What Is the Degree Symbol and Why Does It Matter?

The degree symbol ° is a typographic character used universally to indicate degrees of temperature (e.g., 98.6°F or 37°C), degrees of arc in geometry and navigation (e.g., a 90° angle), and degrees of longitude or latitude in geographic coordinates. It is standardized in Unicode as U+00B0 and in HTML as ° or °.

Despite its universal use, the degree symbol is absent from standard QWERTY keyboard layouts in most countries. This means users must rely on keyboard shortcuts, character maps, or special input methods to produce it correctly. Using the wrong character — such as a superscript letter “o” or a masculine ordinal indicator — is a common mistake that can cause confusion, especially in technical or scientific writing. Learning the correct method ensures your documents are both typographically accurate and professionally formatted.

It’s also worth noting that the degree symbol differs from two look-alike characters: the masculine ordinal indicator (º) used in Spanish and Portuguese and the ring above diacritic (˚) used in some Nordic languages. Always verify you’re inserting the correct Unicode character, especially in multilingual documents.

How to Type the Degree Symbol on Windows

Method 1: Using the Alt Code (Numeric Keypad)

The fastest method on a Windows PC with a full keyboard is the Alt code shortcut. This works in most Windows applications including Microsoft Word, Notepad, Excel, and web browsers.

Ensure Num Lock is enabled. The Num Lock key is usually located at the top-left of your numeric keypad. Press it once if the Num Lock indicator light is off. Without Num Lock active, the keypad keys perform cursor-navigation functions instead of entering numbers.
Hold down the Alt key. Press and hold the Alt key on the left side of your spacebar. Do not release it until you have finished entering the numeric code.
Type 0176 on the numeric keypad. While holding Alt, type the digits 0, 1, 7, 6 in sequence using the numeric keypad on the right side of your keyboard — not the number row at the top.
Release the Alt key. As soon as you let go, the degree symbol ° will appear at your cursor’s current position. This method works consistently across most Windows desktop applications.

If your laptop does not have a dedicated numeric keypad, you may need to enable a virtual numpad by pressing Fn + NumLk (Function + Num Lock), then use the embedded numpad keys (often mapped to letters like J, K, L, U, I, O). Check your laptop’s manual for the specific key mapping.

Method 2: Using the Windows Character Map

The Windows Character Map utility gives you access to every Unicode character on your system without memorizing shortcuts. To open it, press Windows key + R, type charmap, and press Enter. In the Character Map window, scroll through the grid to find the degree symbol °, or type “degree” in the search box if you’re on Windows 10 or 11. Click the symbol, click Select, then Copy, and paste it wherever you need it with Ctrl + V.

Method 3: Windows Emoji and Symbol Panel

Windows 10 and Windows 11 include a built-in Emoji & Symbol panel accessible with the shortcut Windows key + . (period) or Windows key + ; (semicolon). Once the panel opens, click the Omega symbol (Ω) tab or navigate to the symbols section and search for “degree.” Click the degree symbol to insert it instantly. This method is especially convenient for users working in apps like Microsoft Edge, Chrome, or any text field.

How to Type the Degree Symbol on Mac

Method 1: Keyboard Shortcut

Mac computers offer one of the simplest shortcuts for the degree symbol. In virtually any Mac application — Pages, Word, Notes, TextEdit, or a browser — simply press Option + Shift + 8 simultaneously. The degree symbol ° will appear immediately. This shortcut is consistent across macOS versions and does not require any special settings to be enabled.

Some users also report success with Option + 0 (zero) on certain Mac keyboard layouts, but Option + Shift + 8 is the universally reliable shortcut for English-language Mac keyboards. If you’re using a non-English keyboard layout, the shortcut may differ, and it’s worth checking System Preferences → Keyboard → Input Sources to identify your active layout.

Method 2: Mac Special Characters Viewer

If you prefer a visual approach, macOS includes a Character Viewer accessible from almost any text input. Go to the menu bar, click Edit → Emoji & Symbols (or press Control + Command + Space). In the search field, type “degree” and the degree sign will appear in the results. Double-click it to insert it at your cursor. You can also click the star icon next to the symbol to add it to your Favorites for faster access in the future.

How to Type the Degree Symbol on iPhone and iPad

Apple’s iOS and iPadOS keyboards do not display a degree symbol key by default, but it is easy to access once you know where to look. Open any app with a text field — Messages, Notes, Mail, Safari — and bring up the on-screen keyboard.

