You can type many special characters directly from your keyboard without having to use special programs or tools like Window’s Character Map. If there’s a character you use frequently, just remember the Alt code for it to type it quickly, such an an accented e (é).
This works on just about any IBM-compatible computer, and will work in DOS, Windows, and just about anything that supports keyboard standards. You can insert special symbols that are not available on a standard keyboard. You can save time when typing math or currency symbols, and you can easily use letters from different alphabets.
How to Use Alt Codes on Windows
- Make sure that the Num Lock key is enabled
- Hold down the Alt key.
- While holding the Alt key, type a 3 or 4-digit code from the tables below.
- Release the Alt key, and the character will appear where your text cursor is.
Standard Alt Codes (Hold Alt and enter the code on the numeric keypad)
| Alt Code | Symbol | Alt Code | Symbol | Alt Code | Symbol | Alt Code | Symbol | Alt Code | Symbol | Alt Code | Symbol |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | ☺ | 2 | ☻ | 3 | ♥ | 4 | ♦ | 5 | ♣ | 6 | ♠ |
| 7 | • | 8 | ◘ | 9 | ○ | 10 | ◙ | 11 | ♂ | 12 | ♀ |
| 13 | ♪ | 14 | ♫ | 15 | ☼ | 16 | ► | 17 | ◄ | 18 | ↕ |
| 19 | ‼ | 20 | ¶ | 21 | § | 22 | ▬ | 23 | ↨ | 24 | ↑ |
| 25 | ↓ | 26 | → | 27 | ← | 28 | ∟ | 29 | ↔ | 30 | ▲ |
| 31 | ▼ | 32 | space | 33 | ! | 34 | “ | 35 | # | 36 | $ |
| 37 | % | 38 | & | 39 | ‘ | 40 | ( | 41 | ) | 42 | * |
| 43 | + | 44 | , | 45 | – | 46 | . | 47 | / | 48 | 0 |
| 49 | 1 | 50 | 2 | 51 | 3 | 52 | 4 | 53 | 5 | 54 | 6 |
| 55 | 7 | 56 | 8 | 57 | 9 | 58 | : | 59 | ; | 60 | < |
| 61 | = | 62 | > | 63 | ? | 64 | @ | 65 | A | 66 | B |
| 67 | C | 68 | D | 69 | E | 70 | F | 71 | G | 72 | H |
| 73 | I | 74 | J | 75 | K | 76 | L | 77 | M | 78 | N |
| 79 | O | 80 | P | 81 | Q | 82 | R | 83 | S | 84 | T |
| 85 | U | 86 | V | 87 | W | 88 | X | 89 | Y | 90 | Z |
| 91 | [ | 92 | \ | 93 | ] | 94 | ^ | 95 | _ | 96 | ` |
| 97 | a | 98 | b | 99 | c | 100 | d | 101 | e | 102 | f |
| 103 | g | 104 | h | 105 | i | 106 | j | 107 | k | 108 | l |
| 109 | m | 110 | n | 111 | o | 112 | p | 113 | q | 114 | r |
| 115 | s | 116 | t | 117 | u | 118 | v | 119 | w | 120 | x |
| 121 | y | 122 | z | 123 | { | 124 | | | 125 | } | 126 | ~ |
| 127 | ⌂ | 128 | А | 129 | Б | 130 | В | 131 | Г | 132 | Д |
| 176 | ░ | 177 | ▒ | 178 | ▓ | 179 | │ | 180 | ┤ | 181 | ╡ |
| 182 | ╢ | 183 | ╖ | 184 | ╕ | 185 | ╣ | 186 | ║ | 187 | ╗ |
| 188 | ╝ | 189 | ╜ | 190 | ╛ | 191 | ┐ | 192 | └ | 193 | ┴ |
| 194 | ┬ | 195 | ├ | 196 | ─ | 197 | ┼ | 198 | ╞ | 199 | ╟ |
| 200 | ╚ | 201 | ╔ | 202 | ╩ | 203 | ╦ | 204 | ╠ | 205 | ═ |
