How to type symbols in Excel
Excel is the one place where a formula is often the right answer, because a symbol you build with a function updates with the cell instead of being typed into it once.
UNICHAR, for any character
=UNICHAR(176) returns °. The argument is the decimal codepoint, which is the number this site prints beside every character. CHAR() is the older function and only reaches 255.
Join it to a value
=A1&UNICHAR(176) puts the degree sign after whatever is in A1 and keeps it a live result. For display only, a custom number format such as 0"°" leaves the cell numeric so it still sorts and sums.
Insert › Symbol and Alt codes
Both work in a cell exactly as they do in Word, Alt codes included, with the same numeric-keypad requirement.
The characters people ask about most
| Character | Name | Excel formula |
|---|---|---|
| ° | Degree Symbol | =UNICHAR(176) |
| > | Greater-Than Sign | =UNICHAR(62) |
| < | Less-Than Sign | =UNICHAR(60) |
| ≥ | Greater Than or Equal | =UNICHAR(8805) |
| € | Euro Sign | =UNICHAR(8364) |
| ≈ | Approximately Equal | =UNICHAR(8776) |
| □ | White Square | =UNICHAR(9633) |
| $ | Dollar Sign | =UNICHAR(36) |
| ∴ | Therefore | =UNICHAR(8756) |
| ² | Superscript Two | =UNICHAR(178) |
| ▼ | Black Triangle Down | =UNICHAR(9660) |
| ₱ | Philippine Peso | =UNICHAR(8369) |
Every other place you might be typing, or a page for each character.