How to type any symbol on a Mac
macOS puts a second character on most keys and a third on many, reached with Option and Option+Shift. What it does not have is Alt codes: the numeric sequences written for Windows do nothing here, which is why a list that only gives Alt codes is no use to you.
Option and Option+Shift
Hold Option and press a key for its alternate character: Option+8 is •, Option+Shift+8 is °, Option+V is √. The layout is fixed and worth learning for the handful you use.
The Character Viewer holds everything else
Press Control+Command+Space. Search by Unicode name, or by what you would call it. Drag a character into your document, or double-click it. Add characters to Favourites and they are two keystrokes away after that.
Press and hold, for accents
Hold a vowel down and a small menu of accented forms appears; press the number under the one you want. If the letter just repeats instead, key repeat is on: defaults write -g ApplePressAndHoldEnabled -bool true in Terminal, then log out and back in.
Unicode Hex Input, for codepoints
System Settings › Keyboard › Input Sources, add Unicode Hex Input. With it selected, hold Option and type the four hex digits. It replaces the normal Option shortcuts while it is active, so switch back after.
The characters people ask about most
| Character | Name | Mac shortcut |
|---|---|---|
| ° | Degree Symbol | Option + Shift + 8 |
| ^ | Caret | Copy it from the guide |
| ` | Grave Accent | Copy it from the guide |
| ≥ | Greater Than or Equal | Option + . |
| ± | Plus-Minus | Option + Shift + = |
| ² | Superscript Two | Copy it from the guide |
| > | Greater-Than Sign | Copy it from the guide |
| < | Less-Than Sign | Copy it from the guide |
| ≈ | Approximately Equal | Option + X |
| ↑ | Up Arrow | Copy it from the guide |
| ∠ | Angle | Copy it from the guide |
| ♪ | Eighth Note | Copy it from the guide |
Every other place you might be typing, or a page for each character.