Where Is the Degree Symbol on a Laptop Keyboard?

The degree symbol (°) doesn't have a dedicated key on most laptop keyboards — and that surprises a lot of people the first time they go looking for it. Whether you're typing a temperature, a geographic coordinate, or an angle measurement, knowing how to produce ° quickly is genuinely useful. The method you'll use depends on your operating system, your keyboard layout, and how often you need the symbol.

Why Laptops Don't Have a Dedicated Degree Key

Standard laptop keyboards follow the QWERTY layout (or regional variants like AZERTY or QWERTZ), which allocates physical keys to the most frequently typed characters. The degree symbol is used often enough to be frustrating when it's missing, but not often enough to earn its own key on a compact keyboard.

Instead, it's tucked away as a secondary character — accessible through keyboard shortcuts, character maps, or input method shortcuts depending on your platform.

How to Type the Degree Symbol on Windows Laptops

Windows gives you several routes, and which one works best depends on your keyboard and workflow.

Alt Code (Numeric Keypad Required)

Hold Alt and type 0176 on the numeric keypad, then release Alt. The ° symbol appears.

The catch: this requires a numeric keypad. Most compact and mid-size laptops don't have one. If yours does, or if you're using an external keyboard with a numpad, this is the fastest method once it's muscle memory.

Alt Code Without a Numpad (Fn Key Workaround)

Some laptops embed a virtual numpad into the main keyboard — typically activated by pressing Fn + NumLk (or a similar key combination). Once enabled, certain letter keys double as number keys. You can then use the Alt code method above.

This works, but it's awkward. You'll need to check your specific laptop model to find whether this feature exists and which key activates it.

Copy-Paste or Windows Character Map

• Windows Character Map: Search "Character Map" in the Start menu, find the degree symbol, and copy it.
• Word/Outlook autocorrect: In Microsoft Office apps, type (o) — some installations autocorrect this to °. You can also insert it via Insert → Symbol.

Windows Emoji & Symbol Panel

Press Win + . (period) to open the emoji and symbols panel. Switch to the Symbols section and search for "degree." This works system-wide in Windows 10 and Windows 11.

How to Type the Degree Symbol on macOS Laptops 🍎

Mac keyboards make this considerably easier.

The shortcut is: Shift + Option + 8

That's it. It works in almost every app on macOS — Notes, Pages, browsers, email clients — without any extra steps. Once you know it, it's fast enough to become second nature.

macOS also supports Character Viewer (accessed via Edit → Emoji & Symbols in most apps), where you can search "degree" and double-click to insert.

How to Type the Degree Symbol on Chromebooks

Chromebooks don't support Alt codes, but they do support Unicode character input:

1. Press Ctrl + Shift + U
2. Type 00B0 (the Unicode code point for °)
3. Press Enter or Space

This method works in most input fields. It's less intuitive than the Mac shortcut but reliable once you've done it a few times.

Alternatively, if you use Google Docs, the Insert → Special Characters menu lets you search for "degree" and insert it directly.

Comparing Methods Across Platforms

Keyboard Layout Variations Matter

If your laptop uses a non-US keyboard layout, things may differ. For example:

• UK Mac keyboards use the same Shift + Option + 8 shortcut.
• French (AZERTY) keyboards on Windows may have different Alt code behavior depending on regional settings.
• German (QWERTZ) layouts sometimes include the degree symbol as a shift character on a specific key — check the key tops.

If you've changed your system's input language in settings, your keyboard may behave differently from what you expect based on the physical labels on the keys. ⚙️

The Variables That Affect Which Method Works for You

Several factors shape which approach is actually practical:

• Keyboard size: Compact 13-inch laptops almost never have a numpad. Larger 15–17 inch laptops sometimes do.
• Operating system: macOS has a clear advantage in shortcut simplicity for this specific character.
• Application context: Some apps (Office, Google Docs) have symbol menus. Plain text editors, browser address bars, and form fields often don't.
• How frequently you need it: If you're a meteorologist, engineer, or math teacher typing temperatures or angles constantly, a different solution applies than if you need ° once a month.
• Technical comfort level: Setting up a custom keyboard shortcut (possible in both Windows and macOS) adds a one-time setup step but pays off quickly for heavy users. 🔧

Power users sometimes assign the degree symbol to an AutoHotkey script (Windows) or a Text Replacement shortcut (macOS System Settings → Keyboard → Text Replacements), so typing something like deg automatically expands to °.

How much friction any of these methods presents — and which one fits naturally into your workflow — depends entirely on the combination of your device, your OS version, and what you're trying to accomplish.