How to Make a Degree Symbol on a Mac: Every Method Explained

The degree symbol (°) is one of those characters you rarely need — until you suddenly need it constantly. Whether you're typing a temperature, referencing an angle, or formatting coordinates, macOS gives you several reliable ways to insert it. Which method works best depends on what you're doing, how often you need it, and how your workflow is set up.

The Fastest Method: Keyboard Shortcut

The quickest way to type a degree symbol on a Mac is with a keyboard shortcut:

Press Option + Shift + 8

This works in virtually every Mac application — Pages, Word, Notes, TextEdit, browsers, email clients, and more. The result is the standard degree symbol (°), not a superscript zero or a similar-looking character.

This shortcut is built into macOS at the system level, so it doesn't depend on your app or document settings. If you type temperatures or angles regularly, this is the method worth memorizing.

Using the Character Viewer

If keyboard shortcuts aren't your preference, macOS includes a built-in Character Viewer (sometimes called the Emoji & Symbols panel) that lets you browse and insert special characters visually.

To open it:

• Go to the menu bar and click Edit → Emoji & Symbols
• Or press Control + Command + Space

Once open, type "degree" in the search bar. You'll see the degree symbol (°) appear as an option. Double-clicking it inserts it at your cursor's position.

The Character Viewer also shows recently used symbols, so if you use the degree symbol often, it tends to surface near the top after the first few uses. 🎯

Using the Special Characters Shortcut in Any Text Field

In many macOS apps, you can access special characters directly from the keyboard by holding down a letter key. This is more commonly used for accented characters (like holding e to get é), but it's worth knowing about as part of the broader character input system.

For the degree symbol specifically, this method isn't the most direct route — the Option + Shift + 8 shortcut is faster. But understanding that macOS has this layered input system helps when you're looking for other special characters later.

Typing the Degree Symbol in Specific Apps

In Pages and Microsoft Word

Both word processors recognize the standard keyboard shortcut without any additional setup. You can also:

• Use Insert → Special Characters (in some versions)
• Copy and paste from Character Viewer
• Set up an AutoCorrect rule to replace a text string (like deg) with °

In Google Docs (Browser-Based)

Google Docs doesn't respond to the Option + Shift + 8 shortcut the same way in all configurations, though it often works. If it doesn't:

• Go to Insert → Special Characters
• Search for "degree"
• Click the symbol to insert it

Alternatively, copying the symbol from another source and pasting it works universally.

In Code Editors and Terminal

In code editors, the keyboard shortcut typically works, but behavior can vary depending on the editor's key binding configuration. In Terminal, the degree symbol can be inserted the same way — it outputs the UTF-8 character U+00B0.

Setting Up a Text Replacement for Frequent Use

If you type temperatures or angles frequently, macOS's Text Replacement feature can automate the process entirely.

To set it up:

1. Open System Settings (or System Preferences on older macOS versions)
2. Go to Keyboard → Text Replacements
3. Click the + button
4. In the Replace field, type something like (deg)
5. In the With field, paste the degree symbol °

After saving, any time you type (deg) followed by a space, macOS will automatically substitute °. This works across most native Mac apps and some third-party ones, depending on whether the app supports system text replacement.

Comparing Your Options at a Glance

What Affects Which Method Works for You

A few variables determine which approach makes the most sense in practice:

How often you need the symbol. Occasional use doesn't justify setting up text replacement. Frequent use — say, writing temperature data or lab notes — makes the shortcut or an autocorrect rule worth the small investment.

Which apps you work in. Native macOS apps (Pages, Notes, Mail) play well with system-level shortcuts and text replacement. Browser-based tools like Google Docs or Notion may handle these differently, and some code editors remap modifier keys entirely.

Your macOS version. The keyboard shortcut (Option + Shift + 8) has been consistent across macOS for years. The Character Viewer interface has been reorganized across versions — it's called "Emoji & Symbols" in recent releases — but the functionality is the same. Text Replacement moved from System Preferences to System Settings in macOS Ventura, but works identically.

Your keyboard layout. If you're using a non-US keyboard layout, the Option + Shift + 8 shortcut may produce a different character. Users with UK, German, French, or other regional layouts sometimes find that the Character Viewer method is more reliable, since it's layout-independent. 🌍

A Note on the Degree Symbol vs. Similar Characters

It's worth knowing that ° (U+00B0) is the actual degree symbol. A few look-alikes can cause issues:

• Superscript zero (⁰) — looks similar but is a different Unicode character
• Masculine ordinal indicator (º) — often confused for the degree symbol; common in Spanish/Portuguese formatting
• Ring above (˚) — a diacritic mark, not a degree symbol

If you're copying a degree symbol from a web page or document and it doesn't behave as expected in your workflow — particularly in data fields, coding environments, or exported files — it's worth verifying the actual Unicode value. The Option + Shift + 8 shortcut on a US keyboard reliably produces the correct U+00B0 character every time.

How smoothly any of these methods fits into your day depends on the specific apps you live in, how your keyboard is configured, and whether you're typing the occasional temperature or working with data that includes degree values throughout.