You can use the Symbol dialog box to insert symbols, such as ¼ and ©, or special characters, such as an em dash (-) or ellipsis (…) that are not on your keyboard, as well as Unicode characters.

The types of symbols and characters that you can insert depend on the font that you choose. For example, some fonts may include fractions (¼), international characters (Ç, ë), and international monetary symbols (£, ¥). The built-in Symbol font includes arrows, bullets, and scientific symbols. You might also have additional symbol fonts, such as Wingdings, that include decorative symbols.

Note You can increase or decrease the size of the Symbol dialog box by moving the pointer to the lower-right corner of the dialog box until it changes into a double-headed arrow, and then drag to the size that you want.What do you want to do?

Insert a symbol, fraction, or special character

  1. Click where you want to insert the symbol.
  2. On the Insert tab, in the Text group, click Symbol.
  3. In the Symbol dialog box, click the Symbols tab, and then do one of the following:
    • Click the symbol that you want to insert.
    • If the symbol that you want to insert is not in the list, select a different font in the Font box, click the font that you want, and then click the symbol that you want to insert.

      Note If you are using an expanded font, such as Arial or Times New Roman, the Subset list appears. Use this list to choose from an extended list of language characters, including Greek and Russian (Cyrillic), if available.

  4. Click Insert.

Tip To quickly find and insert a special character by its description, click the Special Characters tab in the Symbol dialog box, click the special character you want to insert, and then click Insert.

  1. Click where you want to insert the symbol.
  2. On the Insert tab, in the Text group, click Symbol.
  3. In the Symbol dialog box, click the Symbols tab, and then do one of the following:
    • Click the symbol that you want to insert.
    • If the symbol that you want to insert is not in the list, select a different font in the Font box, click the font that you want, and then click the symbol that you want to insert.

      Note If you are using an expanded font, such as Arial or Times New Roman, the Subset list appears. Use this list to choose from an extended list of language characters, including Greek and Russian (Cyrillic), if available.

  4. Click Insert.

Microsoft Office Publisher

  1. Click where you want to insert the symbol.
  2. On the Insert menu, click Symbol.
  3. In the Symbol dialog box, click the Symbols tab, and then do one of the following:
    • Click the symbol that you want to insert.
    • If the symbol that you want to insert is not in the list, select a different font in the Font box, click the font that you want, and then click the symbol that you want to insert.

      Note If you are using an expanded font, such as Arial or Times New Roman, the Subset list appears. Use this list to choose from an extended list of language characters, including Greek and Russian (Cyrillic), if available.

  4. Click Insert.

Tip To quickly find and insert a special character by its description, click the Special Characters tab in the Symbol dialog box, click the special character you want to insert, and then click Insert.

Microsoft Office OneNote

  1. Click where you want to insert the symbol.
  2. On the Insert menu, click Symbol.
  3. In the Symbol dialog box, click the Symbols tab, and then do one of the following:
    • Click the symbol that you want to insert.
    • If the symbol that you want to insert is not in the list, select a different font in the Font box, click the font that you want, and then click the symbol that you want to insert.

      Note If you are using an expanded font, such as Arial or Times New Roman, the Subset list appears. Use this list to choose from an extended list of language characters, including Greek and Russian (Cyrillic), if available.

  4. Click Insert.

Tip To quickly find and insert a special character by its description, click the Special Characters tab in the Symbol dialog box, click the special character you want to insert, and then click Insert.

Microsoft Office InfoPath

  1. Click where you want to insert the symbol.
  2. On the Insert menu, click Symbol.
  3. In the Symbol dialog box, click the Symbols tab, and then do one of the following:
    • Click the symbol that you want to insert.
    • If the symbol that you want to insert is not in the list, select a different font in the Font box, click the font that you want, and then click the symbol that you want to insert.

      Note If you are using an expanded font, such as Arial or Times New Roman, the Subset list appears. Use this list to choose from an extended list of language characters, including Greek and Russian (Cyrillic), if available.

