Insert a symbol or special character

You can use the Symbol dialog box to insert symbols, such as ¼ and ©, or special characters, such as an em dash (—) or ellipsis (…) that are not on your keyboard, as well as Unicode characters.

The types of symbols and characters that you can insert depend on the font that you choose. For example, some fonts may include fractions (¼), international characters (Ç, ë), and international monetary symbols (£, ¥). The built-in Symbol font includes arrows, bullets, and scientific symbols. You might also have additional symbol fonts, such as Wingdings, that include decorative symbols.

Note: You can increase or decrease the size of the Symbol dialog box. Move the pointer to the lower-right corner of the dialog box until it changes into a double-headed arrow, and then drag to the size that you want.

What do you want to do?

Insert a symbol

Insert a special character

Insert a Unicode character

Insert a symbol

1. Click where you want to insert the symbol.

2. On the Insert tab, in the Symbols group, click Symbol.

3. Do one of the following:

   • Click the symbol that you want in the drop-down list.

   • If the symbol that you want to insert is not in the list, click More Symbols. In the Font box, click the font that you want, click the symbol that you want to insert, and then click Insert.

     Note: If you are using an expanded font, such as Arial or Times New Roman, the Subset list appears. Use this list to choose from an extended list of language characters, including Greek and Russian (Cyrillic), if available.

4. Click Close.

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Insert a special character

1. Click where you want to insert the special character.

2. On the Insert tab, in the Symbols group, click Symbol, and then click More Symbols.

3. Click the Special Characters tab.

4. Click the character that you want to insert, and then click Insert.

5. Click Close.

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Insert a Unicode character

You can insert a Unicode character into a document by selecting a character from the Symbol dialog box or by typing the character code directly in a document.

Select a Unicode character from the Symbol dialog box

When you select a Unicode character in the Symbol dialog box, its character code appears in the Character code box.

1. Click where you want to insert the Unicode character.

2. On the Insert tab, in the Symbols group, click Symbol, and then click More Symbols.

3. On the Symbols tab, in the Font box, click the font that you want.

4. In the from box, click Unicode (hex).

5. If the Subset box is available, click a character subset.

6. Click the symbol that you want to insert, and then click Insert.

7. Click Close.

Use the keyboard to insert a Unicode character code in a document

If you know the character code, you can enter the code in your document and then press ALT+X to convert it into a character. For example, press 002A and then press ALT+X to produce *. The reverse also works. To display the Unicode character code for a character that is already in your document, place the insertion point directly after the character and press ALT+X.

If ALT+X is converting the wrong character code, you may select the correct character code before pressing ALT+X, or you can precede the code with the letters "U+".  Suppose you want the text "1µ". "B5" is the Unicode for "µ" but typing "1B5" and pressing ALT+X will result in a "Ƶ".  Instead, you can type "1U+B5" and press ALT+X, or you can type "1B5", select "B5", and press ALT+X.  Either method will result in the desired text.

Find a Unicode character code

When you select a Unicode character in the Symbol dialog box, its character code appears in the Character code box.

1. On the Insert tab, in the Symbols group, click Symbol, and then click More Symbols.

2. On the Symbols tab, in the Font box, click the font that you want.

3. In the from box, click Unicode (hex).

4. The Unicode character code is displayed in the Character code box.

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See also

Insert mathematical symbols