Mac's built-in special characters help translators, mathematicians, and those who are tired of using the “:)” character as an emoji. The keyboard shortcuts and the “Edit” → “Special Characters” menu are considered sufficient if you want to search for common symbols. For more complicated (or less popular) symbols or projects that require a lot of symbols, try taking the time to set up the keyboard input menu.
Step
Method 1 of 3: Using Quick Keyboard Shortcuts
Step 1. Press and hold the letter keys to view the associated symbols
In text documents or online text fields, you can display a list of similar symbols in other alphabets by pressing and holding the letter key. While holding down the button, click the symbol you need to use or press the number key according to the number shown below the symbol. Here are some examples of symbols you can use:
- Press and hold the a button to enter “à”, “á”, “â”, “ä”, “æ”, “ã”, “å”, or “ā”. Other vowel keys have similar options.
- Press and hold the c key to enter “ç”, “ć”, and “č”.
- Press and hold the n button to enter “ñ” or “ń”.
- Keep in mind that some fonts don't have a pop-up menu.
- This menu will not be displayed if the “Key Repeat slider” feature is set to the off position (“Off”) in the “System Preferences” → “Keyboard” menu.
Step 2. Press and hold the Option key
Pressing another key while you press and hold the Option key (or alt=""Image" on some keyboards) can result in a special symbol. With this procedure, you can enter a variety of symbols (mostly math or currency symbols). As an example:
- Option + p = “π”
- Option + 3 = “£”
- Option + g = “©”
- Read the full list of keyboard shortcuts at the end of the article. Alternatively, follow the keyboard input guide below to see an on-screen keyboard displaying the following symbols.
Step 3. Press and hold the Option. button and Shifts.
To find more symbols, hold down both keys while pressing another key on the keyboard. You can refer to the list at the end of the article to see all the options, or try the following options:
- Option + Shift + 2 = “€”
- Option + Shift + / = “¿”
Method 2 of 3: Inserting Emoji and Other Symbols
Step 1. Click "Edit" on the menu bar
Select the text field where you want to insert the emoji. You can use most text fields, such as email fields or text documents. To ensure a successful process, try using TextEdit.
If you want the special character window to stay open while typing text, click an empty space on the desktop
Step 2. Open the special character menu
Look for this option at the bottom of the “Edit” drop-down menu. This option is named Emoji & Symbols or Special Characters…, depending on the version of OS X you're running.
You can also access this menu via the keyboard shortcut Command + Control + Space
Step 3. Browse the available options
The special character pop-up window comes with several categories. Click the tabs at the bottom of the window to switch from one category to another. Click the arrow tabs to scroll through the list and see more categories.
- If you're having trouble finding the symbol you want, scroll down the special characters window to bring up the search bar.
- You can switch from a small window to a large window using the button in the upper-right corner of the window. However, you may need to scroll through the window before the button appears.
Step 4. Select the symbol you want
Double-click the symbol to insert it into the text field. You can also drag and drop symbols into the column, or right-click the symbol, choose “Copy Character Info”, and then paste the symbol into the column.
- On some older versions of OS X, click the "Insert" button.
- The next time you use this menu, the last used symbols will be displayed on the first tab for easy access.
Method 3 of 3: Using Keyboard Input Options
Step 1. Open System Preferences
You can access these applications from the menu at the top of the screen (Apple symbol) or the “Applications” folder. The System Preferences icon may also appear in the computer's Dock.
Step 2. Use the search keyword “Input”
Type "Input" into the search bar in the upper-right corner of the System Preferences window. One or more menu options will be marked after that. Select any of the options below that are marked:
- “Keyboard” (select this option if the computer is running the latest version of OS X)
- " International " (on some older OS X versions)
- “Language & Text” (earliest OS X version)
Step 3. Select the “Input Sources” tab
Click the “Input Sources” tab once you have accessed the appropriate submenu. You'll see a list of flags, country names, and/or keyboard images, depending on the version of OS X you're running.
Step 4. Check the box next to “Show Input menu in menu bar”
This option is displayed at the bottom of the window. Once the box is checked, you can see a new symbol on the right side of the menu bar at the top of the screen. This symbol may be displayed as a flag or a black and white keyboard image.
Step 5. Click “Show Character Viewer” from the new menu options
Click the new symbol in the menu bar at the top of the screen and select “Show Character Viewer”. A new window with a diverse collection of symbols will be displayed (similar to the previous Emoji method). To use it, follow these steps:
- Click the category name on the left pane.
- Scroll through the middle pane to find the desired symbol. To see variations of the same symbol, click the symbol and browse through the options in the right pane.
- Double-click the symbol to “type it”, drag and drop the symbol into the column, or right-click the symbol and select “Copy Character Info”. On some older versions of OS X, click the “Insert” button.
Step 6. Click on “Show Keyboard Viewer”
Another option from the same menu is "Show Keyboard Viewer". Once the option is selected, the keyboard image will be displayed on the screen. This feature is useful for tracking symbols that are not printed on a physical keyboard. For example, you can press and hold Option and/or Shift and see how the symbols on the on-screen keyboard change.
You can drag the keyboard to any part of the screen. Resize the keyboard by clicking and dragging one of its corners
Step 7. Activate another keyboard (optional)
If you frequently type posts in multiple languages, return to the same menu in the System Preferences window. Press the + button and browse through the available language options, then click Add after finding the desired language. Even if you're not typing in another language, some keyboard layouts can help you:
- The English (“English”) segment, for example, has a “U. S. Extended” keyboard option. This option offers more symbols when you follow the Option key trick described earlier.
- Several languages offer the option to emulate a PC keyboard layout. However, this feature usually only changes the position of a few buttons.
- If you're typing using a non-English keyboard, switch to the standard United States English ("U. S. standard") keyboard temporarily so you can use the list of symbol shortcuts at the end of the article.
Step 8. Switch from one keyboard to another
You can activate multiple keyboards at once. To switch from one option to another, use the same menu (at the top of the screen) you used to find the character and keyboard viewer windows. After that, select the keyboard you want to use from the drop-down list.
You can also create hotkeys to change the active keyboard. Type the search keyword "Shortcuts" into the search bar in System Preferences and click the marked menu. After entering the “Shortcuts” menu, select “Input Sources” on the left side and check the box next to “Select the previous input source“
List of Shortcut Symbols
The left column of the list shows symbols that you can type by holding down Option and pressing another key. To get to the symbols in the right column, you need to press Option, Shift, and the third key.
Symbol of the Option / Alt. Key
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Tips
- The specific keyboard shortcuts mentioned in this article are guaranteed to work only on the U. S. standard version of the English keyboard. Switch to this keyboard temporarily if you can't find the correct symbol on the keyboard you normally use.
- If one of the special symbols mentioned in this article is displayed as a square, your browser may not display it properly. However, all major Mac browsers can display the symbols in this article.
