How to Put a Degree Symbol in Microsoft Word (Every Method Explained)

The degree symbol — ° — is one of those characters that isn't sitting on your keyboard but comes up constantly in documents covering temperature, angles, coordinates, and more. Microsoft Word gives you several ways to insert it, and which method works best depends on your keyboard setup, how often you need it, and whether you want a quick one-time fix or a repeatable shortcut.

Why the Degree Symbol Isn't Just "There"

Standard keyboard layouts don't include a dedicated degree key. It's part of the extended character set — Unicode character U+00B0, to be precise — which means you need to go slightly off the beaten path to insert it. Word handles this through a few different systems: keyboard shortcuts, symbol menus, Alt codes, and AutoCorrect.

Each method works reliably, but they behave differently depending on your operating system, whether you're using a full keyboard with a number pad, and how your Word preferences are configured.

Method 1: Keyboard Shortcut (Windows — Most Popular)

The fastest route in Word on Windows is:

Press and holdCtrl + Shift + @, then press the spacebar.

That combination is Ctrl + Shift + @ + Space — and it produces the ° symbol directly at your cursor position.

This is a native Word shortcut, meaning it works inside Word specifically (not in browsers or other apps). It doesn't require a number pad, which makes it useful on laptops.

Method 2: Alt Code (Windows — Requires Number Pad)

If you have a full keyboard with a numeric keypad on the right side:

1. Click where you want the symbol
2. Hold Alt
3. Type 0176 on the number pad (not the top row numbers)
4. Release Alt

The ° symbol appears immediately.

This is a Windows-level shortcut — it works across almost all Windows applications, not just Word. The catch is that it requires a physical number pad. On most laptops, this method either won't work or requires enabling the embedded numpad via Fn lock, which varies by manufacturer.

Method 3: Insert Symbol Menu (Works on Any Setup) 🖱️

This is the most universal method and works regardless of keyboard type:

1. Place your cursor where you want the symbol
2. Go to the Insert tab in the ribbon
3. Click Symbol (far right side)
4. Select More Symbols from the dropdown
5. In the dialog box, set Font to "normal text" and Subset to "Latin-1 Supplement"
6. Find and click the ° symbol
7. Click Insert

Once you've inserted it this way once, it appears in the Recently Used Symbols shortcut list inside the Symbol dropdown — so the second time is much faster.

Method 4: Copy and Paste

The bluntest but completely reliable option: copy the symbol from anywhere and paste it in.

You can copy it from this article, from a web search, or from Word's own symbol menu (insert once, then copy-paste throughout the document). This works on every device, every version of Word, and requires zero setup.

Method 5: AutoCorrect (Best for Heavy Repeated Use)

If you regularly write about temperatures or angles, you can set Word to automatically replace a text string with the ° symbol:

1. Insert the ° symbol once using any method above
2. Select it
3. Go to File → Options → Proofing → AutoCorrect Options
4. In the "Replace" field, type something like (deg)
5. The "With" field should already show the ° symbol you selected
6. Click Add, then OK

From that point forward, typing (deg) in Word will automatically become °. This is a one-time setup that saves time if you use the symbol frequently.

Method 6: On Mac

Mac users have it simpler. The system-wide shortcut is:

Option + Shift + 8

This works inside Word for Mac, and also across most other Mac applications — text editors, email, browsers, and more. No number pad required.

Comparison at a Glance

A Note on Formatting After Insertion ⚠️

One thing worth knowing: the degree symbol is sometimes automatically resized or superscripted by Word depending on context. If the symbol looks too large or is sitting on the baseline when you'd expect it higher, check your character formatting — specifically font size and baseline shift — by right-clicking the symbol and selecting Font.

Some style guides also treat temperature differently (30°C vs. 30 °C), so spacing around the symbol is worth checking if document formatting matters for your use case.

Which Factors Shape Which Method Is Right

A few variables determine which approach will actually fit your workflow:

• Keyboard type — laptop vs. desktop with a full number pad changes which shortcuts are even available
• Operating system — Windows and Mac have different native shortcuts
• Frequency of use — occasional use favors the symbol menu or copy-paste; daily use favors AutoCorrect or learning a shortcut
• Version of Word — the ribbon layout and AutoCorrect options can vary slightly between Word 2016, 2019, Microsoft 365, and Word for the web
• Word for the web — the browser-based version of Word has a more limited Insert Symbol function compared to the desktop app

The method that takes two seconds for someone on a Mac with a full keyboard might be awkward for someone on a Windows laptop running Word in a browser. Your specific combination of those factors points toward very different practical answers.