Software Tips & Tricks Inserting Special Characters & Symbols

By Laura Noble

In Word & WordPerfect, there are features that will change “1/2” to “½” after you type the characters. The same is true for other symbols such as the copyright sign (©). What happens when you are not in Word or WordPerfect and you want to insert one of these symbols?

The following list includes codes that can be used to insert special characters and symbols into most Windows based products (Word, WordPerfect, Excel, Publisher, Quattro Pro, Lotus 1-2-3, etc.).

1. Place cursor where you want the character to be inserted.

2. Verify NUMLOCK is turned on.

3. Hold down the ALT key and using the numeric keypad, type the character code that matches the symbol you want to insert.

Code	Character
0188	¼
0189	½
0190	¾
0178	²
0179	³
0169	©
0153	™
0174	®
0176	°
0247	÷
0215	×
0177	±
0137	‰
0248	ø
0216	Ø
0162	¢
0128	€
0163	£
0165	¥
0166	¦
0171	«
0187	»
0182	¶

For more short cuts, read Inserting Accents. Here’s a sneak peak…code 0232 inserts è.

Laura Noble is the owner of Noble Software Solutions. Laura can be contacted at 519-680-2689 or by e-mail at lnoble@noblesoftwaresolutions.com. www.noblesoftwaresolutions.com

Published in Networking Today, April 2001.