How to Type Special Characters on Mac: Complete Guide

You just switched to Mac and need to type a degree symbol. On Windows, you’d press Alt+0176 or use the character map. On Mac? It’s actually easier — once you know the three methods.

This guide covers every special character you’ll ever need on macOS, organized by what people actually search for.

The Three Methods (Pick One)

Method 1: Keyboard Shortcuts (Fastest)

Hold Option (⌥) and press a key. That’s it. Here are the ones you’ll use most:

Symbol	Name	Shortcut
©	Copyright	Option + G
®	Registered	Option + R
™	Trademark	Option + 2
°	Degree	Option + Shift + 8
€	Euro	Option + Shift + 2
£	British Pound	Option + 3
¥	Japanese Yen	Option + Y
¢	Cent	Option + 4
—	Em Dash	Option + Shift + -
–	En Dash	Option + -
…	Ellipsis	Option + ;
•	Bullet	Option + 8
≠	Not Equal	Option + =
≈	Approximately	Option + X
≤	Less or Equal	Option + ,
≥	Greater or Equal	Option + .
±	Plus-Minus	Option + Shift + =
÷	Division	Option + /
×	Multiplication	(use Character Viewer)
∞	Infinity	Option + 5
π	Pi	Option + P
√	Square Root	Option + V
∑	Sigma (Sum)	Option + W
∆	Delta	Option + J
Ω	Omega	Option + Z
µ	Micro	Option + M
¶	Pilcrow	Option + 7
§	Section	Option + 6
†	Dagger	Option + T
‡	Double Dagger	Option + Shift + 7
¿	Inverted Question	Option + Shift + ?
¡	Inverted Exclamation	Option + 1
«	Left Guillemet	Option + \
»	Right Guillemet	Option + Shift + \
‘	Left Single Quote	Option + ]
‘	Right Single Quote	Option + Shift + ]
“	Left Double Quote	Option + [
“	Right Double Quote	Option + Shift + [
‰	Per Mille	Option + Shift + R
fi	fi Ligature	Option + Shift + 5
fl	fl Ligature	Option + Shift + 6
◊	Lozenge	Option + Shift + V
ı	Dotless i	Option + Shift + B

Pro tip: To see every Option-key combination visually, go to System Settings → Keyboard → Input Sources → Show Input menu in menu bar. Then click the Input menu icon and select “Show Keyboard Viewer.” Hold Option to see all available symbols light up.

Method 2: Character Viewer (Most Complete)

Press Control + Command + Space to open the Character Viewer. This is Mac’s equivalent of Windows’ Character Map, but better.

What you can find here:

• Every emoji (obviously)
• Mathematical symbols (∫, ∂, ∇, ⊕, ⊗)
• Arrows (←, →, ↑, ↓, ⇒, ⟹, ↔)
• Currency symbols from every country
• Technical symbols (⌘, ⌥, ⇧, ⌃, ⎋, ⏎)
• Box drawing characters (┌, ─, ┐, │, └, ┘)
• Braille patterns
• Musical notation (♩, ♪, ♫, ♬)
• Dingbats and ornaments

To expand it: Click the small icon in the top-right corner of the emoji picker to switch to the full Character Viewer with search and categories.

To favorite symbols: Click a symbol, then click “Add to Favorites” — it’ll appear in a quick-access row at the top.

Method 3: Text Replacement (For Repeated Use)

If you type the same symbol frequently, set up a text replacement:

1. Open System Settings → Keyboard → Text Replacements
2. Click + to add a new replacement
3. Set “Replace” to something like degr and “With” to °

Now every time you type degr followed by space, it auto-replaces with °. This works across all apps.

Great replacements to set up:

• degr → °
• copyr → ©
• tmrk → ™
• emdash → —
• euroo → €
• approx → ≈

Accented Characters (á, ñ, ü, etc.)

Hold any letter key and a popup appears with all accent variations. For example:

• Hold a → à, á, â, ã, ä, å, ā
• Hold e → è, é, ê, ë, ē
• Hold n → ñ, ń
• Hold u → ù, ú, û, ü, ū
• Hold o → ò, ó, ô, õ, ö, ō
• Hold c → ç, ć, č

Press the corresponding number or click the accent you want. If no popup appears, go to System Settings → Keyboard and make sure “Press and hold for accents” is enabled (not key repeat).

Common Searches, Quick Answers

“How to type degree symbol on Mac?” Option + Shift + 8 → °

“How to type em dash on Mac?” Option + Shift + Hyphen → —

“How to type copyright symbol on Mac?” Option + G → ©

“How to type trademark symbol on Mac?” Option + 2 → ™

“How to type euro sign on Mac?” Option + Shift + 2 → €

“How to type apple logo on Mac?” Option + Shift + K →

“How to type squared or cubed?” Use Character Viewer (Control + Command + Space), search “superscript” → ² ³

“How to type checkmark on Mac?” Character Viewer → search “check” → ✓ ✔ ☑

“How to type bullet point on Mac?” Option + 8 → •

“How to type not equal sign on Mac?” Option + = → ≠

Windows vs Mac: Symbol Shortcut Comparison

If you’re switching from Windows, here’s a direct translation:

Symbol	Windows	Mac
©	Alt + 0169	Option + G
®	Alt + 0174	Option + R
™	Alt + 0153	Option + 2
°	Alt + 0176	Option + Shift + 8
€	Alt + 0128	Option + Shift + 2
£	Alt + 0163	Option + 3
—	Alt + 0151	Option + Shift + -
–	Alt + 0150	Option + -
•	Alt + 0149	Option + 8
≠	(none)	Option + =

Mac wins here — no memorizing 4-digit codes.

Using Special Characters in Specific Apps

In Terminal: All Option-key shortcuts work. For copy-paste, use Command + C/V (not Ctrl).

In Microsoft Word: All Mac shortcuts work, but Word also supports its own Insert → Symbol menu.

In Google Docs: Option-key shortcuts work. You can also use Insert → Special characters for a search-based picker.

In code editors (VS Code, Xcode): All shortcuts work. For programming symbols like {}[]|~, these are in their normal positions on the Mac keyboard — no Option key needed.

Keyboard Viewer: See Every Symbol

The built-in Keyboard Viewer is the single best tool for discovering symbols:

1. System Settings → Keyboard → Input Sources
2. Enable “Show Input menu in menu bar”
3. Click the Input menu (top-right menu bar) → Show Keyboard Viewer
4. A virtual keyboard appears on screen
5. Hold Option — every key changes to show its symbol
6. Hold Option + Shift — even more symbols appear

This is how you discover shortcuts you never knew existed.

The Bottom Line

You only need to remember three things:

1. Option + key for common symbols (©, ™, °, €, —)
2. Control + Command + Space for the Character Viewer (everything else)
3. Hold a letter for accented characters (é, ñ, ü)

That covers 99% of what you’ll ever need. Bookmark this page — you’ll come back to it.

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