How to Type a Degree Symbol on a Mac

Whether you're writing about temperature, geographic coordinates, or angle measurements, the degree symbol (°) is one of those characters that doesn't have a dedicated key on any standard keyboard. On a Mac, though, it's surprisingly easy to insert once you know where to look — and there's more than one way to do it depending on your workflow.

The Fastest Method: Keyboard Shortcut

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

Option + Shift + 8 → °

Hold down Option and Shift simultaneously, then press 8. The degree symbol appears instantly, right where your cursor is. This works in virtually every Mac application — Pages, Word, TextEdit, Gmail, Slack, Notes, and more.

This is the method most Mac users eventually memorize because it's fast and requires nothing extra installed or configured.

Using the Character Viewer

If shortcuts aren't your preference, macOS includes a built-in Character Viewer (sometimes called the Emoji & Symbols picker) that gives you access to thousands of special characters, including the degree symbol.

To open it:

1. Click into any text field where you want to insert the symbol
2. Press Control + Command + Space
3. A small panel appears — type "degree" in the search bar
4. Double-click the degree symbol (°) to insert it

The Character Viewer also lets you add symbols to your Favorites for quicker access in the future. If you regularly work with special characters, this panel becomes a useful tool beyond just the degree symbol.

Accessing It Through the Menu Bar

On some Macs, the Character Viewer is also accessible directly from the menu bar:

• Go to System Settings (or System Preferences on older macOS) → Keyboard
• Enable the option to "Show Input menu in menu bar"
• A small keyboard or flag icon appears in your menu bar — click it and choose Show Emoji & Symbols

This doesn't change how the shortcut works, but it gives you a persistent visual shortcut if you prefer using your mouse.

Typing a Degree Symbol in Specific Apps 🖥️

In Pages and Microsoft Word

Both the Option + Shift + 8 shortcut and the Character Viewer work reliably here. Pages also has its own Insert → Special Characters menu path if you prefer navigating menus.

In TextEdit

Same shortcut applies. TextEdit supports rich text by default, so the symbol renders correctly without any formatting issues.

In a Web Browser (Chrome, Safari, Firefox)

The keyboard shortcut works in browser text fields, search bars, and web-based tools like Google Docs or Notion. No workarounds needed.

In Terminal or Code Editors

This is where things get slightly more nuanced. If you're working in a terminal or coding environment, the degree symbol is a Unicode character (U+00B0). Most modern code editors handle it fine visually, but whether it matters in your code depends entirely on what you're building and which character encoding your file uses. For most everyday use, the shortcut works without issue.

The Difference Between ° and Related Symbols

It's worth knowing that the degree symbol has a couple of look-alikes that mean different things:

The degree sign (°) from the Option + Shift + 8 shortcut is the correct one for temperatures and measurements. The masculine ordinal indicator looks nearly identical but carries a different meaning — a common source of quiet errors in documents.

Creating a Text Replacement Shortcut

If you use the degree symbol constantly — say, you write weather reports, scientific documents, or engineering specs — macOS lets you set up a text replacement that types the symbol automatically when you enter a short trigger phrase.

To set this up:

1. Go to System Settings → Keyboard → Text Replacements
2. Click the + button
3. In the Replace field, type something like deg
4. In the With field, paste the degree symbol °
5. Click Add

Now whenever you type deg followed by a space, macOS automatically swaps it for °. This works system-wide in most native Mac apps, though behavior can vary in third-party applications depending on how they handle text input.

What Changes Across Different Setups 🔑

The shortcut itself is consistent across macOS versions going back many years. But a few variables can affect your experience:

• Keyboard language/layout: If you've switched your input method to a non-English layout, the shortcut might produce a different character or not work as expected. Verify your active input source in System Settings → Keyboard → Input Sources.
• Third-party keyboard apps: Some accessibility tools or custom keyboard layouts remap modifier keys, which can interfere with Option-based shortcuts.
• Remote desktop or virtual machines: When accessing another computer through remote desktop software, shortcuts may or may not pass through depending on your configuration.
• Age of macOS: Older versions of macOS (pre-Ventura, pre-Monterey) have the same shortcut but slightly different paths to find settings in System Preferences.

For most Mac users on a standard English keyboard layout with a reasonably current version of macOS, the shortcut works exactly as described without any adjustment. But if your setup involves non-standard input configurations, custom accessibility tools, or a heavily modified keyboard layout, your experience may vary — and that's worth checking before assuming something is broken.