  4. Click Insert.

Tip To quickly find and insert a special character by its description, click the Special Characters tab in the Symbol dialog box, click the special character you want to insert, and then click Insert.

Microsoft Office Visio

  1. Click where you want to insert the symbol.
  2. On the Insert menu, click Symbol.
  3. In the Symbol dialog box, click the Symbols tab, and then do one of the following:
    • Click the symbol that you want to insert.
    • If the symbol that you want to insert is not in the list, select a different font in the Font box, click the font that you want, and then click the symbol that you want to insert.

      Note If you are using an expanded font, such as Arial or Times New Roman, the Subset list appears. Use this list to choose from an extended list of language characters, including Greek and Russian (Cyrillic), if available.

  4. Click Insert.

Tip To quickly find and insert a special character by its description, click the Special Characters tab in the Symbol dialog box, click the special character you want to insert, and then click Insert.

Insert a Unicode character

You can insert a Unicode character by selecting a character from the Symbol dialog box or by directly typing the character code.

Select a Unicode character from the Symbol dialog box

When you select a Unicode character in the Symbol dialog box, its character code appears in the Character code box.

  1. Click where you want to insert the Unicode character.
  2. On the Insert tab, in the Text group, click Symbol.
  3. On the Symbols tab, in the Font box, click the font that you want.
  4. In the from box, click Unicode (hex).
  5. If the Subset box is available, click a character subset.
  6. Click the symbol that you want to insert, and then click Insert.
  7. Click Close.

Use the keyboard to insert a Unicode character code in a document

If you know the character code, you can enter the code in your document and then press ALT+X to convert it into a character. For example, press 002A and then press ALT+X to produce *. The reverse also works. To display the Unicode character code for a character that is already in your document, place the insertion point directly after the character and press ALT+X.

Find a Unicode character code

When you select a Unicode character in the Symbol dialog box, its character code appears in the Character code box.

  1. On the Insert tab, in the Text group, click Symbol.
  2. On the Symbols tab, in the Font box, click the font that you want.
  3. In the from box, click Unicode (hex).
  4. The Unicode character code is displayed in the Character code box.

You can insert a Unicode character by selecting a character from the Symbol dialog box or by directly typing the character code.

Select a Unicode character from the Symbol dialog box

When you select a Unicode character in the Symbol dialog box, its character code appears in the Character code box.

  1. Click where you want to insert the Unicode character.
  2. On the Insert tab, in the Text group, click Symbol.
  3. On the Symbols tab, in the Font box, click the font that you want.
  4. In the from box, click Unicode (hex).
  5. If the Subset box is available, click a character subset.
  6. Click the symbol that you want to insert, and then click Insert.
  7. Click Close.

Use the keyboard to insert a Unicode character code in a document

If you know the character code, you can enter the code in your document and then press ALT+X to convert it into a character. For example, press 002A and then press ALT+X to produce *. The reverse also works. To display the Unicode character code for a character that is already in your document, place the insertion point directly after the character and press ALT+X.

Find a Unicode character code

When you select a Unicode character in the Symbol dialog box, its character code appears in the Character code box.

  1. On the Insert tab, in the Text group, click Symbol.
  2. On the Symbols tab, in the Font box, click the font that you want.
  3. In the from box, click Unicode (hex).
  4. The Unicode character code is displayed in the Character code box.

Microsoft Office Publisher

You can insert a Unicode character by selecting a character from the Symbol dialog box or by directly typing the character code.

Select a Unicode character from the Symbol dialog box

When you select a Unicode character in the Symbol dialog box, its character code appears in the Character code box.

  1. Click where you want to insert the Unicode character.
  2. On the Insert menu, click Symbol.
  3. On the Symbols tab, in the Font box, click the font that you want.
  4. In the from box, click Unicode (hex).
  5. If the Subset box is available, click a character subset.
  6. Click the symbol that you want to insert, and then click Insert.
  7. Click Close.

Use the keyboard to insert a Unicode character code in a document

If you know the character code, you can enter the code in your document and then press ALT+X to convert it into a character. For example, press 002A and then press ALT+X to produce *. The reverse also works. To display the Unicode character code for a character that is already in your document, place the insertion point directly after the character and press ALT+X.

