math symbol (Sm)
Added in: Unicode 1.1 (1993)
Plane: Basic Multilingual Plane (0)
Emoji: No, it is a text symbol

Frequently asked questions

Is ≈ the same as ~?

Both can mean “about”, but ≈ is the mathematical approximately-equal sign. The tilde ~ is informal in prose and has other meanings in maths and logic.

When should I use ≈ instead of =?

Whenever the right-hand side is rounded, estimated or measured. Writing π = 3.14 is technically false; π ≈ 3.14 is correct.

What is the alt code for the approximately equal symbol?

On Windows, hold Alt and type 247 on the numeric keypad to get ≈. On a laptop without a keypad, copy it from this page or use 2248 then Alt + X in Word.

How do I type the approximately equal symbol on a Mac?

Press Option + X. 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 approximately equal symbol?

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

What is the Unicode for the approximately equal symbol?

≈ is U+2248, officially named ALMOST EQUAL TO, in the Mathematical Operators block. It has been part of Unicode since version 1.1 (1993).