Alt Codes – How to Type Special Characters and Keyboard Symbols on Windows Using the Alt Keys (2024)

In Windows, you can type any character you want by holding down the ALT key, typing a sequence of numbers, then releasing the ALT key.

You can type a lot of characters that may not have a corresponding key on your keyboard – such as European language alphabetic characters, ASCII symbols, and even Chinese characters (also known as Hanzi, Kanji, or Hanja).

These Alt codes are also helpful if you have a keyboard with a stuck or missing key.

Below I will break down the entire list of alt keys by category. But first, here's the full list. (Note: this does not include the many, many characters from non-western European languages – otherwise it would be 100,000s of codes long.)

Below is a nice ASCII-formatted table of the most commonly-used symbols and characters. It took me a while to assemble all of these get them looking good.

As a developer, when I search for these codes I often get results that are image-based. These are inaccessible to people with visual disabilities, and make it hard for everyone to copy-paste the codes.

 Alt Code Symbol ---------- -------- alt 1 ☺ alt 2 ☻ alt 3 ♥ alt 4 ♦ alt 5 ♣ alt 6 ♠ alt 7 • alt 8 ◘ alt 9 ○ alt 10 ◙ alt 11 ♂ alt 12 ♀ alt 13 ♪ alt 14 ♫ alt 15 ☼ alt 16 ► alt 17 ◄ alt 18 ↕ alt 19 ‼ alt 20 ¶ alt 21 § alt 22 ▬ alt 23 ↨ alt 24 ↑ alt 25 ↓ alt 26 → alt 27 ← alt 28 ∟ alt 29 ↔ alt 30 ▲ alt 31 ▼ alt 32 alt 33 ! alt 34 " alt 35 # alt 36 $ alt 37 % alt 38 & alt 39 ' alt 40 ( alt 41 ) alt 42 * alt 43 + alt 44 , alt 45 - alt 46 . alt 47 / alt 48 0 alt 49 1 alt 50 2 alt 51 3 alt 52 4 alt 53 5 alt 54 6 alt 55 7 alt 56 8 alt 57 9 alt 58 : alt 59 ; alt 60 < alt 61 = alt 62 > alt 63 ? alt 64 @ alt 65 A alt 66 B alt 67 C alt 68 D alt 69 E alt 70 F alt 71 G alt 72 H alt 73 I alt 74 J alt 75 K alt 76 L alt 77 M alt 78 N alt 79 O alt 80 P alt 81 Q alt 82 R alt 83 S alt 84 T alt 85 U alt 86 V alt 87 W alt 88 X alt 89 Y alt 90 Z alt 91 [ alt 91 [ alt 92 \ alt 92 \ alt 93 ] alt 93 ] alt 94 ^ alt 95 _ alt 96 ` alt 97 a alt 98 b alt 99 c alt 100 d alt 101 e alt 102 f alt 103 g alt 104 h alt 105 i alt 106 j alt 107 k alt 108 l alt 109 m alt 110 n alt 111 o alt 112 p alt 113 q alt 114 r alt 115 s alt 116 t alt 117 u alt 118 v alt 119 w alt 120 x alt 121 y alt 122 z alt 123 { alt 124 | alt 125 } alt 126 ~ alt 127 ⌂ alt 155 ¢ alt 156 £ alt 157 ¥ alt 158 ₧ alt 159 ƒ alt 164 ñ alt 165 Ñ alt 166 ª alt 167 º alt 168 ¿ alt 169 ® alt 170 ¬ alt 171 ½ alt 172 ¼ alt 173 ¡ alt 174 « alt 175 » alt 176 ░ alt 177 ▒ alt 178 ▓ alt 179 │ alt 180 ┤ alt 181 ╡ alt 182 ╢ alt 183 ╖ alt 184 ╕ alt 185 ╣ alt 186 ║ alt 187 ╗ alt 188 ╝ alt 189 ╜ alt 190 ╛ alt 191 ┐ alt 192 └ alt 193 ┴ alt 194 ┬ alt 195 ├ alt 196 ─ alt 197 ┼ alt 198 ╞ alt 199 ╟ alt 200 ╚ alt 201 ╔ alt 202 ╩ alt 203 ╦ alt 204 ╠ alt 205 ═ alt 206 ╬ alt 207 ╧ alt 208 ╨ alt 209 ╤ alt 210 ╥ alt 211 ╙ alt 212 ╘ alt 213 ╒ alt 214 ╓ alt 215 ╫ alt 216 ╪ alt 217 ┘ alt 218 ┌ alt 219 █ alt 220 ▄ alt 221 ▌ alt 222 ▐ alt 223 ▀ alt 224 α alt 225 ß alt 226 Γ alt 227 π alt 228 Σ alt 229 σ alt 230 µ alt 231 τ alt 232 Φ alt 233 Θ alt 234 Ω alt 235 δ alt 236 ∞ alt 237 φ alt 238 ε alt 239 ∩ alt 240 ≡ alt 241 ± alt 242 ≥ alt 243 ≤ alt 244 ⌠ alt 245 ⌡ alt 247 ≈ alt 248 ° alt 249 · alt 250 · alt 251 √ alt 252 ⁿ alt 254 ■ alt 255 alt 0128 € alt 0130 ‘ alt 0132 „ alt 0133 … alt 0134 † alt 0135 ‡ alt 0137 ‰ alt 0138 Š alt 0139 ‹ alt 0140 Œ alt 0142 Ž alt 0145 ‘ alt 0146 ’ alt 0147 “ alt 0148 ” alt 0151 — alt 0153 ™ alt 0154 š alt 0155 › alt 0156 œ alt 0158 ž alt 0159 Ÿ alt 0164 ¤ alt 0166 ¦ alt 0168 ¨ alt 0169 © alt 0175 ¯ alt 0178 ² alt 0179 ³ alt 0180 ´ alt 0183 · alt 0184 ¸ alt 0185 ¹ alt 0188 ¼ alt 0189 ½ alt 0190 ¾ alt 0192 À alt 0193 Á alt 0194  alt 0195 à alt 0196 Ä alt 0197 Å alt 0198 Æ alt 0199 Ç alt 0200 È alt 0201 É alt 0202 Ê alt 0203 Ë alt 0204 Ì alt 0205 Í alt 0206 Ï alt 0207 Ï alt 0208 Ð alt 0210 Ò alt 0211 Ó alt 0212 Ô alt 0213 Õ alt 0214 Ö alt 0215 × alt 0216 Ø alt 0217 Ù alt 0218 Ú alt 0219 Û alt 0220 Ü alt 0221 Ý alt 0222 Þ alt 0223 ß alt 0224 à alt 0225 á alt 0226 â alt 0227 ã alt 0228 ä alt 0229 å alt 0230 æ alt 0231 ç alt 0232 è alt 0233 é alt 0234 ê alt 0235 ë alt 0236 ì alt 0237 í alt 0238 î alt 0239 ï alt 0240 ð alt 0242 ò alt 0243 ó alt 0244 ô alt 0245 õ alt 0246 ö alt 0247 ÷ alt 0248 ø alt 0249 ú alt 0250 û alt 0251 ü alt 0252 ù alt 0253 ý alt 0254 þ alt 0255 ÿ

