How to Type the Degree Symbol on Any Device
The degree symbol (°) is one of those characters that doesn't live on any standard keyboard key — yet it comes up constantly in weather reports, cooking recipes, scientific writing, and technical documents. Knowing how to type it quickly depends almost entirely on what device and operating system you're using.
Why the Degree Symbol Isn't on Your Keyboard
Standard keyboards are designed around the most frequently typed characters: letters, numbers, and common punctuation. Symbols like °, ©, or ™ get left off because adding dedicated keys for every special character would make keyboards impractically large. Instead, operating systems provide multiple workarounds — some faster, some more reliable depending on your context.
How to Type the Degree Symbol on Windows
Windows gives you several methods, and the right one depends on how often you need it and whether you're in a full application or a browser field.
Alt Code (most reliable on Windows): Hold Alt and type 0176 on the numeric keypad (not the number row at the top). Release Alt and ° appears. This requires Num Lock to be active and only works with a dedicated numeric keypad — meaning it often fails on laptops without one.
Character Map: Search for "Character Map" in the Start menu, find the degree symbol, and copy it. Useful as a one-time solution but too slow for regular use.
Copy-paste shortcut: Many people simply type "degree symbol" into a browser search and copy it from the results. Quick and reliable when you only need it occasionally.
AutoCorrect / text expansion: In Microsoft Word, you can set up AutoCorrect so that typing something like deg automatically becomes °. Third-party text expander tools like PhraseExpress or AutoHotkey let you do this system-wide across any application.
How to Type the Degree Symbol on Mac
Mac keyboard shortcuts are generally more consistent across applications.
Standard shortcut:Shift + Option + 8 produces ° in most applications. This works in browsers, word processors, notes apps, and most text fields without any setup.
Special Characters viewer: Press Control + Command + Space to open the character picker, then search for "degree."
The Mac approach is typically faster out of the box than Windows for this particular symbol, largely because the Shift + Option + 8 shortcut is baked into the system keyboard layout.
How to Type the Degree Symbol on iPhone and iPad 📱
On iOS and iPadOS, the degree symbol is accessible through the standard keyboard without installing anything extra.
Method: Open any text field, then tap and hold the zero (0) key. A popup appears with the ° symbol as an option. Slide your finger to it and release.
This works across Messages, Notes, Mail, Safari, and most third-party apps. The behavior is consistent regardless of whether you're using the default Apple keyboard or a third-party keyboard like Gboard — though third-party keyboards may place the symbol in a different location.
How to Type the Degree Symbol on Android
Android keyboards vary significantly by manufacturer and keyboard app, but the most common method is similar to iOS.
On Gboard (Google's default keyboard): Switch to the numbers layout by tapping ?123, then long-press the 0 key to reveal °.
On Samsung keyboards: The symbol is often found in the symbols panel (!#1 or similar), depending on your Android version and One UI skin.
Some Android keyboards may require going into a symbols or special characters panel rather than a long-press shortcut. The exact path varies more on Android than on any other platform listed here.
How to Type the Degree Symbol in Specific Applications
The application you're working in can matter as much as the OS.
| Application | Method |
|---|---|
| Microsoft Word | Alt + 0176 (numpad) or Insert → Symbol |
| Google Docs | Insert → Special Characters → search "degree" |
| Excel | Alt + 0176 or paste from Character Map |
| HTML / Web Code | Use the HTML entity ° or Unicode ° |
| LaTeX | Use degree (with the gensymb package) or ^circ |
In coding or markup contexts, the HTML entity° is preferable to pasting the raw character, since it ensures correct rendering across different encodings.
Unicode and Why It All Works ⚙️
The degree symbol has a fixed place in the Unicode standard: U+00B0. Every modern operating system, browser, and font supports it. This means that regardless of how you input the symbol, the underlying character is identical — there's no version of ° that renders differently based on how it was typed.
This is worth knowing because it means copy-pasting is not a "lesser" method. A pasted ° is exactly the same character as one entered via keyboard shortcut.
Variables That Change the Experience
A few factors determine which method will work best for any individual setup:
- Laptop vs. desktop: Laptops often lack a numeric keypad, which eliminates the Alt code method on Windows without workarounds.
- Keyboard language layout: Non-English keyboard layouts (French, German, Spanish, etc.) may place the degree symbol in a different location or assign it a different shortcut entirely.
- Third-party keyboards on mobile: Apps like Gboard, SwiftKey, and Fleksy each organize symbol access slightly differently.
- Application type: Web-based tools, native desktop apps, and code editors each have different levels of support for keyboard shortcuts vs. character pickers.
- Frequency of use: Someone who types temperatures dozens of times a day has a strong case for setting up a text expansion shortcut; someone who needs it once a month might prefer the search-and-copy approach.
The method that's genuinely fastest for you depends on which device sits in front of you most often, which apps you work in, and whether the friction of a setup step is worth the long-term payoff.