How to Type Degree Symbol?

On Windows, hold Alt and type 0176 on the numeric keypad. On Mac, press Option + Shift + 8. Both produce the degree symbol: °

You can also just copy it from here: °

Windows:

• Alt + 0176 — hold Alt, type 0176 on the numeric keypad, release Alt. This is the standard method.
• Alt + 248 — an alternative that also works.
• Windows key + . (period) — opens the emoji and symbol picker; go to the symbols tab and find °.
• Character Map — search for it in the Start menu, find the degree sign, copy.

Important: the Alt codes need the numeric keypad on the right of the keyboard, with Num Lock on. The number row above the letters will not work. On a laptop without a keypad, use the Windows key + period picker instead.

Mac:

• Option + Shift + 8 → ° (the degree sign)
• Option + K → ˚ (a ring above — visually similar but technically a different character)
• Control + Command + Space opens the character viewer; search "degree".

Use Option + Shift + 8 for the proper degree symbol. The Option + K ring can cause problems in spreadsheets and code because it isn't the same character.

iPhone and iPad:

1. Open the keyboard and tap 123 for numbers.
2. Press and hold the 0 key.
3. The ° appears in a popup — slide onto it and release.

Android:

1. Tap ?123 to switch to numbers.
2. Long-press the 0 key, or look under the symbols tab.
3. Select °.

Some Android keyboards put it under a =< symbols page instead.

Microsoft Word:

• Ctrl + Shift + @, then Space — Word's built-in shortcut.
• Insert → Symbol → More Symbols, then find the degree sign.
• Type 00B0 and press Alt + X — this converts the code into the character.

Excel: Alt + 0176 works, as does =CHAR(176) in a formula. To append it to a number, use a custom format such as 0° under Format Cells.

Google Docs:

• Insert → Special characters, then search "degree".
• Or copy and paste it.
• You can also set up Tools → Preferences → Substitutions to replace something like (deg) with ° automatically.

HTML and web:

• ° — the named entity
• ° — the numeric entity
• ° — hexadecimal

Linux: Ctrl + Shift + U, then type b0 and press Enter or Space.

Getting the formatting right. There are conventions worth knowing:

Kelvin is the exception people get wrong — it's written as K, never °K.

Characters that look similar but aren't:

• ° — degree sign (U+00B0), the one you want
• º — masculine ordinal indicator (U+00BA), used in Spanish and Portuguese
• ˚ — ring above (U+02DA)
• ⁰ — superscript zero (U+2070)

They render almost identically but behave differently in search, sorting and code, so it's worth using the real degree sign.

The quickest option overall: if you only need it occasionally, copying ° and pasting is faster than remembering any shortcut. If you need it often, learn Alt + 0176 or Option + Shift + 8 for your platform.