OK – now let's break this list down by sections.

The first 31 alt codes are dedicated to fun characters like happy faces, arrows, and other common symbols:

 Alt Code Symbol ---------- -------- alt 1 ☺ alt 2 ☻ alt 3 ♥ alt 4 ♦ alt 5 ♣ alt 6 ♠ alt 7 • alt 8 ◘ alt 9 ○ alt 10 ◙ alt 11 ♂ alt 12 ♀ alt 13 ♪ alt 14 ♫ alt 15 ☼ alt 16 ► alt 17 ◄ alt 18 ↕ alt 19 ‼ alt 20 ¶ alt 21 § alt 22 ▬ alt 23 ↨ alt 24 ↑ alt 25 ↓ alt 26 → alt 27 ← alt 28 ∟ alt 29 ↔ alt 30 ▲ alt 31 ▼

As I mentioned earlier, you can use Alt codes to type characters you could otherwise type on your keyboard. This is helpful if one of your keyboard keys is non-operational.

Alt codes 32 through 126 are dedicated to these keys. And yes, Alt 32 is the space character.

 Alt Code Symbol ---------- -------- alt 32 alt 33 ! alt 34 " alt 35 # alt 36 $ alt 37 % alt 38 & alt 39 ' alt 40 ( alt 41 ) alt 42 * alt 43 + alt 44 , alt 45 - alt 46 . alt 47 / alt 48 0 alt 49 1 alt 50 2 alt 51 3 alt 52 4 alt 53 5 alt 54 6 alt 55 7 alt 56 8 alt 57 9 alt 58 : alt 59 ; alt 60 < alt 61 = alt 62 > alt 63 ? alt 64 @ alt 65 A alt 66 B alt 67 C alt 68 D alt 69 E alt 70 F alt 71 G alt 72 H alt 73 I alt 74 J alt 75 K alt 76 L alt 77 M alt 78 N alt 79 O alt 80 P alt 81 Q alt 82 R alt 83 S alt 84 T alt 85 U alt 86 V alt 87 W alt 88 X alt 89 Y alt 90 Z alt 91 [ alt 91 [ alt 92 \ alt 92 \ alt 93 ] alt 93 ] alt 94 ^ alt 95 _ alt 96 ` alt 97 a alt 98 b alt 99 c alt 100 d alt 101 e alt 102 f alt 103 g alt 104 h alt 105 i alt 106 j alt 107 k alt 108 l alt 109 m alt 110 n alt 111 o alt 112 p alt 113 q alt 114 r alt 115 s alt 116 t alt 117 u alt 118 v alt 119 w alt 120 x alt 121 y alt 122 z alt 123 { alt 124 | alt 125 } alt 126 ~

The next few Alt codes are focused on currencies, with a few Spanish-specific characters as well. These are helpful if you need to type the Spanish ñ letter or make upside down question marks or exclamation marks.

