Mu Symbol (μ)
The mu symbol μ is Unicode U+03BC, the Greek letter used for “micro” and for the mean. Press Copy to put it on your clipboard.
- Unicode
U+03BC- HTML
μ- Word
03BC Alt+X
How to type the mu symbol (μ)
The quickest way is to press Copy above and paste. To type μ yourself, use the method for your device below.
Windows
- In Word or Outlook, type 03BC 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 Greek Small Letter Mu, then Select and Copy. Character Map is built into every version of Windows.
Mac
- Press Control + Command + Space to open the Character Viewer, search for mu and double-click it.
- With the Unicode Hex Input keyboard enabled (System Settings → Keyboard → Input Sources), hold Option and type 03BC.
Linux & ChromeOS
- Press Ctrl + Shift + U, type 3bc, then press Enter or Space. Works in GTK and IBus apps (GNOME, Firefox, Chrome, LibreOffice) and on ChromeOS.
iPhone & iPad
- Copy μ from this page, then go to Settings → General → Keyboard → Text Replacement and add it with a shortcut such as ;mu. The shortcut then turns into the symbol as you type, in every app.
Android
- Copy μ here, then open Gboard settings → Dictionary → Personal dictionary and add it with a shortcut.
Microsoft Word
- Type 03BC, then press Alt + X.
- Insert → Symbol → More Symbols. Set “from” to Unicode (hex), type 03BC in “Character code” and click Insert.
Google Docs
- Insert → Special characters, then search for “mu” or draw it in the box.
Excel & Google Sheets
- Enter
=UNICHAR(956)in a cell. It works in Excel 2013 and later and in Google Sheets.
HTML
- Write
μorμin your HTML.
What does μ mean?
Mu (μ, capital Μ) is the twelfth letter of the Greek alphabet, pronounced “myoo” in English and “mee” in modern Greek. It is the source of the Latin M.
As a prefix, μ means micro, one millionth: μm (micrometre), μs (microsecond), μg (microgram). Statisticians use μ for the population mean, physicists for the coefficient of friction and magnetic permeability, and chemists for dipole moments.
There are two nearly identical characters. The Greek letter μ is U+03BC. The micro sign µ (U+00B5) was added separately for old Western character sets, and it is what Option + M on a Mac and Alt + 230 on Windows actually type. Unicode normalisation treats the micro sign as a compatibility form of μ, so either is understood, but scientific publishers prefer the Greek letter.
Common uses
- Units: 25 μm, 100 μs, 5 μg
- Statistics: μ = 50 for a population mean
- Mechanics: friction force F = μN
Mu Symbol codes for HTML, CSS and programming
Every code below produces μ. Use the HTML entity in web pages, the CSS escape in content, and the escape sequence in source code.
| Unicode code point | U+03BC | |
|---|---|---|
| HTML entity (named) | μ | |
| HTML decimal | μ | |
| HTML hex | μ | |
| CSS content | content: "\3BC"; | |
| JavaScript | "\u03BC" | |
| Python | "\u03BC" | |
| Python (by name) | "\N{GREEK SMALL LETTER MU}" | |
| Java / C# | "\u03BC" | |
| LaTeX | \mu | |
| UTF-8 bytes | CE BC | |
| UTF-16 | 03BC | |
| URL encoded | %CE%BC |
μ vs look-alike characters
These characters look similar to μ but have a different meaning and code. Pasting the wrong one can break search, sorting and screen readers.
| Char | Name | When to use it |
|---|---|---|
MicroU+00B5 | Micro sign (U+00B5). Looks identical and is typed by Option + M on a Mac and Alt + 230 on Windows. Fine for units in everyday text. | |
UU+0075 | The Latin letter u. Without the descender it is a common fallback in plain ASCII text (um, us). | |
Greek capital MuU+039C | Greek capital Mu (U+039C), identical to the Latin M. |
Symbols similar to μ
Click to copy, or open a symbol for its codes. See the full greek letters collection.
- Micro Details
- Greek Alpha Details
- Greek Beta Details
- Greek Gamma Details
- Greek Epsilon Details
- Greek Zeta Details
- Greek Eta Details
- Greek Theta Details
- Greek Iota Details
- Greek Kappa Details
- Greek Lamda Details
- Greek Nu Details
- Greek Xi Details
- Greek Omicron Details
- Greek Pi Details
- Greek Rho Details
- Greek Tau Details
- Greek Upsilon Details
μ character properties
- Official Unicode name
- GREEK SMALL LETTER MU
- Also known as
- mu, greek letter mu, micro symbol
- Code point
- U+03BC
- Unicode block
- Greek and Coptic (U+0370–U+03FF)
- 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 difference between μ and µ?
μ (U+03BC) is the Greek letter mu and µ (U+00B5) is the micro sign. They look the same, and µ is easier to type, but μ is the recommended character for scientific text.
How do I type the micro symbol on Windows?
Hold Alt and type 230 on the numeric keypad to get µ, the micro sign. For the Greek letter μ, type 03BC and press Alt + X in Word.
Is there an alt code for the mu symbol?
No. μ is outside the Windows-1252 and code page 437 character sets, so no Alt + number code produces it. Copy it from this page, type 03BC then Alt + X in Word, or find it in Character Map.
How do I type the mu symbol on a Mac?
There is no single Option shortcut for μ on the US layout. Press Control + Command + Space to open the Character Viewer, search for “mu” and double-click it, or copy it from this page.
What is the HTML code for the mu symbol?
Use the named entity μ or the numeric reference μ (hex μ). All three display μ in every browser.
What is the Unicode for the mu symbol?
μ is U+03BC, officially named GREEK SMALL LETTER MU, in the Greek and Coptic block. It has been part of Unicode since version 1.1 (1993).