Keyboard symbols: names and how to type all 33

The @ sign is easy to find on the number row, but | and ^ are easy to miss: one shares the backslash key and the other sits on 6. Knowing the name helps as well, since a colleague who says "type a pipe" or a tutorial that mentions a caret assumes you already know which mark that is. This page pairs each name with the exact keys, then covers the characters your keyboard doesn't show.

Printed keyboard symbols: Shift types the top half

Every key that shows two symbols works the same way. Press it alone and you get the lower one. Hold Shift while you press it and you get the upper one.

Hold Shift for the symbol on the top half of a key

The number row is where this matters most. Shift + 2 gives @, Shift + 3 a hash (#), and Shift + 8 an asterisk (*). The symbols are printed above the digits, so the keycap itself tells you what Shift will produce.

The same rule runs down the right side of the keyboard. The semicolon key types ; alone and : with Shift, the quote key ' and ", and the slash key / and ?. If you are unsure, look at the key: whatever sits on top needs Shift.

Where the pipe, tilde and caret symbols are

Three symbols are the hardest to spot. The pipe (|) is Shift + backslash, on the key just above Enter, and the tilde (~) is Shift + backtick, on the key to the left of 1. The caret (^) is Shift + 6.

The pipe shows up in command lines and tables, the tilde in home folder paths, and the caret in exponents such as 2^3. On a keyboard laid out for another country these keys can sit elsewhere, so trust the printing on your own keycaps over any diagram.

Keyboard symbols: names and shortcuts in one list

This list holds the 32 symbols printed on a US keyboard plus the yen sign, 33 in all. Search it by the symbol itself or by its name, such as "pipe" or "caret", and filter it by group. Press the button in the Symbol column to copy that character.

The Windows and Mac columns both assume a US keyboard layout. On a US keyboard the printed symbols sit in the same places on both systems, so the two columns match for every row except the yen sign, which isn't printed on US keys.

Slash vs backslash and hyphen vs underscore

The slash (/) leans forward and shares a key with the question mark, next to the right Shift key. The backslash () leans back and sits above Enter, sharing its key with the pipe. Web addresses use the slash; Windows folder paths such as C:\Users use the backslash.

The hyphen (-) is the key to the right of 0, and the underscore (_) is the same key with Shift. The hyphen sits at mid-height and the underscore rests on the baseline. Mixing them up breaks email addresses and file names, so compare the height of the line when you copy one by hand.

Special characters on Windows: Alt codes and Win + period

Windows gives you two ways to enter a character that has no key. Alt codes are quick once you know the number, and the emoji panel lets you browse when you don't.

Alt codes only work on the numeric keypad

An Alt code is a four-digit number you type while holding Alt. Keep Alt held down, type the digits on the numeric keypad, then let go: Alt + 0169 gives ©, and Alt + 0153 gives ™. Type the leading 0 as well, because the codes Microsoft lists all start with it.

The numeric keypad is the block of number keys on the right side of a full-size keyboard. The digits along the top row don't work for Alt codes, so they fail on laptops that have no keypad.

Windows key + period opens the symbol panel

On Windows 10 and 11, press the Windows key and the period key together to open the emoji panel. Choose Symbols inside it to scroll through punctuation, accented letters, currency signs and more, then click one to insert it. This works on any keyboard, keypad or not.

Mac special characters: Option keys and Character Viewer

A Mac has no Alt codes. Instead, the Option key turns many letter and number keys into a second set of characters, and the Character Viewer lists everything else.

Option key shortcuts for common symbols

With the standard ABC layout, Option + G types ©, Option + R types ®, and Option + 2 types ™. Option + 8 gives a bullet (•), and Option + Shift + 8 gives the degree sign (°). For dashes, Option + hyphen types an en dash (–), and adding Shift gives an em dash (—).

For accented letters, press and hold the letter key. A menu of accented versions appears, and you pick the one you want.

Open the Character Viewer with Fn + E

On current versions of macOS, press Fn + E (the Globe key on newer keyboards) or choose Edit > Emoji & Symbols to open the Character Viewer. It groups emoji, symbols and characters from other languages. Type a word such as "arrow" in its search field to find a symbol by name, then click it to insert it.

Symbols on iPhone and Android keyboards

Phone keyboards keep symbols on separate screens. On an iPhone, tap the Numbers key for digits and common punctuation, then the Symbols key for brackets, currency signs and the rest. Gboard on Android works the same way, and tapping ABC brings the letters back.

Both keyboards also hide variants behind a long press. Touch and hold a key and a row of related characters appears, which is often faster than switching screens.

Apple's own example is the accented é: touch and hold the e key, slide to é and lift your finger. The same long press works on punctuation keys, so it is worth trying before you go hunting through the Symbols screen.

Keyboard symbols in short: Shift, Alt codes and Option

Every symbol printed on a keyboard is either the key on its own or the key with Shift. The pipe, tilde and caret only feel hard because they sit on the backslash, backtick and 6 keys.

For characters that aren't printed, Windows has Alt codes and the Windows key + period panel, and a Mac has Option shortcuts and the Character Viewer. If you are moving between the two systems, "Mac keyboard shortcuts vs Windows: 58 compared" lines up the other keys you use every day.