How to Insert the Degree Symbol on Any Device or Platform

The degree symbol (°) is one of those characters that shows up constantly — in weather reports, cooking recipes, scientific measurements, and geographic coordinates — yet it hides just out of reach on most keyboards. Unlike letters and numbers, it has no dedicated key. The method you use depends entirely on what device you're typing on, what operating system it runs, and where you're entering the text.

Why the Degree Symbol Isn't on Your Keyboard

Standard keyboards follow a layout optimized for everyday language, not specialized characters. The degree symbol falls into a category of special characters — along with ©, ™, ±, and hundreds of others — that are encoded in Unicode but not printed on physical keys.

Every operating system has its own method for accessing these characters, and some applications add their own shortcuts on top of that. That layered system is why the answer to "how do I type °" isn't a single universal shortcut.

Inserting the Degree Symbol on Windows

Windows offers several approaches depending on how you prefer to work.

Alt code method: Hold Alt and type 0176 on the numeric keypad (not the number row at the top). Release Alt and the ° symbol appears. This requires Num Lock to be active and only works with a full keyboard that includes a dedicated numpad.

Character Map: Open the Start menu, search for Character Map, find the degree symbol, and copy it to your clipboard. Straightforward but slow for repeated use.

Copy-paste from a reliable source: Many users simply keep a ° character copied and paste it as needed — a low-tech solution that works in every application.

AutoCorrect or text replacement: In Microsoft Word and Outlook, you can set up AutoCorrect to replace a trigger like (deg) with °. This is a one-time setup that saves time if you type the symbol frequently in documents.

Inserting the Degree Symbol on macOS

On a Mac, the shortcut is clean and consistent across most applications:

Option + Shift + 8 produces the ° symbol.

It works in most text fields — documents, emails, notes, browser inputs. macOS also includes the Special Characters viewer, accessible via Edit > Emoji & Symbols (or Control + Command + Space), where you can search for "degree" and click to insert.

Inserting the Degree Symbol on iPhone and iPad

iOS has a built-in shortcut that most users overlook:

Tap and hold the 0 key on the keyboard. A small popup appears with the ° symbol as an option. Slide your finger to it and release. No settings changes required — it works out of the box.

Inserting the Degree Symbol on Android

Android behavior varies more widely because manufacturers and keyboard apps customize the experience, but the most common path is:

Tap and hold the 0 key — similar to iOS — and the degree symbol typically appears as an option. On keyboards that don't show it there, switching to the symbols view (usually via a ?123 key) and then tapping a secondary symbols page often reveals it.

Third-party keyboard apps like Gboard and SwiftKey each have slightly different layouts, so the exact tap sequence depends on which keyboard is installed.

Inserting the Degree Symbol in Web Browsers and Online Forms 🌐

When typing directly into a browser — search boxes, web forms, online editors — the OS-level shortcuts above generally work. For web developers writing HTML, the correct entity is:

• ° — named HTML entity
• ° — numeric HTML entity
• ° — hexadecimal HTML entity

All three render as ° in a browser. Using the proper entity ensures the character displays correctly regardless of the page's character encoding.

Platform Comparison at a Glance

Variables That Change the Answer ⚙️

A few factors meaningfully affect which method works best for you:

Keyboard type. Laptop keyboards often omit a numeric keypad, which rules out the Windows Alt code method for many users. External keyboards vary — some include a numpad, some don't.

Application behavior. Some apps intercept keyboard shortcuts for their own functions. A shortcut that works in a browser may do something different in a specialized design or coding tool.

Keyboard app on mobile. The hold-the-zero method is standard on both iOS and Android, but third-party keyboard apps can change the layout entirely. If you've installed a custom keyboard, its documentation is the most reliable reference.

Typing frequency. Someone who occasionally types a temperature in an email has different needs than a scientist writing technical reports daily. Frequent users benefit from setting up text replacement rules or learning the keyboard shortcut cold. Occasional users may find copy-paste perfectly adequate.

Operating system version. While the core methods above are stable across recent OS versions, very old or heavily customized systems may behave differently.

A Note on Degree vs. Similar Symbols 🔍

The degree symbol (°, Unicode U+00B0) is distinct from two look-alike characters that sometimes appear in its place:

• Masculine ordinal indicator (º) — used in ordinal numbers in some languages, visually similar but a different character
• Superscript zero (⁰) — used in mathematical notation

In casual writing the difference rarely matters, but in technical, scientific, or localized content, using the correct Unicode character ensures your text is interpreted accurately by software, screen readers, and databases.

The right method for inserting ° comes down to the intersection of your device, your keyboard hardware, the application you're using, and how often you need it — and that combination is specific to your own setup.