Special Characters & Text Symbols to Copy and Paste

What are special characters?

Special characters are the characters that aren't plain letters or numbers: punctuation such as — and …, signs such as © ™ ° €, accented letters such as é and ñ, and symbols such as ★ ♥ →. Each one is a Unicode character, so it copies, pastes and searches like text, and most take the font color around it.

The groups on this page fall into these types:

How to type special characters on Windows, Mac, phones and Chromebooks

Tapping a symbol above copies it, which works the same on any device. To type a symbol yourself, use one of these methods; the table in the next section lists the keys for common symbols.

1. Windows Alt codes: turn on Num Lock, hold Alt and type the code on the numeric keypad, such as Alt + 0176 for °. The number keys above the letters don't work for this, so a laptop without a numeric keypad needs one of the other methods.
2. Windows emoji panel: press Windows key + . (period). In Windows 11, select Symbols in the panel to browse symbols; in Windows 10 the panel shows emoji.
3. Mac Option shortcuts: on the U.S. keyboard layout, Option and Option + Shift type many symbols, such as Option + 2 for ™ and Option + Shift + Hyphen for —. Accents take two steps: Option + E, then E types é.
4. Mac Character Viewer: press Control + Command + Space or Fn/Globe + E, or choose Edit > Emoji & Symbols, then search for a symbol by name and click it.
5. Microsoft Word: go to Insert > Symbol > More Symbols and pick a symbol, or type a symbol's Unicode code and press Alt + X, such as 2260 and then Alt + X for ≠.
6. Google Docs: go to Insert > Symbols > Special characters, then pick a category, enter the character's Unicode value or draw the character in the box.
7. iPhone and Android: touch and hold the letter, number or symbol key related to the character, then slide to the one you want, such as holding e for é. Gboard on Android works the same way: touch and hold a key for accents and more options.
8. Chromebook: press Search + Shift + Space, or right-click in a text field and choose Emoji, to open a picker with a Symbols section and a search bar.

Keyboard shortcuts for common special characters

Windows Alt codes need the numeric keypad with Num Lock on. For symbols without an Alt code, the Windows column gives the Unicode code to type in Word before pressing Alt + X. Mac keys are for the U.S. keyboard layout; “Character Viewer” means there's no Option shortcut. HTML codes work in web pages.

Special characters for passwords

These 32 characters are the punctuation on a standard US keyboard that OWASP lists as password special characters. NIST's password guidance (SP 800-63B) says services should accept all printing ASCII characters and the space, but each site sets its own rules, so check its requirements if a password is rejected.

Spaces, emoji, accented letters such as é and symbols such as £ aren't accepted everywhere. Type password characters on your keyboard: a copied character can be a lookalike, such as the curly ’ instead of the straight ' key. This page has no password field, so nothing you type here is a password.

Why a special character shows up as a box

A box (□), a box with a code inside or a question mark means the font on that device or app doesn't include the character. The copy still worked; the receiving device just can't draw it. Older devices and newly added characters are more likely to show boxes, because their fonts may not include the character yet.

In the groups above, symbols marked * may show as a box on some devices. Before using a rare symbol in a username or title, paste it there and check how it looks, or pick a more common symbol from the same group.

Text symbols vs emoji

Text symbols such as ♥ ★ ✓ → are one-color characters. They follow the font, color and size of the text around them, so they fit in names, headings, lists and documents.

Emoji such as 😂 ✅ 🎀 are color pictures that Apple, Google, Microsoft and Samsung each draw in their own style. Some characters come in both forms: ❤ is the text form, and adding the invisible variation selector U+FE0F turns it into the emoji ❤️, though the final look still depends on the device. This page is mostly text symbols, with a few emoji such as ✅ ✨ 🎀.

Sources and standards

• Unicode Consortium — Code charts (code points and official names)
• Unicode Consortium — Character names list (NamesList.txt)
• Unicode Consortium — Display problems (why characters show as boxes)
• Unicode Consortium — FAQ: Emoji and dingbats (text and emoji presentation)
• Unicode Consortium — Windows-1252 to Unicode mapping (Alt code values)
• Unicode CLDR — U.S. Mac keyboard layout data
• WHATWG HTML Standard — Named character references
• Microsoft Support — Insert ASCII or Unicode Latin-based symbols and characters
• Microsoft Support — Insert a symbol in Word
• Microsoft Support — Windows keyboard tips and tricks
• Apple Support — Use emoji and symbols on Mac
• Apple Support — Mac keyboard shortcuts
• Apple Support — Type with the onscreen keyboard on iPhone
• Google Docs Editors Help — Insert emojis and special characters
• Gboard Help — Use your keyboard
• Chromebook Help — Find emojis, symbols, emoticons and GIFs
• OWASP — Password special characters
• NIST SP 800-63B — Digital Identity Guidelines: Authentication

Frequently asked questions