How to Add a Degree Symbol in Word (Every Method Explained)

The degree symbol — ° — is one of those characters that comes up constantly in technical writing, recipes, science documents, and temperature references, yet it's not sitting anywhere obvious on a standard keyboard. Microsoft Word offers several ways to insert it, and the method that works best for you depends on how often you need it, which version of Word you're using, and whether you prefer keyboard shortcuts or menu-driven tools.

Why the Degree Symbol Isn't on Your Keyboard

Standard QWERTY keyboards were designed around the most frequently typed characters in everyday English text. Symbols like °, ©, ±, and µ didn't make the cut for dedicated keys. That doesn't mean they're hard to access — it just means the path to them is slightly less obvious. Word, in particular, has multiple insertion methods built in precisely because these characters come up often enough to warrant real solutions.

Method 1: The Keyboard Shortcut (Fastest for Most Users)

The most reliable shortcut in Microsoft Word is:

Alt + 0176 (Windows only)

Hold down Alt, type 0176 on the numeric keypad (not the number row at the top), then release Alt. The degree symbol appears immediately at your cursor position.

A few things affect whether this works:

• You must use the numeric keypad, not the top-row numbers
• Num Lock must be on — if it's off, the keypad inputs won't register as numbers
• This works in Word on Windows but not in all other applications

On a laptop without a dedicated numeric keypad, this method often fails or requires activating a hidden numpad layer using a Fn key combination. That layer varies by manufacturer, which is why laptop users frequently run into trouble with Alt codes.

Method 2: Insert Symbol Menu (Most Reliable Cross-Platform Method)

If shortcuts feel unreliable, Word's built-in symbol library always works:

1. Place your cursor where you want the symbol
2. Go to Insert → Symbol → More Symbols
3. In the dialog box, set the font to (normal text) and the subset to Latin-1 Supplement
4. Find the degree symbol (°) and click Insert

This method works on both Windows and Mac versions of Word, regardless of keyboard layout. It's slower, but it's a guaranteed fallback and useful when you're inserting a symbol for the first time and want to verify you're picking the right one.

From this same dialog, you can also assign a custom shortcut to the degree symbol so future insertions are faster.

Method 3: AutoCorrect Shortcut

Word's AutoCorrect feature can be configured to replace a text string you type — like (deg) or *deg* — with °. You set this up once and it works automatically going forward.

To configure it:

1. Go to File → Options → Proofing → AutoCorrect Options
2. In the Replace field, type your chosen trigger text
3. In the With field, paste or type the degree symbol
4. Click Add, then OK

This approach suits writers who use the degree symbol frequently throughout long documents. Once set up, it's effectively invisible — the replacement happens as you type.

Method 4: Copy-Paste (Quickest One-Off Fix)

If you need the symbol once and don't want to navigate menus, simply copy it from anywhere — a web search, a previous document, or the character below:

°

Paste it directly into your Word document. Formatting may shift slightly depending on your document's font, but for most use cases it's indistinguishable from a natively inserted symbol.

Method 5: Unicode Input (Windows Power Users)

On Windows, you can type a Unicode code point and convert it inline:

1. Type 00B0 (the Unicode value for °)
2. Immediately press Alt + X

Word replaces the code with the symbol. This works within Word but not in most other text editors or browsers, so it's a Word-specific trick worth knowing if you're already comfortable with Unicode.

Comparing the Methods at a Glance 🔍

Variables That Affect Which Method Works for You

Your hardware matters. A full desktop keyboard with a numeric keypad opens up the Alt code method reliably. A compact laptop keyboard may not, unless you're comfortable using Fn key combinations — and those vary by brand.

Your Word version matters. The Insert Symbol dialog and AutoCorrect have been standard across modern versions of Word (2010 through Microsoft 365), so those methods are broadly safe. Older versions may have slightly different menu paths.

How often you need it matters. Inserting a degree symbol once a month doesn't justify setting up AutoCorrect. Writing a 50-page climate science report probably does.

Mac vs. Windows matters. Mac users have an additional option not mentioned above: the Option + Shift + 8 shortcut works system-wide on macOS, including inside Word for Mac — making it arguably the cleanest method for that platform.

The Underlying Reality

Every method above inserts the same character — Unicode code point U+00B0, the standard degree sign recognized across fonts, platforms, and documents. There's no quality difference between them. The only differences are speed, reliability given your hardware, and how naturally they fit into your workflow.

What separates a frustrating experience from a smooth one isn't which method is objectively best — it's which method matches how you actually work: your keyboard setup, how often this symbol appears in your writing, and how much friction you're willing to tolerate for a two-second task. ⚙️