Plus-Minus Symbol (±)
The plus-minus symbol ± is Unicode U+00B1, meaning “plus or minus”, for tolerances and two solutions. Press Copy to put it on your clipboard, or type it with Alt + 0177 on Windows or Option + Shift + = on a Mac.
- Unicode
U+00B1- HTML
±- Windows
Alt + 0177- Mac
Option + Shift + =
How to type the plus-minus symbol (±)
The quickest way is to press Copy above and paste. To type ± yourself, use the method for your device below. On Windows the alt code is Alt + 0177. On a Mac it is Option + Shift + =.
Windows
- Hold Alt and type 0177 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.
- Hold Alt and type 241 on the numeric keypad. This older code (from code page 437) works in Notepad, Word and most desktop apps.
- In Word or Outlook, type 00B1 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 Plus-Minus Sign, then Select and Copy. Character Map is built into every version of Windows.
Mac
- Press Option+Shift+=. On the standard US and US-International layouts.
- Press Control + Command + Space to open the Character Viewer, search for plus-minus and double-click it.
Linux & ChromeOS
- Press Ctrl + Shift + U, type b1, then press Enter or Space. Works in GTK and IBus apps (GNOME, Firefox, Chrome, LibreOffice) and on ChromeOS.
- Press your Compose key, then + -. Needs a Compose key set in your keyboard settings.
iPhone & iPad
- Copy ± from this page, then go to Settings → General → Keyboard → Text Replacement and add it with a shortcut such as ;plus. 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 00B1, then press Alt + X.
- Insert → Symbol → More Symbols. Set “from” to Unicode (hex), type 00B1 in “Character code” and click Insert.
- On a Mac, Option+Shift+= works in Word too.
Google Docs
- Insert → Special characters, then search for “plus-minus” or draw it in the box.
Excel & Google Sheets
- Enter
=UNICHAR(177)in a cell. It works in Excel 2013 and later and in Google Sheets.
HTML
- Write
±or±in your HTML.
What does ± mean?
± means “plus or minus”. It has two distinct uses. In measurement it gives a tolerance or margin of error: a resistor of 100 Ω ± 5% is somewhere between 95 Ω and 105 Ω, and a poll result of 42% ± 3 points has a range of 39–45%.
In algebra it packs two answers into one expression. The quadratic formula x = (−b ± √(b² − 4ac)) / 2a gives one root with the plus and another with the minus. When a second sign in the same formula must take the opposite choice, use the minus-plus sign ∓, as in cos(x ± y) = cos x cos y ∓ sin x sin y.
Put a space either side when ± joins two values (20 ± 2 mm) and none when it signs a single number (±15 V). Never build it from a plus sign with an underline: that breaks copying and screen readers.
Common uses
- Engineering tolerances: 25.00 ± 0.05 mm
- Survey margins of error: ±3 percentage points
- Two-root formulas: x = ±√9 = ±3
- Power supplies and signals: a ±12 V rail
Plus-Minus 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.
| Unicode code point | U+00B1 | |
|---|---|---|
| HTML entity (named) | ± | |
| HTML decimal | ± | |
| HTML hex | ± | |
| CSS content | content: "\B1"; | |
| JavaScript | "\u00B1" | |
| Python | "\u00B1" | |
| Python (by name) | "\N{PLUS-MINUS SIGN}" | |
| Java / C# | "\u00B1" | |
| LaTeX | \pm | |
| UTF-8 bytes | C2 B1 | |
| UTF-16 | 00B1 | |
| URL encoded | %C2%B1 | |
| Windows Alt code | Alt + 0177 | |
| Alt code (CP437) | Alt + 241 | |
| Mac shortcut | Option + Shift + = |
± 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 |
|---|---|---|
Minus-Or-PlusU+2213 | Minus-plus sign. Pairs with ± when the second sign must be the opposite of the first. | |
PlusU+002B | Plain plus sign. | |
Superscript PlusU+207A | Superscript plus, used for ions such as Na⁺. |
Symbols similar to ±
Click to copy, or open a symbol for its codes. See the full math symbols collection.
± character properties
- Official Unicode name
- PLUS-MINUS SIGN
- Also known as
- plus or minus sign, plus minus sign, plusminus
- Code point
- U+00B1
- Unicode block
- Latin-1 Supplement (U+0080–U+00FF)
- 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
What does ± mean in a measurement?
It gives the allowed or estimated deviation. 10 ± 0.5 means the true value lies between 9.5 and 10.5.
What is the difference between ± and ∓?
± is read “plus or minus” and ∓ “minus or plus”. They appear together when the signs are linked: choose the top sign in both, or the bottom sign in both.
What is the alt code for the plus-minus symbol?
On Windows, hold Alt and type 0177 on the numeric keypad to get ±. The shorter code Alt + 241 also works in most desktop apps. On a laptop without a keypad, copy it from this page or use 00B1 then Alt + X in Word.
How do I type the plus-minus symbol on a Mac?
Press Option + Shift + =. 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 plus-minus symbol?
Use the named entity ± or the numeric reference ± (hex ±). All three display ± in every browser.
What is the Unicode for the plus-minus symbol?
± is U+00B1, officially named PLUS-MINUS SIGN, in the Latin-1 Supplement block. It has been part of Unicode since version 1.1 (1993).