Keyboard Symbols: Names and How to Type Them

How to use this keyboard symbols tool

1. Type a name such as tilde, pipe or copyright in the search box to filter both tables.
2. Press Copy next to a symbol, then paste it with Ctrl+V (Cmd+V on Mac).
3. If you do not know what a key types, click the "Press a key" box and press it. The box shows the character, its name and its Unicode code point, for example U+0040 for the at sign.
4. Press Esc to leave the box, then use Tab to move on.

The full tables are in the tool section above, so they are not repeated here. The sections below explain how the symbols are grouped and what the less familiar ones are for.

The symbols on a standard keyboard

A US keyboard prints its symbols in a few groups.

• Number row. Shift plus 1 to 0 types ! @ # $ % ^ & * ( ), in that order.
• Brackets. Square [ ] and curly { } sit on the two keys right of P. Parentheses ( ) are on 9 and 0. The angle brackets < > are Shift on the comma and period keys.
• Punctuation. Semicolon and colon share one key, as do apostrophe and double quote, comma and less-than, period and greater-than, and slash and question mark.
• Math and joining marks. Hyphen and underscore share the key right of 0. Equals and plus share the key after it.

The less familiar keyboard symbols

• Tilde (~) is Shift plus the key left of 1. It stands for your home folder in Unix shells and for "approximately" in everyday writing.
• Backtick (`) is the same key without Shift. Markdown uses it to mark inline code, and it is a different character from the apostrophe.
• Caret (^) is Shift+6. It marks exponents, such as 2^3, and the start of a line in regular expressions.
• Pipe (|) is Shift plus the backslash key. In a command line it passes the output of one command to the next.
• Backslash (\) separates folders in Windows paths and starts escape sequences in most programming languages. It is not the forward slash on the ? key.

How to type symbols with Shift

Most keys carry two characters. Hold Shift, press the key, then release both. The upper character on the keycap is the Shift one. Letters work the same way and switch between lowercase and capitals. If you want several Shift key symbols in a row, hold Shift down and press each key in turn.

Special characters: Windows Alt codes and Mac shortcuts

Characters that are not printed on a US keyboard, such as ©, ° and €, have their own shortcuts.

• Windows Alt codes. Turn on Num Lock, hold Alt, type the code on the numeric keypad, then release Alt. The number row above the letters does not work. For © the code is Alt+0169. You can check that your numpad registers with the keyboard tester.
• Laptops without a numpad. Press Win+. (period) to open the emoji and symbol panel, or open Character Map from the Start menu and copy the character.
• Mac. Hold Option, as in Option+G for © or Option+Shift+2 for €. For anything without a default shortcut, such as ×, press Ctrl+Cmd+Space to open the Character Viewer.

Symbols on other keyboard layouts

The tables above use the US layout. Other layouts move symbols around.

• UK: Shift+2 types a double quote (") and the at sign (@) is Shift plus the apostrophe key. The pound sign (£) is Shift+3. The hash (#) has its own key near Enter.
• German: the at sign is AltGr+Q, and Shift+3 types §.

To see where every symbol sits on any layout, open the keyboard layout viewer. To get the exact key name or code a key sends, use the keycode finder. For shortcuts that combine these keys, see keyboard shortcuts.

Why a symbol key types something else

If Shift+2 gives a quote instead of @, or the at sign appears on a different key, your operating system is using another layout than the one printed on your keycaps. Check the language indicator in the taskbar (Windows) or menu bar (Mac) and switch to the layout that matches your keyboard. The "Press a key" box above shows what your current layout produces. If a key types nothing at all, read keyboard not working.