 Alt Code Symbol ---------- -------- alt 127 ⌂ alt 155 ¢ alt 156 £ alt 157 ¥ alt 158 ₧ alt 159 ƒ alt 164 ñ alt 165 Ñ alt 166 ª alt 167 º alt 168 ¿ alt 169 ® alt 170 ¬ alt 171 ½ alt 172 ¼ alt 173 ¡ alt 174 « alt 175 »

Alt Codes for ASCII Symbols, for Building Command Line Interfaces and ASCII Art

This is my favorite section – the many, many ASCII symbols you can use to make command line menus and ASCII art.

A screenshot from Dwarf Fortress, a video game with graphics made entirely from ASCII characters.

 Alt Code Symbol ---------- -------- alt 176 ░ alt 177 ▒ alt 178 ▓ alt 179 │ alt 180 ┤ alt 181 ╡ alt 182 ╢ alt 183 ╖ alt 184 ╕ alt 185 ╣ alt 186 ║ alt 187 ╗ alt 188 ╝ alt 189 ╜ alt 190 ╛ alt 191 ┐ alt 192 └ alt 193 ┴ alt 194 ┬ alt 195 ├ alt 196 ─ alt 197 ┼ alt 198 ╞ alt 199 ╟ alt 200 ╚ alt 201 ╔ alt 202 ╩ alt 203 ╦ alt 204 ╠ alt 205 ═ alt 206 ╬ alt 207 ╧ alt 208 ╨ alt 209 ╤ alt 210 ╥ alt 211 ╙ alt 212 ╘ alt 213 ╒ alt 214 ╓ alt 215 ╫ alt 216 ╪ alt 217 ┘ alt 218 ┌ alt 219 █ alt 220 ▄ alt 221 ▌ alt 222 ▐ alt 223 ▀

Alt Codes for Mathematical Symbols and Other Non-English Characters

And of course, you can type the Greek letters using alt codes. These are super helpful for typing out mathematical formats wherever you need to. For any real heavy lifting, you'd probably want to use something like TeX, but if you're just trying to send a mathematical expression through an instant message, these alt codes can come in hand.

 Alt Code Symbol ---------- -------- alt 224 α alt 225 ß alt 226 Γ alt 227 π alt 228 Σ alt 229 σ alt 230 µ alt 231 τ alt 232 Φ alt 233 Θ alt 234 Ω alt 235 δ alt 236 ∞ alt 237 φ alt 238 ε alt 239 ∩ alt 240 ≡ alt 241 ± alt 242 ≥ alt 243 ≤ alt 244 ⌠ alt 245 ⌡ alt 247 ≈ alt 248 ° alt 249 · alt 250 · alt 251 √ alt 252 ⁿ alt 254 ■ alt 255 alt 0128 € alt 0130 ‘ alt 0132 „ alt 0133 … alt 0134 † alt 0135 ‡ alt 0137 ‰ alt 0138 Š alt 0139 ‹ alt 0140 Œ alt 0142 Ž alt 0145 ‘ alt 0146 ’ alt 0147 “ alt 0148 ” alt 0151 — alt 0153 ™ alt 0154 š alt 0155 › alt 0156 œ alt 0158 ž alt 0159 Ÿ alt 0164 ¤ alt 0166 ¦ alt 0168 ¨ alt 0169 © alt 0175 ¯ alt 0178 ² alt 0179 ³ alt 0180 ´ alt 0183 · alt 0184 ¸ alt 0185 ¹ alt 0188 ¼ alt 0189 ½ alt 0190 ¾ alt 0192 À alt 0193 Á alt 0194  alt 0195 à alt 0196 Ä alt 0197 Å alt 0198 Æ alt 0199 Ç alt 0200 È alt 0201 É alt 0202 Ê alt 0203 Ë alt 0204 Ì alt 0205 Í alt 0206 Ï alt 0207 Ï alt 0208 Ð alt 0210 Ò alt 0211 Ó alt 0212 Ô alt 0213 Õ alt 0214 Ö alt 0215 × alt 0216 Ø alt 0217 Ù alt 0218 Ú alt 0219 Û alt 0220 Ü alt 0221 Ý alt 0222 Þ alt 0223 ß alt 0224 à alt 0225 á alt 0226 â alt 0227 ã alt 0228 ä alt 0229 å alt 0230 æ alt 0231 ç alt 0232 è alt 0233 é alt 0234 ê alt 0235 ë alt 0236 ì alt 0237 í alt 0238 î alt 0239 ï alt 0240 ð alt 0242 ò alt 0243 ó alt 0244 ô alt 0245 õ alt 0246 ö alt 0247 ÷ alt 0248 ø alt 0249 ú alt 0250 û alt 0251 ü alt 0252 ù alt 0253 ý alt 0254 þ alt 0255 ÿ

Thanks for making use of this Alt Codes Reference

I hope this little cheat sheet has been helpful for you. If it has, I encourage you to link to it and share it with your friends, so more people can benefit from it.