SymbolHub

Pound Sign (£)

The pound sign £ is Unicode U+00A3, the sign of the pound sterling. Press Copy to put it on your clipboard, or type it with Alt + 0163 on Windows or Option + 3 on a Mac.

Unicode
U+00A3
HTML
£
Windows
Alt + 0163
Mac
Option + 3

How to type the pound sign (£)

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 + 0163. On a Mac it is Option + 3.

Windows

  1. Hold Alt and type 0163 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 156 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 00A3 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 Pound Sign, then Select and Copy. Character Map is built into every version of Windows.

Pound sign on Windows

Mac

  1. Press Option+3. On the standard US and US-International layouts.
  2. Press Control + Command + Space to open the Character Viewer, search for pound and double-click it.

Pound sign on Mac

Linux & ChromeOS

  1. Press Ctrl + Shift + U, type a3, then press Enter or Space. Works in GTK and IBus apps (GNOME, Firefox, Chrome, LibreOffice) and on ChromeOS.
  2. Press your Compose key, then L -. Needs a Compose key set in your keyboard settings.

iPhone & iPad

  1. Tap 123, then #+=. The pound sign £ is on that page.
  2. Copy £ from this page, then go to Settings → General → Keyboard → Text Replacement and add it with a shortcut such as ;poun. The shortcut then turns into the symbol as you type, in every app.

Pound sign on iPhone

Android

  1. In Gboard, tap ?123, then =\<. £ is on that page.
  2. Copy £ here, then open Gboard settings → Dictionary → Personal dictionary and add it with a shortcut.

Pound sign on Android

Microsoft Word

  1. Type 00A3, then press Alt + X.
  2. Insert → Symbol → More Symbols. Set “from” to Unicode (hex), type 00A3 in “Character code” and click Insert.
  3. On a Mac, Option+3 works in Word too.

Google Docs

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

Excel & Google Sheets

  1. Enter =UNICHAR(163) in a cell. It works in Excel 2013 and later and in Google Sheets.

HTML

  1. Write &pound; or &#163; in your HTML.

What does £ mean?

£ is the sign of the pound sterling (ISO code GBP), the currency of the United Kingdom. It is a stylised capital L, from the Latin libra, a Roman unit of weight; the bar through it marks it as an abbreviation. The same sign is used for other pounds, such as the Egyptian pound (EGP) and the Gibraltar and Falkland Islands pounds.

British English puts the sign before the amount with no space: £20, £4.99, £2.5m. On a UK keyboard it is Shift + 3. On a US keyboard, Windows users hold Alt and type 0163, and Mac users press Option + 3.

Watch the name. In the United States, “pound sign” usually means the # key on a telephone, not £. If you are writing for an international audience, say “pound sterling sign” or show the character.

Common uses

  • Prices and salaries in the UK: £1,250 per month
  • Large amounts in news: £3.4bn
  • Currency tables next to € and $

Pound Sign 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 pointU+00A3
HTML entity (named)&pound;
HTML decimal&#163;
HTML hex&#xA3;
CSS contentcontent: "\A3";
JavaScript"\u00A3"
Python"\u00A3"
Python (by name)"\N{POUND SIGN}"
Java / C#"\u00A3"
LaTeX\pounds
UTF-8 bytesC2 A3
UTF-1600A3
URL encoded%C2%A3
Windows Alt codeAlt + 0163
Alt code (CP437)Alt + 156
Mac shortcutOption + 3

£ 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.

CharNameWhen to use it
Lira
U+20A4		Lira sign with two bars, used for the old Italian lira. Some writers use it for the pound, but £ is correct.
L B Bar Symbol
U+2114		L B bar symbol, an old abbreviation for the pound as a unit of weight (lb).
Number
U+0023		Number sign, which Americans call the “pound sign” on phones.

Symbols similar to £

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

£ character properties

Official Unicode name
POUND SIGN
Also known as
pound sterling sign, GBP symbol, British pound symbol
Code point
U+00A3
Unicode block
Latin-1 Supplement (U+0080–U+00FF)
General category
Currency symbol (Sc)
Added in
Unicode 1.1 (1993)
Plane
Basic Multilingual Plane (0)
Emoji
No, it is a text symbol

Frequently asked questions

Why is the # key called the pound sign in America?

In the US, # was used as an abbreviation for pounds of weight (5# = five pounds), so telephone systems called it the pound key. The British currency sign is £.

How do I type £ on a US keyboard?

On Windows, hold Alt and type 0163 on the numeric keypad. On a Mac, press Option + 3. Or copy it from this page.

What is the alt code for the pound sign?

On Windows, hold Alt and type 0163 on the numeric keypad to get £. The shorter code Alt + 156 also works in most desktop apps. On a laptop without a keypad, copy it from this page or use 00A3 then Alt + X in Word.

How do I type the pound sign on a Mac?

Press Option + 3. 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 pound sign?

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

What is the Unicode for the pound sign?

£ is U+00A3, officially named POUND SIGN, in the Latin-1 Supplement block. It has been part of Unicode since version 1.1 (1993).