Top 4 Ways to Add Special Characters in Windows 10

Top 4 Ways to Add Special Characters in Windows 10

I recently attended a group meeting on Microsoft Teams and one of the attendees was showing a PowerPoint presentation using screen sharing. On one slide, he used the word Copyright instead of the © symbol. It reminded me of the difficulty of adding special characters to documents or even in general conversation in Windows 10. I bet it’s just as difficult for a lot of you to find and use special characters. in Windows 10.


Special characters in Windows 10

Special characters such as currency symbols, math symbols, etc. are only used for special purposes. And you won’t be able to find your usual keyboards for them. Fortunately, Microsoft offers several ways to add special characters throughout the operating system.

In this article, we are going to talk about the four best ways to add special characters in Windows 10. It’s pretty easy and I’m sure you will learn something new with the article. Let’s start.

1. Windows Emoji Panel

This is the fastest and easiest way to add special characters in Windows 10. Just use the Windows + key; or Windows Key +. shortcut and it will bring up the default emoji panel at the cursor.

The menu is divided into three categories. The first is emoji, then Kaomoji, and the last is Symbols.

Go to the Symbols menu and you will see it nicely divided into some categories like recently used, currency symbols, math numbers, Greek symbols, etc.


Emoji menu in Windows 10

Tap or select the special character you want to add and appear in a document or conversation. I like the way Microsoft added the recently used symbols menu so you don’t have to scroll through hundreds of special characters every time you access the emoji panel.

My only problem with the emoji panel is the lack of a search bar. You can’t just search for terms like Euro or Register and quickly jump to the relevant symbols. Each time you try to add a new symbol, you will have to go through the long list of special characters to find the corresponding symbol.

2. Character map application

The Character Map is a native Windows accessory designed to meet this goal. Follow these simple steps to learn how to use character map on your computer.

Step 1: Click the Windows button, enter the character map and open the app. Otherwise, press Windows key + R to launch Run and type charmap and press Enter to open the character map on your computer.

2nd step: In the Character Map app, you can select different types of fonts from the top menu. By default, it is set to Arial.


Character card fonts

Step 3: Select the font that goes well with your document and you will see similar special characters in the bottom menu.

Step 4: Click once on the symbol to see the symbol name and double-click on a character you want to use and it will appear in the Characters to copy box.


Character card copy

Step 5: Now click on Copy, and it’s done. Paste it anywhere in the document using the Ctrl + V shortcut.

Unlike the emoji panel, Character Map offers a handy search tool to quickly find the symbol you are looking for.


Search the character map

Tap on the advanced view at the bottom and it will offer a search bar. You can type Copyright and it will filter out special characters for you.

3. Alternative codes

Alt codes come from pressing and holding the Alt key and pressing a specific set of numbers. It can be 1 to 4 digits. These codes are useful when you don’t have a symbol tool. The process is also faster if you know the code.

You cannot use Alt codes on your regular laptop keyboard. You must use the numbers on the numeric keypad, not the numbers printed under the function keys.


Alternative codes

First of all, you need to make sure that the Num Lock key is turned on. Then press the Alt key and use the combination of numbers to enter special characters. For example, you can use Alt + 0169 for copyright or Alt + 0163 for the euro symbol.

4. Special characters in Microsoft Word

If you mainly need to use special characters in Microsoft Word software, use the built-in symbols menu.


Word Symbols

While writing, tap the Insert menu at the top and open the Symbols menu. You’ll see a bunch of default symbols to choose from. Select More Symbols to open a detailed menu. You will see all the symbols and special characters to add to a Word document.


Symbols in the Word menu

The good news is that you can even use keyboard shortcuts to enter special characters in Word.

Also on Guiding Tech

Add special characters on the go

Similar to macOS, it is quite easy to insert special characters in Windows 10. As for me, I mostly rely on the emoji menu in Windows 10 to add special characters. Even in Word and Excel, I go for the emoji menu for inserting symbols because its key combination is easy to remember and doesn’t require you to move around apps and menus to get the job done.

Then:

Adding special characters in Google Docs is no longer difficult. Read the article below for the 5 best tips for inserting special characters in Google Docs.

Last updated August 16, 2020

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