Tap and hold the zero (0) key. On the iPhone and iPad keyboard, pressing and holding the number 0 reveals a hidden pop-up menu. The degree symbol ° will appear as one of the options above the key.
Slide your finger to the degree symbol. Without lifting your finger, slide it upward toward the ° character that appears in the pop-up. Release your finger to insert it.
Switch to the number keyboard first. If you don’t see number keys, tap 123 at the bottom-left of the keyboard to switch to the numeric layout, then press and hold 0.
Use Text Replacement for frequent use. If you regularly type the degree symbol, go to Settings → General → Keyboard → Text Replacement and create a shortcut. For example, set “degr” to auto-replace with ° so it inserts automatically whenever you type your chosen shortcut phrase.

This hidden-character method works for many special symbols on iOS. Other examples include holding the hyphen (-) to reveal an em dash, or holding a vowel to access accented versions. Apple has built a surprisingly rich set of special characters into its touch keyboard — they just require that extra press-and-hold gesture to surface.

How to Type the Degree Symbol on Android

Android devices use a variety of keyboard apps — Gboard, Samsung Keyboard, SwiftKey, and others — but the general approach for inserting the degree symbol is similar across all of them.

Open the numbers/symbols keyboard. Tap ?123 or =\< depending on your keyboard app to switch to the secondary character layout where numbers and symbols are displayed.
Look for the degree symbol directly. On many Android keyboards, ° appears among the symbol characters visible on this secondary screen, often near the percent sign (%) or other mathematical symbols.
Press and hold the zero (0) key. If you don’t see the degree symbol immediately, press and hold the number 0. On Gboard and Samsung Keyboard, this reveals a pop-up containing °.
Use Gboard’s symbol search. On Google’s Gboard keyboard, tap the > or G logo button and select Symbols or use the search feature. Type “degree” to locate and insert the symbol instantly.
Copy from a reliable source. If your keyboard doesn’t cooperate, a quick workaround is to type “degree symbol” into Google Search and copy the ° character from the search result page, then paste it where needed.

How to Type the Degree Symbol in Microsoft Word

Microsoft Word offers multiple ways to insert the degree symbol, making it one of the most flexible environments for special characters.

Method 1: Insert Symbol Dialog

Go to the Insert tab in the Word ribbon, then click Symbol → More Symbols. In the dialog box, make sure the font is set to (normal text) and the subset is set to Latin-1 Supplement. Scroll to find the degree symbol ° (or type 00B0 in the Character code box at the bottom). Click Insert and then Close. Word also remembers recently inserted symbols, so after the first time, ° may appear in the quick-access Symbol dropdown under Insert.

Method 2: AutoCorrect in Word

Word’s AutoCorrect feature can be configured to automatically replace a typed shortcut with the degree symbol. Go to File → Options → Proofing → AutoCorrect Options. In the Replace field, type something you wouldn’t normally write, such as (deg), and in the With field, paste the ° character. Click Add and then OK. From now on, typing (deg) in Word will automatically convert to °.

Method 3: Keyboard Shortcut in Word

Microsoft Word also supports a dedicated shortcut for the degree symbol: type 00B0 and then immediately press Alt + X. Word will convert the Unicode code point to the actual ° character in place. This is an efficient method for power users who are comfortable with Unicode input methods.

How to Type the Degree Symbol in Google Docs

Google Docs provides its own special character insertion tool. Click Insert in the menu bar, then select Special characters. In the dialog that opens, you can either search by keyword — type “degree” in the search field — or draw the symbol in the drawing box on the right side of the dialog. Google will interpret your drawing and suggest matching characters. Click the degree symbol ° to insert it into your document.

Alternatively, you can simply use the platform-specific keyboard shortcut (Option + Shift + 8 on Mac or the Alt code on Windows) directly inside Google Docs, as it respects your operating system’s keyboard input methods. Google Docs also supports HTML entities only if you’re working in HTML source mode, which is not a standard Docs workflow — but worth knowing for developers using the Google Docs API.

How to Type the Degree Symbol in HTML and CSS

For web developers and content creators working in HTML, there are two standard ways to insert the degree symbol without relying on keyboard shortcuts or special character panels.

The first is the named HTML entity: °. Inserting this code into your HTML source will render as ° in any browser. The second method is the numeric HTML entity: ° (decimal) or ° (hexadecimal). Both will render correctly in all modern browsers and are safe choices for HTML documents.

In CSS, if you need to insert a degree symbol in a content property (for pseudo-elements like ::before or ::after), use the Unicode escape: \00B0. For example: content: "\00B0";. This approach is reliable and does not depend on character encoding settings of the stylesheet file, as long as the CSS is served with a UTF-8 charset declaration.

