Finding Special Characters

Need a "special character" in a document? The Registered symbol (®), the Trademark symbol (™), the degree symbol (º), and the checkmark symbol (✓) are a few of the hundreds of available characters.

Here's how to find them:

On a Mac

Click "Edit" on the Menu bar at the top of the screen and click "Emoji and Symbols" (or "Special Characters" on older Macs). If you are using Apple Mail, you will see an "Emoji and Symbols" icon on the mail toolbar. You can use the Search bubble to locate your character directly or scroll though the options. Once you locate your symbol, double-click on it to insert it into your text.

On Windows 10

Type "character map" into the taskbar search box and click "character map" from the search results. Click on the desired character, click "select," and then click "copy." Return to your document, place the cursor where you want the character, right-click, and then click "paste."

On an iPad or iPhone

Some special characters are hiding "under" keys on your regular keyboard; just tap and hold down a key to find them. A full set of special characters is located on the "Emoji" keyboard, which you may need to add to your keypad. Go to Settings > General > Keyboard > Add Keyboard > Emoji. Once it's added, you will find it under the emoji symbol on your keypad, to the left of the space bar.

Note: when working in Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, Powerpoint), you can insert special characters from within the program itself: Insert > Symbol (or Advanced Symbol).

To learn more about Special Characters — including the keyboard shortcuts for the more popular ones — type "special characters" (and your operating system or device model) into your favorite search engine. You'll learn all you need to know ... and more.