How to use Special Characters and Letters in Windows 11/10

In a world full of different types of Fonts we look for on the web, we always end up looking for different types of Special characters, Accents and Symbols as well. We may have learned how to tweak our systems, but most of us still don’t know how to type certain symbols like currencies, irrespective of those already present on our keyboard. In this article, we will learn how to easily type Special Characters and Letters in Windows 11/10.

There are times in our lives when we need to prepare some paperwork for projects or prepare any presentation and we running very tightly on our schedule, at that time hunting for such special characters and symbols take a good toll on us. We all understand these types of characters and symbols are those which we do not use very frequently but at times as mentioned earlier, a tutorial like this one can be very helpful.

Type Special Characters & Letters in Windows 11/10

We should be happy that our OS has us covered when it comes to various life and time-saving tweaks. Today, what we will learn is not a tweak but the basic functionalities that all of us had ignored. Windows 11/10 comes with a variety of hidden as well as visible options for our own good.

To input the required Special Characters and Letters, we have mentioned four methods below, you can choose any of them as per your convenience.

1. Using Windows Emoji Panel
2. Using Charmap – Character Map Application
3. Using Touch Keyboard
4. Microsoft Word’s Special Characters
5. Typing Alt Codes using Keyboard.

1] Using Windows Emoji Panel

The Windows Emoji panel has been present here for us since the release of Windows 10. Many of us might or might not have encountered it, but it is one of the hidden and most useful tools. To be able to use the Windows Emoji panel, just press Win + . key or Win + ; key. A small window of emoji will open up. The panel is divided into three parts containing different items. The first part consists of our daily chat partner emojis. The second part consists of Kaomoji which is an older version of emojis. The third part consists of various symbols.

All these parts are sub-divided into their different types. So, in the case of Symbols part, it is divided into General Punctuations, Currency Symbols, Latin Symbols, Geometric Symbols, Math Symbols, Supplemental Symbols, and Language Symbols. To be able to use these symbols, place the cursor where you want the symbol, open the panel, and select the symbol.

2] Using Character Map Application

We all know that the Character Map is with us for a very long time. We often end up using the same for searching and entering the symbols in our documents. to be able to use the Character Map, follow these steps:

1. Press Win + R keys, type charmap, and hit enter. Or you can just search for the character map in the start menu and open it.
2. Once the Character Map application is open, search, and select the font you are currently using in your document. 
3. When you select the font, the symbols will appear like the design of the font (Only if the font supports different characters and symbols).
4. At the bottom of the window, click on Advanced view.
5. In the Search for field enter the symbol name you are looking for.
6. Click on the symbol to see the enlarged image.
7. If you like the symbol you clicked on then click on Select and then click on Copy.
8. Once done, the symbol is now copied on your clipboard and you can paste it anywhere in your document just by pressing Ctrl + v keys.

Read:

• Character Map not working in Windows
• How to use Educedit in Windows.

3] Using Touch keyboard

Using the Touch keyboard of Windows 10 can help in various ways even if you do not have a touch screen. The keyboard is capable of helping you typing the accented letters especially and just like the Windows Emoji panel, this touch keyboard also supports emojis and symbols.

1. Right-click on the taskbar and select the Show touch keyboard button.
2. Now look for the touch keyboard button on the right side of the taskbar and click on it.
3. To type, any letter in accented form, click and hold the left mouse button, it will show you the available suggestions for accented letters.
4. To type any symbol first, click on the numeric keypad “&123” button. On the numeric keypad screen, look for the Omega “?” symbol.
5. Once you click on the symbol, you will find the symbols divided into different sub-parts exactly like we saw in the Windows Emoji panel.

Fix: ALT Codes not working in Windows

4] Microsoft Word’s Special Characters

Since most of us prefer to work on Microsoft Word, it comes with its own in-built menu of symbols.

1. Open Microsoft Word.
2. In the Insert menu ribbon, click on Symbols and select More symbols.
3. Just like the character map, select the font you are using in the document.
4. Select the type of symbol from the Subset menu.
5. Select the symbol you want to use and click on Insert.
6. Next to the Shortcut key, you will find the keyboard shortcut for the same symbol or character.

5] Typing Alt Codes

Alt codes are the combination of the Alt key and the numeric keys on the numeric keypad. These numeric keys range from 1 to 255 and then from 0128 to 0255. The alt codes are one of the handiest shortcuts if you remember even the most useful ones too. But you need to remember that you need a keyboard with a numeric keys section with the Num lock turned on.

This method doesn’t work on laptops, which don’t include a separate numeric keypad, i.e., the numeric keys below the function keys are of no use in this method.

To check the alt code for your favorite special character or symbol, click here.

What are 7 special keys in keyboard?

There are many special keys on a keyboard. A special key is used to perform some special tasks. Some of the special keys are Caps Lock, Ctrl, Shift, Tab, Alt, AltGr, Num Lock, Delete, Esc, etc. The Ctrl key uses many keyboard shortcuts on a Windows computer.