How to type @, #, €, £ and other special characters on a Mac

• On a U.S. keyboard to type euro you need to press: Alt/Option-Shift-2 = €
• On a U.K. keyboard to type euro you should press: Alt/Option-2 = €

European keyboards give more prominence to the Euro sign, but the location of the euro key, and the combination of keys required, depends on the country.

• On French Apple Magic Keyboards you’ll find the Euro sign (and dollar sign) next to the return key.
• On German, Italian, Swiss and Spanish keyboards the euro sign is typed by pressing option/alt and the E key.
• Portuguese keyboards have the Euro sign on the number 3: press option/Alt and that key.
• For Norwegians and the Danish the euro is typed by pressing option/Alt and the number 4.
• And Dutch keyboards have the euro on the number 2.

Not only is typing a pound sign tricky because the location of the key will differ depending on the keyboard, but also the word itself has a different meaning depending on where you are.

For U.K. residents the word pound represents the currency: £. However, some countries call the hashtag or hash key a pound.

If you are in the U.K. the hashtag sign shares the 3 key with the pound sign (£) but on other country’s keyboards the U.K. £ sign is found elsewhere

• On a U.K. keyboard you need to type £ you need to press shift+3 = £
• On a U.S. keyboard you need to type £ you need to press Alt/Option-3 = £

The £ key may not even be illustrated on the U.S. keyboard!

• On French and Swiss keyboards, the £ is found above the right-hand shift key, beside the enter/return key.
• Italian keyboards have the £ on the number 3, like U.K. keyboards.

• On a U.S. keyboard to type # you need only press Shift-3 = #
• On a U.K. keyboard to type # you should press Alt/Option-3 = #
• The hash sign on French keyboards is found to the left of the number 1.
• German keyboards have the hash key beside the return key.
• Norwegian, Spanish, Swedish and Portuguese keyboards have the hash key on number 3.
• Italian keyboards have the hash key (cancelletto) just above the lower right shift key.

Also see: How to type a hashtag (#) on Mac

This @ key is a point of confusion for PC users coming to Mac keyboards because the ” key and @ key switch places.

• On a U.S. or U.K. keyboard you’ll find the @ key on the 2 key. You need to press Shift-2 = @.
• Spanish and Swedish keyboards also have the @ on the 2.
• On Danish, Norwegian, Portuguese, and Swiss keyboards the @ key is next to the return key, above the right-hand shift key.
• French keyboards have the @ sign to the left of 1.
• German keyboards have the @ key on L.
• Italian keyboards also have the @ next to the L.

• On a U.S. or U.K. keyboard you’ll find the “ key will be down on the right where the ‘ key is located.
• On German, Danish, Norwegian, Portuguese, Spanish, Swiss, Swedish and Italian keyboards the ” key is on the 2.
• French keyboards have the ” on 3.

The various copyright and trademark signs can be commonly used in certain lines of work. Luckily there is an easy way to type them on a Mac keyboard.

You might think that logically the Copyright sign would be hidden on the C key, but you’d be wrong. The C key is the home of various accented Cs. If you want to type a © you need to press Alt/Option and G.

• Alt/Option-G = ©

If you want to type the Registered Trademark symbol less Option/Alt and R:

• Alt/Option-R = ®

As for the ™ how you type depends on the keyboard:

• On a U.S. keyboard to type ™ you need to press: Alt/Option-2 = ™
• On a U.K. keyboard to type ™ you should press: Shift-Alt/Option-2 = ™

Want to type the Pi (π) symbol? We have a tutorial that explains how to do that here: How to type the Pi (π) symbol on a Mac or iPhone.

If you want to take your inspiration for children’s names from Elon Musk, who has a child called X Æ A-12, later renamed the equally odd X Æ A-Xii, you will need the illusive Æ key.

If you want to type Æ just press and hold the A key. You’ll see a range of options appear in a box – just select the one you want or press 5.

If it’s getting really hot or really cold where you are you might want to tell someone. In which case a degree sign could be handy. Here’s how to type a °

• Shift-Alt/Option–8 = °

You might wonder what circumstances would cause you to need to type an Apple logo, but with Apple naming a few products with the Apple symbol if might be that you need to type TV or Watch. If you do, the key combination is as follows:

• Shift-Alt/Option-K

Read: How to type  on an iPhone.

This is a handy one – the V almost looks like a tick or check mark, add an Option/Alt and that’s what you get.

• Option/Alt-V = √

There are a few keys that are hidden in plain sight. We’ll mention them here just in case you are struggling to find them:

~ (aka the Tilde sign) – It’s on the left by the Shift key
/ – on the right by the Shift key
– on the right above the Shift key
| – press shift and \ (beside enter/return)

If you are trying to type accents on an English keyboard if can be a bit daunting – if you are using a keyboard that’s designed for that language it will be considerably easier to type accents, for obvious reasons. To type an accented letter all you need to do is press and hold the relevant key. When you do so a menu will appear with the various accented characters to choose from.
For example, if you press and hold the E key then you will eventually see this menu pop up. You can choose the version with your pointer, or by pressing the corresponding number.

You’ll find accents associated with the following keys: e, y, u, i, o, a, s, l, z, c, n.

You might think that emoji are restricted to iPhones and iPads, but they aren’t. It’s possible to access emoji on your Mac. When you are using a word processor or similar program you can press Control-Command-Space to bring up the Emoji pallet.

Read our guide to using Emoji on the Mac here.