Alt
Alt Codes List for Windows
Hold Alt, type a number on the numeric keypad, release Alt — and a symbol appears. This is the complete practical list, plus what to do when Alt codes don't work.
Last reviewed on October 3, 2026.
How Alt Codes Work
- Turn Num Lock on.
- Hold the left Alt key.
- Type the code on the numeric keypad — the number row above the letters does not work.
- Release Alt. The character appears at the cursor.
Leading zero matters. Codes with a leading zero (Alt + 0169) use the Windows character set (code page 1252 on English and Western European systems). Codes without one (Alt + 169) use the old DOS character set (code page 437), which contains different characters — for example Alt + 0227 is ã but Alt + 227 is π.
Punctuation & Typography
| Char | Alt code | Name |
|---|---|---|
| — | Alt + 0151 | Em dash |
| – | Alt + 0150 | En dash |
| • | Alt + 0149 | Bullet |
| … | Alt + 0133 | Ellipsis |
| ‘ | Alt + 0145 | Left single quote |
| ’ | Alt + 0146 | Right single quote / apostrophe |
| “ | Alt + 0147 | Left double quote |
| ” | Alt + 0148 | Right double quote |
| « | Alt + 0171 | Left guillemet |
| » | Alt + 0187 | Right guillemet |
| ¡ | Alt + 0161 | Inverted exclamation mark |
| ¿ | Alt + 0191 | Inverted question mark |
| § | Alt + 0167 | Section sign |
| ¶ | Alt + 0182 | Pilcrow (paragraph) |
| † | Alt + 0134 | Dagger |
| ‡ | Alt + 0135 | Double dagger |
| · | Alt + 0183 | Middle dot |
Alt + 0160 | Non-breaking space (invisible) |
Legal & Currency
| Char | Alt code | Name |
|---|---|---|
| © | Alt + 0169 | Copyright |
| ® | Alt + 0174 | Registered trademark |
| ™ | Alt + 0153 | Trademark |
| € | Alt + 0128 | Euro |
| £ | Alt + 0163 | Pound sterling |
| ¢ | Alt + 0162 | Cent |
| ¥ | Alt + 0165 | Yen |
| ¤ | Alt + 0164 | Generic currency sign |
| ƒ | Alt + 0131 | Florin |
Maths & Science
| Char | Alt code | Name |
|---|---|---|
| ° | Alt + 0176 | Degree |
| ± | Alt + 0177 | Plus-minus |
| × | Alt + 0215 | Multiplication |
| ÷ | Alt + 0247 | Division |
| ² | Alt + 0178 | Superscript two |
| ³ | Alt + 0179 | Superscript three |
| ¹ | Alt + 0185 | Superscript one |
| ½ | Alt + 0189 | One half |
| ¼ | Alt + 0188 | One quarter |
| ¾ | Alt + 0190 | Three quarters |
| µ | Alt + 0181 | Micro |
| ‰ | Alt + 0137 | Per mille |
| ¬ | Alt + 0172 | Not sign |
Greek, Maths & Arrows (No Leading Zero)
These come from the DOS character set and are typed without a leading zero. They work in most Windows desktop apps (Word, Notepad, browsers), though a few apps handle them differently.
| Char | Alt code | Name |
|---|---|---|
| √ | Alt + 251 | Square root |
| ∞ | Alt + 236 | Infinity |
| π | Alt + 227 | Pi |
| ≈ | Alt + 247 | Almost equal |
| ≤ | Alt + 243 | Less than or equal |
| ≥ | Alt + 242 | Greater than or equal |
| ≡ | Alt + 240 | Identical to |
| Σ | Alt + 228 | Sigma |
| Ω | Alt + 234 | Omega |
| α | Alt + 224 | Alpha |
| ° | Alt + 248 | Degree |
| ↑ | Alt + 24 | Up arrow |
| ↓ | Alt + 25 | Down arrow |
| → | Alt + 26 | Right arrow |
| ← | Alt + 27 | Left arrow |
| ♥ | Alt + 3 | Heart |
| ♦ | Alt + 4 | Diamond |
| ♣ | Alt + 5 | Club |
| ♠ | Alt + 6 | Spade |
| ☺ | Alt + 1 | Smiley |
Accented Letters
| Char | Alt code | Char | Alt code |
|---|---|---|---|
| á | Alt + 0225 | Á | Alt + 0193 |
| à | Alt + 0224 | À | Alt + 0192 |
| â | Alt + 0226 | Â | Alt + 0194 |
| ä | Alt + 0228 | Ä | Alt + 0196 |
| ã | Alt + 0227 | å | Alt + 0229 |
| æ | Alt + 0230 | ç | Alt + 0231 |
| é | Alt + 0233 | É | Alt + 0201 |
| è | Alt + 0232 | È | Alt + 0200 |
| ê | Alt + 0234 | ë | Alt + 0235 |
| í | Alt + 0237 | Í | Alt + 0205 |
| ì | Alt + 0236 | î | Alt + 0238 |
| ï | Alt + 0239 | ñ | Alt + 0241 |
| Ñ | Alt + 0209 | ó | Alt + 0243 |
| Ó | Alt + 0211 | ò | Alt + 0242 |
| ô | Alt + 0244 | ö | Alt + 0246 |
| Ö | Alt + 0214 | õ | Alt + 0245 |
| ø | Alt + 0248 | œ | Alt + 0156 |
| ú | Alt + 0250 | Ú | Alt + 0218 |
| ù | Alt + 0249 | û | Alt + 0251 |
| ü | Alt + 0252 | Ü | Alt + 0220 |
| ß | Alt + 0223 | ÿ | Alt + 0255 |
For heavy accent typing, the US-International layout or the Mac Option-key method is faster — see the accent marks guide.
Alt Codes Not Working?
- No numeric keypad (most laptops): some laptops have an embedded keypad on the letter keys activated with Fn or Num Lock. Otherwise use one of the alternatives below.
- Num Lock is off: with Num Lock off, the keypad acts as arrow keys and nothing is inserted.
- You used the number row: Alt codes only read the numeric keypad.
- Wrong character appears: check the leading zero, and remember that
Alt + 0nnndepends on the system's code page — on Cyrillic, Greek or Asian Windows installs the same code gives a different character. - Codes above 255 (for example "Alt + 8800" for ≠) do not produce Unicode characters in standard Windows apps. Use Word's Alt + X method instead.
Alternatives to Alt Codes
- Emoji & symbol panel: Win + . opens a picker with emoji, kaomoji and a Symbols tab (Ω) for punctuation, currency, Latin, Greek and maths symbols.
- Word and Outlook: type the Unicode hex code and press Alt + X — for example
2713→ ✓,2260→ ≠. Press Alt + X again to turn a character back into its code. - Character Map: run
charmap, search by name, then copy. It shows the Alt code for characters that have one in the status bar. - Touch keyboard: long-press letters for accented variants on the Windows touch keyboard.