How to Type the Degree Symbol (°) on Windows, Mac, iPhone and Android

The degree symbol is one of the most typed special characters on the planet, and one of the most awkward to find on a keyboard. It is used for temperature (25°C), angles (90°), latitude and longitude, and oven settings. Below is the fastest method for every device, followed by the fixes for when the obvious method fails.

The one-minute answer

If you just need the character right now, copy it here: °

Windows

The classic way is the Alt code. Make sure Num Lock is on, hold down the Alt key, type 0176 on the numeric keypad, and let go of Alt. The ° appears where your cursor was.

The leading zero matters. Alt+0176 uses the Windows-1252 code page, which is what modern Windows expects. Alt+248 (without a zero) also produces ° on most systems because the old CP437 table happens to map 248 to the same character, but you should get used to the four-digit version because it is the one that works consistently for every other symbol.

If you have no numpad

Laptop keyboards usually drop the numeric keypad, and Alt codes do not work with the number row. You have three good options:

1. Emoji and symbol panel. Press Windows + . (period), click the symbols tab (Ω), and pick ° from the general punctuation group. It stays in your recently used list afterwards.
2. Character Map. Search for “Character Map” in the Start menu, find °, click Select, then Copy.
3. Fn + numpad overlay. Some laptops hide a numpad under the J, K, L, U, I, O keys. Hold Fn + Alt and type the code on those keys.

Mac

Press Option + Shift + 8. Do not skip the Shift key: Option + 8 on its own types a bullet (•), which looks similar at small sizes and catches a lot of people out.

You can also open the Character Viewer with Control + Command + Space, search for “degree”, and double-click the result.

iPhone and iPad

1. Switch to the number keyboard by tapping 123.
2. Press and hold the 0 key.
3. A small pop-up appears with the degree symbol. Slide your finger onto it and release.

Android

On Gboard and the Samsung keyboard, press and hold 0 on the number keyboard, exactly like iPhone. If your keyboard does not show it, tap the =< or ?123 key to open the symbols page, where ° sits near the top.

Word, Excel and Google Docs

• Word (Windows): type 00B0 and press Alt + X. Word swaps the code for °. This works anywhere Word is running, no numpad needed.
• Word (Mac): Option + Shift + 8, or Insert → Advanced Symbol.
• Excel: the Alt code works in a cell. Or use the formula =CHAR(176) and copy the result.
• Google Docs: Insert → Special characters, then draw a small circle in the sketch box. Docs recognises it and offers °.

HTML, CSS and code

Degree symbol versus other circles

There are a few lookalikes, and Google, spreadsheets and search boxes treat them as different characters:

• ° U+00B0 Degree Sign. This is the one you want.
• º U+00BA Masculine Ordinal Indicator. Used in Spanish and Portuguese (1º). Often underlined in fonts.
• ˚ U+02DA Ring Above. A diacritic, not a symbol.
• ⁰ U+2070 Superscript Zero. A number, not a degree sign.

If a temperature is not matching in a search or a formula, one of these has probably crept in. Retype it with one of the methods above.

Frequently asked questions