Find a Unicode character code

When you select a Unicode character in the Symbol dialog box, its character code appears in the Character code box.

  1. On the Insert menu, click Symbol.
  2. On the Symbols tab, in the Font box, click the font that you want.
  3. In the from box, click Unicode (hex).
  4. The Unicode character code is displayed in the Character code box.

Microsoft Office OneNote

You can insert a Unicode character by selecting a character from the Symbol dialog box or by directly typing the character code.

Select a Unicode character from the Symbol dialog box

When you select a Unicode character in the Symbol dialog box, its character code appears in the Character code box.

  1. Click where you want to insert the Unicode character.
  2. On the Insert menu, click Symbol.
  3. On the Symbols tab, in the Font box, click the font that you want.
  4. In the from box, click Unicode (hex).
  5. If the Subset box is available, click a character subset.
  6. Click the symbol that you want to insert, and then click Insert.
  7. Click Close.

Use the keyboard to insert a Unicode character code in a document

If you know the character code, you can enter the code in your document and then press ALT+X to convert it into a character. For example, press 002A and then press ALT+X to produce *. The reverse also works. To display the Unicode character code for a character that is already in your document, place the insertion point directly after the character and press ALT+X.

Find a Unicode character code

When you select a Unicode character in the Symbol dialog box, its character code appears in the Character code box.

  1. On the Insert menu, click Symbol.
  2. On the Symbols tab, in the Font box, click the font that you want.
  3. In the from box, click Unicode (hex).
  4. The Unicode character code is displayed in the Character code box.

Microsoft Office InfoPath

You can insert a Unicode character by selecting a character from the Symbol dialog box or by directly typing the character code.

Select a Unicode character from the Symbol dialog box

When you select a Unicode character in the Symbol dialog box, its character code appears in the Character code box.

  1. Click where you want to insert the Unicode character.
  2. On the Insert menu, click Symbol.
  3. On the Symbols tab, in the Font box, click the font that you want.
  4. In the from box, click Unicode (hex).
  5. If the Subset box is available, click a character subset.
  6. Click the symbol that you want to insert, and then click Insert.
  7. Click Close.

Use the keyboard to insert a Unicode character code in a document

If you know the character code, you can enter the code in your document and then press ALT+X to convert it into a character. For example, press 002A and then press ALT+X to produce *. The reverse also works. To display the Unicode character code for a character that is already in your document, place the insertion point directly after the character and press ALT+X.

Find a Unicode character code

When you select a Unicode character in the Symbol dialog box, its character code appears in the Character code box.

  1. On the Insert menu, click Symbol.
  2. On the Symbols tab, in the Font box, click the font that you want.
  3. In the from box, click Unicode (hex).
  4. The Unicode character code is displayed in the Character code box.

Microsoft Office Visio

You can insert a Unicode character by selecting a character from the Symbol dialog box or by directly typing the character code.

Select a Unicode character from the Symbol dialog box

When you select a Unicode character in the Symbol dialog box, its character code appears in the Character code box.

  1. Click where you want to insert the Unicode character.
  2. On the Insert menu, click Symbol.
  3. On the Symbols tab, in the Font box, click the font that you want.
  4. In the from box, click Unicode (hex).
  5. If the Subset box is available, click a character subset.
  6. Click the symbol that you want to insert, and then click Insert.
  7. Click Close.

Use the keyboard to insert a Unicode character code in a document

If you know the character code, you can enter the code in your document and then press ALT+X to convert it into a character. For example, press 002A and then press ALT+X to produce *. The reverse also works. To display the Unicode character code for a character that is already in your document, place the insertion point directly after the character and press ALT+X.

Find a Unicode character code

When you select a Unicode character in the Symbol dialog box, its character code appears in the Character code box.

  1. On the Insert menu, click Symbol.
  2. On the Symbols tab, in the Font box, click the font that you want.
  3. In the from box, click Unicode (hex).
  4. The Unicode character code is displayed in the Character code box.