Unit Symbols
Copy unit symbols for science and measurement: ° ℃ ℉ for temperature, Ω µ for electronics, ‰ ‱ for rates and compact squared units such as ㎡ ㎞ ㎏. The notes below say which forms the SI standard recommends.
Click any symbol to copy it. 48 symbols
Temperature and angles
5Electrical and physics units
6Rates and proportions
4Squared unit characters (CJK compatibility)
29These single characters come from East Asian typesetting. In ordinary text, write the letters with a superscript instead, for example m² rather than ㎡.
Superscripts for units
4Writing units the SI way
The International System of Units (SI) sets simple rules that most style guides follow. Put a space between the number and the unit, 25 kg, and keep the unit symbol upright and without a full stop. The exceptions are the degree sign for angles, the arcminute ′ and the arcsecond ″, which touch the number: 45°. For temperatures, SI writes 20 °C with a space.
Unicode includes single-character forms such as ℃, ℉, the kelvin sign and the angstrom sign Å, but it marks them as compatibility characters. The standard recommends composing them instead: ° followed by C, the letter K, and the letter Å (U+00C5). The Celsius symbol page explains why ℃ can cause search and sorting problems.
Micro and ohm
µ (the micro sign, U+00B5) prefixes one millionth: µm, µg. It looks identical to the Greek letter mu μ, and either works for display; the micro sign has the advantage of an alt code (Alt + 0181) and a Mac shortcut (Option + M). For resistance, Unicode recommends the Greek capital omega Ω (Option + Z on a Mac) over the separate ohm sign.
Squared and cubed units
To write square metres, type m followed by the superscript two: m². On Windows that is Alt + 0178 for ², and Alt + 0179 for ³. The ready-made ㎡ and ㎥ characters are designed for vertical Japanese text and look cramped next to Latin letters. More exponents are in the superscript and subscript collection.
Frequently asked questions
Should I use ℃ or °C?
Use °C, the degree sign followed by the letter C. Unicode keeps ℃ only for compatibility with East Asian encodings, and search engines and screen readers handle °C better.
How do I type the micro sign µ?
On Windows, hold Alt and type 0181 on the numeric keypad. On a Mac, press Option + M. In HTML, write µ.
How do I write square metres?
Type m followed by a superscript two: m². The ² is Alt + 0178 on Windows. In HTML, use m².
What does ‰ mean?
‰ is the per mille sign, meaning parts per thousand. 5‰ is the same as 0.5%. It is used for blood alcohol, salinity and slopes.