Pro Tips for Working With the Degree Symbol

Use Unicode natively whenever possible. If you’re working in a modern application that supports Unicode (which includes virtually all software made after 2000), always insert the proper Unicode degree symbol ° (U+00B0) rather than substituting with similar-looking characters. This ensures correct rendering across devices, fonts, and languages.
Create a text replacement shortcut. On both Mac (System Settings → Keyboard → Text Replacements) and iPhone (Settings → General → Keyboard → Text Replacement), you can create a personal shortcut like deg° or ;deg that automatically expands to the degree symbol. This is a one-time setup that pays off every day.
Pin it to your clipboard manager. Windows 10/11 includes a clipboard history tool (Windows key + V). After inserting ° once, pin it to your clipboard history so it’s always available for quick paste.
Know the difference between ° and º. The degree symbol (°, U+00B0) and the masculine ordinal indicator (º, U+00BA) look nearly identical in many fonts but are different characters. Using the wrong one in scientific or technical writing can cause indexing errors in databases and accessibility problems with screen readers.
For Google Sheets and Excel, use formulas. In spreadsheet applications, you can concatenate a degree symbol using the CHAR function: =A1&CHAR(176) appends ° to the value in cell A1. This is useful for formatting temperature data dynamically without manually inserting the symbol in every cell.
Use HTML entities in emails. When writing HTML emails, avoid pasting ° directly into email template code. Different email clients handle raw Unicode inconsistently. Instead, use ° or ° for maximum compatibility across Gmail, Outlook, Apple Mail, and others.
Accessibility note. In documents and web content, always pair the degree symbol with context (e.g., “72°F” rather than “72°”) so that screen readers and assistive technologies can interpret the measurement correctly for users who are visually impaired.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the Alt code for the degree symbol on Windows?

The Alt code for the degree symbol on Windows is Alt + 0176. Hold the Alt key, type 0176 on the numeric keypad (with Num Lock enabled), and release Alt. The ° symbol will appear at your cursor. Note that this requires a physical numeric keypad, not the number row at the top of the keyboard.

How do I type the degree symbol on a laptop without a numpad?

If your laptop lacks a dedicated numeric keypad, you have several alternatives. You can use the Windows Emoji & Symbol panel (Windows key + .), the Windows Character Map (search “charmap” in Start), or copy the symbol from a website. On Windows 10 and 11, the emoji panel is the quickest workaround. Some laptops also allow you to enable a virtual numpad with Fn + Num Lock.

What is the Mac shortcut for the degree symbol?

On a Mac, press Option + Shift + 8 to type the degree symbol in any application. This shortcut works system-wide — in Pages, Word, Notes, TextEdit, Safari, and all other macOS apps — without any additional setup required.

How do I insert a degree symbol in Google Docs?

In Google Docs, go to Insert → Special characters, then search for “degree” in the search box. Click the ° character to insert it. You can also use the OS-level keyboard shortcut (Option + Shift + 8 on Mac, or Alt + 0176 on Windows with a numpad) directly inside Google Docs.

Can I type the degree symbol on an iPhone?

Yes. On iPhone, tap the 123 key to switch to the numeric keyboard, then press and hold the 0 (zero) key. A pop-up will appear showing the degree symbol °. Slide your finger to it and release to insert it. This works in all iOS text fields including Messages, Notes, Mail, and browsers.

How do I add the degree symbol in HTML?

In HTML, use the named entity ° or the numeric entity ° to render the degree symbol °. Both are supported by all modern browsers. For CSS pseudo-elements, use the Unicode escape \00B0 inside the content property.

Why does my degree symbol look different in different fonts?

The visual appearance of the degree symbol ° is controlled by the font being used. In some fonts it appears as a small raised circle, while in others it may look slightly larger or have different proportions. This is normal typographic variation. As long as the character’s Unicode value is U+00B0, it is the correct degree symbol regardless of how it looks in a specific typeface.

Conclusion

Knowing how to type the degree symbol is a small but genuinely useful skill that applies across dozens of everyday tasks — from writing temperatures and angles to formatting geographic data and scientific documents. The good news is that every major platform provides at least one easy method, and many offer multiple options to suit different workflows and preferences.

On Windows, the quickest routes are Alt + 0176 (with a numpad) or the Windows + . emoji panel. On Mac, the universal shortcut is Option + Shift + 8. On iPhone and Android, pressing and holding the zero key reveals the symbol on the pop-up keyboard. In Microsoft Word, the Insert Symbol dialog, AutoCorrect, or the 00B0 + Alt + X shortcut all work reliably. In Google Docs, the Special Characters panel has you covered. And for web developers, ° in HTML and \00B0 in CSS are the professional standards.

Rather than relying on copy-pasting from search engines, take a moment to memorize or save the shortcut that fits your primary device and application. Set up a text replacement, pin the character to your clipboard history, or bookmark this guide for future reference. Once you’ve internalized even one of these methods, the degree symbol will always be just a keystroke away.