Typing typographic characters on Windows
Alt codes on the numeric keypad, the Win + . symbol panel, and Word’s own shortcuts — three ways to type every dash, quote and sign, with the full code table.
Windows gives you three ways in: the classic Alt codes, the symbol panel on Win + ., and application shortcuts. The Alt codes are the fastest once learned — hold Alt, type the four digits on the numeric keypad (NumLock on), release Alt. The leading zero matters: Alt + 0151 is the em dash, while Alt + 151 without the zero reaches into an old DOS code page and gives you something else entirely. On a laptop without a keypad, use Win + . instead.
Dashes and the ellipsis
| Character | Alt code | |
|---|---|---|
| En dash | – |
Alt + 0150 |
| Em dash | — |
Alt + 0151 |
| Ellipsis | … |
Alt + 0133 |
Quotation marks and the apostrophe
| Character | Alt code | |
|---|---|---|
| Apostrophe, closing single | ’ |
Alt + 0146 |
| Opening single | ‘ |
Alt + 0145 |
| Opening double | “ |
Alt + 0147 |
| Closing double | ” |
Alt + 0148 |
| Guillemets | « » |
Alt + 0171 and Alt + 0187 |
| Single guillemets | ‹ › |
Alt + 0139 and Alt + 0155 |
| Low double (German, Ukrainian nested) | „ |
Alt + 0132 |
| Low single | ‚ |
Alt + 0130 |
Spaces, signs and symbols
| Character | Alt code | |
|---|---|---|
| No-break space | Alt + 0160 | |
| Degree | ° |
Alt + 0176 |
| Plus-minus | ± |
Alt + 0177 |
| Multiplication | × |
Alt + 0215 |
| Division | ÷ |
Alt + 0247 |
| Euro | € |
Alt + 0128 |
| Pound | £ |
Alt + 0163 |
| Yen | ¥ |
Alt + 0165 |
| Copyright | © |
Alt + 0169 |
| Registered | ® |
Alt + 0174 |
| Trademark | ™ |
Alt + 0153 |
| Section | § |
Alt + 0167 |
| Pilcrow | ¶ |
Alt + 0182 |
| Bullet | • |
Alt + 0149 |
| Dagger | † |
Alt + 0134 |
| Fractions | ½ ¼ ¾ |
Alt + 0189, 0188, 0190 |
Beyond the Alt codes
The four-digit codes cover the Windows-1252 character set and stop there. The true minus −, the primes ′ ″ and the arrow → are outside it:
- Win + . opens the emoji panel; its Symbols tab has a search box — type “minus” or “prime” and pick the character.
- In Word, type the hex code and press Alt + X:
2212Alt + X gives−,2032gives′,2192gives→. Word also has Ctrl + numpad-minus for the en dash, Ctrl + Alt + numpad-minus for the em dash, and Ctrl + Shift + Space for a no-break space. - Character Map (
charmapin the Start menu) is the old reliable: find, select, copy.
Or stop memorising
Codes are for the odd character in a chat message. For anything you publish, software should set the marks: paste your text into the playground — or run the engine in your build — and straight quotes, hyphens and (c) become the right characters for the language, by 31 documented rules. Alt + 0151 is good to know; typing it twice per paragraph is not a workflow.
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