How to Type the Degree Symbol on Mac: Every Method Explained

Whether you're writing about temperature, geographic coordinates, or angles in a math document, the degree symbol (°) is one of those characters that doesn't live on any visible key. On a Mac, there are actually several ways to insert it — and which one works best depends on how often you need it, what app you're working in, and how your keyboard is configured.

The Fastest Method: Keyboard Shortcut

The quickest way to type the degree symbol on a Mac is with this key combination:

Option + Shift + 8

Press all three keys at the same time and ° appears immediately. This works in most standard macOS applications — including Pages, Numbers, TextEdit, Mail, Notes, and most browsers. No menus, no searching, no copy-pasting.

This shortcut works because macOS reserves the Option key as an input modifier that unlocks a second layer of special characters across the keyboard. The degree symbol is one of many characters accessible this way.

🎯 If you only need the degree symbol occasionally, this shortcut alone is usually all you need to know.

Using the Character Viewer (For Any Special Character)

If you can't remember the shortcut, or you want to explore similar symbols at the same time, macOS has a built-in tool called the Character Viewer.

How to open it:

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

Once open, type "degree" in the search bar. You'll see the standard degree sign (°) along with related characters like the degree Celsius (℃) and degree Fahrenheit (℉) symbols, which are single Unicode characters rather than a symbol-plus-letter combination.

Double-clicking any character inserts it directly at your cursor position. You can also drag frequently used symbols to the Favorites row at the top of the viewer to access them faster in the future.

Typing It in Specific Apps

Microsoft Word and Google Docs

Both applications have their own symbol insertion systems that work independently of macOS shortcuts.

• Microsoft Word: Insert → Symbol → More Symbols, then search for "degree"
• Google Docs: Insert → Special Characters, search "degree"

The Option + Shift + 8 shortcut typically still works in both, but if it doesn't produce the right result, using the in-app method ensures correct formatting and Unicode encoding.

Terminal and Code Editors

In Terminal or code editors like VS Code, the degree symbol behaves like any Unicode character. The keyboard shortcut still works, but be aware that some terminal environments or programming contexts may render it differently depending on the font and encoding settings of the project.

If you're embedding a degree symbol in HTML, you may prefer to use the HTML entity instead:

• ° — renders as °
• ° — the numeric Unicode reference

This avoids any encoding issues when working with web files.

Setting Up a Text Replacement

If you type the degree symbol frequently — say, in technical documentation or weather-related content — macOS has a Text Replacement feature that can save keystrokes.

How 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 a shorthand like deg
5. In the With field, paste the ° symbol

After saving, typing deg followed by a space will auto-replace it with ° in any app that supports macOS text substitution — which includes most native apps and some third-party ones.

Comparing the Methods at a Glance

Variables That Affect Which Method Works Best

Not every method behaves identically across all setups, and a few factors shape which one is most reliable for you:

macOS version: The Character Viewer interface and Text Replacement settings panel have moved around in different macOS releases. The keyboard shortcut has remained consistent across versions, but menu labels like "System Preferences" vs. "System Settings" changed with macOS Ventura.

Keyboard language and input source: If your Mac is set to a non-US keyboard layout, the Option + Shift + 8 combination may produce a different character. You can check your active input source in System Settings → Keyboard → Input Sources. Switching temporarily to a US layout resolves this.

App behavior: Some web-based apps running in a browser (Notion, Airtable, certain CMS editors) don't always respect macOS text substitution, and their own symbol handling can vary. In those cases, the keyboard shortcut or copying directly from the Character Viewer tends to be more reliable.

Use context: Someone inserting ° once in an email has a completely different need than a technical writer embedding it dozens of times per document, or a developer who needs Unicode-safe output in a cross-platform codebase.

The right approach for each of those situations looks noticeably different — and which one fits yours depends on how and where you're actually working. 🖥️