How to type the plus-minus symbol (±) on Windows
To type the plus minus symbol on Windows, hold Alt and type 0177 on the numeric keypad, then let go of Alt. The shorter Alt + 241 also works in most desktop apps. No keypad? Use the emoji panel or Word’s Alt + X.
Quick answer
Hold Alt, type 0177 on the numeric keypad, release Alt: ±. In Word you can also type 00B1 and press Alt + X.
Step by step
Turn on Num Lock
Alt codes only work with the digits on the numeric keypad, not the number row above the letters. Check that the Num Lock light is on.
Hold down Alt
Press and keep holding the left Alt key.
Type 0177 on the keypad
Enter the four digits 0, 1, 7, 7 on the keypad while Alt is still down.
Release Alt
The ± sign appears as soon as you let go of the key.
Alt + 0177 or Alt + 241?
Windows has two families of alt codes. With a leading zero, Alt + 0177 uses the Windows-1252 code page, where position 177 is ±. Without the zero, Alt + 241 uses the older code page 437 from the original IBM PC, where ± sits at 241. Both give the same character, U+00B1. If one of them produces a different symbol in an old program, try the other.
On a laptop without a number pad
Many thin laptops have no keypad, and the number row does not work for alt codes. You have three good options:
- Emoji panel: press Win + ., open the Symbols tab (Ω) and look in the maths symbols group for ±.
- Word and Outlook: type 00B1 and press Alt + X. Press Alt + X again to turn it back into the code.
- Character Map: press Win + R, run charmap, search for “plus-minus” and copy it.
Some laptops hide a keypad under the letters U, I, O, J, K, L and M, switched on with Fn + Num Lock. It works, but it is fiddly; the emoji panel is faster.
Where you will use ±
The sign says “plus or minus”: a tolerance (10 mm ± 0.2 mm), a margin of error in a survey (±3%), or the two roots of a quadratic, x = (−b ± √Δ) / 2a. In spreadsheets, Excel can build it with =UNICHAR(177); our guide to ± in Excel shows how to add it to number formats. For the full set of codes, see the plus-minus symbol page, and the alt code chart lists every other code from 1 to 255.
If nothing appears
The usual culprits are Num Lock being off, using the top number row, or holding the right Alt key on a layout where it acts as AltGr. Our alt codes troubleshooting guide covers the rarer cases, such as remote desktop sessions.
Frequently asked questions
What is the alt code for the plus-minus sign?
Alt + 0177, typed on the numeric keypad. Alt + 241 is an older code that gives the same ± in most programs.
How do I type ± on a Windows laptop without a keypad?
Press Win + . and choose ± from the Symbols tab, or in Word type 00B1 followed by Alt + X.
Is ± the same as +/-?
They mean the same thing, but ± is a single character. It keeps numbers such as 5 ± 0.1 together and looks correct in reports and on labels.