| 206 | ╬ | 207 | ╧ | 208 | ╨ | 209 | ╤ | 210 | ╥ | 211 | ╙ |
| 212 | ╘ | 213 | ╒ | 214 | ╓ | 215 | ╫ | 216 | ╪ | 217 | ┘ |
| 218 | ┌ | 219 | █ | 220 | ▄ | 221 | ▌ | 222 | ▐ | 223 | ▀ |
| 224 | р | 225 | с | 226 | т | 227 | у | 228 | ф | 229 | х |
| 230 | ц | 231 | ч | 232 | ш | 233 | щ | 234 | ъ | 235 | ы |
| 236 | ь | 237 | э | 238 | ю | 239 | я | 240 | Ё | 241 | ё |
| 242 | Є | 243 | є | 244 | Ї | 245 | ї | 246 | Ў | 247 | ў |
| 248 | ° | 249 | ∙ | 250 | · | 251 | √ | 252 | № | 253 | ¤ |
| 254 | ■ | 255 | non-breaking space |
Extended Alt Codes (Alt+0xxx)
| Alt Code | Symbol | Alt Code | Symbol | Alt Code | Symbol | Alt Code | Symbol | Alt Code | Symbol |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0127 | (empty) | 0128 | € | 0129 | 0130 | ‚ | 0131 | ƒ | |
| 0132 | „ | 0133 | … | 0144 | ђ | 0145 | ‘ | 0146 | ‘ |
| 0147 | » | 0148 | « | 0149 | • | 0150 | – | 0151 | — |
| 0152 | ˜ | 0153 | ™ | 0154 | š | 0155 | ɨ̃ | 0156 | œ |
| 0157 | ќ | 0158 | ž | 0159 | Ÿ | 0160 | non-breaking space | 0161 | ¡ |
| 0162 | ¢ | 0163 | £ | 0164 | ¤ | 0165 | ¥ | 0166 | ¦ |
| 0167 | § | 0168 | ¨ | 0169 | © | 0170 | ª | 0171 | « |
| 0172 | ¬ | 0173 | н | 0174 | ® | 0175 | ¯ | 0176 | ° |
| 0177 | ± | 0178 | ² | 0179 | ³ | 0180 | ´ | 0181 | µ |
| 0182 | ¶ | 0183 | · | 0184 | ¸ | 0185 | ¹ | 0186 | º |
| 0187 | » | 0188 | ¼ | 0189 | ½ | 0190 | ¾ | 0191 | ¿ |
| 0192 | À | 0193 | Á | 0194 | Â | 0195 | Ã | 0196 | Ä |
| 0197 | Å | 0198 | Æ | 0199 | Ç | 0200 | È | 0201 | É |
| 0202 | Ê | 0203 | Ë | 0204 | Ì | 0205 | Í | 0206 | Î |
| 0207 | Ï | 0208 | Ð | 0209 | Ñ | 0210 | Ò | 0211 | Ó |
| 0212 | Ô | 0213 | Õ | 0214 | Ö | 0215 | × | 0216 | Ø |
| 0217 | Ù | 0218 | Ú | 0219 | Û | 0220 | Ü | 0221 | Ý |
| 0222 | Þ | 0223 | ß | 0224 | à | 0225 | á | 0226 | â |
| 0227 | ã | 0228 | ä | 0229 | å | 0230 | æ | 0231 | ç |
| 0232 | è | 0233 | é | 0234 | ê | 0235 | ë | 0236 | ì |
| 0237 | í | 0238 | î | 0239 | ï | 0240 | ð | 0241 | ñ |
| 0242 | ò | 0243 | ó | 0244 | ô | 0245 | õ | 0246 | ö |
| 0247 | ÷ | 0248 | ø | 0249 | ù | 0250 | ú | 0251 | û |
| 0252 | ü | 0253 | ý | 0254 | þ | 0255 | ÿ |
Common German Special Characters
| Alt Code | Symbol | Description | Keyboard Shortcut |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0196 | Ä | Capital A with umlaut | Shift + ” then A |
| 0214 | Ö | Capital O with umlaut | Shift + ” then O |
| 0220 | Ü | Capital U with umlaut | Shift + ” then U |
| 0228 | ä | Lowercase a with umlaut | ” then a |
| 0246 | ö | Lowercase o with umlaut | ” then o |
| 0252 | ü | Lowercase u with umlaut | ” then u |
| 0223 | ß | Eszett (sharp S) | Direct key on German keyboard |
| 0128 | € | Euro | Alt Gr + e |
