How it works
Hold Alt, type a number on the number pad, let go, and a character appears. This list covers 321 characters: every short code from 1 to 255 and every four-digit code from 0128 to 0255, with names and code points. These are Windows alt codes and they work on nothing else, so any character here can also be selected and copied.
Read the full guide
Find one, then copy it or type it
The table gives each character its official name, its code point, the Alt codes that type it and its HTML code. Type a name, a code or the character itself in the search box to find its row. The group buttons keep the table to one of ten groups, and Show all 321 characters opens every row. Tap a character or its name to copy the character, and tap a code to copy the code. Copy copies the large character at the top, and Show a random one puts another there.
A leading zero changes the character set
A code with no zero in front reads from code page 437, which fills 1 to 255. A zero in front switches to code page 1252, which fills 0128 to 0255 and leaves 0129, 0141, 0143, 0144 and 0157 empty. So Alt+163 types ú and Alt+0163 types £. Of the 321 characters, 57 have both kinds of code, 198 have only a short one and 66 have only a four-digit one.
Print the table or save a PDF
Print this table, beside the search box, prints the table alone: all 321 rows, or only the rows a search or a group leaves showing. For an alt codes complete list pdf, press it and choose Save as PDF in the print window. For accented letters alone, the accents page sorts them by language and adds Option key sequences.
Tips
- The Euro sign needs all four digits: Alt+0128. Code page 437 is older than the euro, so Alt+128 types Latin capital letter C with cedilla.
- If Alt+155 types ø where you expected Cent sign, your short codes follow code page 850, which many Latin-alphabet locales use. Each of the 47 affected rows says what you get.
- Black heart suit at Alt+3 and twelve more characters here also exist as emoji, so some apps draw them in colour. All 13 rows are flagged.
- For a text frame, start with Box drawings double down and right at Alt+201. Alt+205 draws the top, Alt+187 the next corner, Alt+186 the sides, and Alt+200 and Alt+188 the bottom corners.
Questions and answers
Where do Alt codes come from?
Wikipedia's article on Alt codes traces them to IBM PC compatibles of the 1980s. The BIOS let you hold Alt and type a decimal number on the keypad to enter any byte of code page 437. Later systems kept that set for the short codes and put code page 1252 behind a leading zero. That is why short codes still reach card suits and a smiling face.
How to use Alt codes without numpad keys?
You mostly cannot. The digits above the letters do not count, because the code has to come from a number pad. So select a character in this list and copy it. Or press the Windows key and the full stop to open the emoji panel, which has a symbols section in version 11. Or open Character Map, which ships with the system, click a character, click Select, then paste it.
Why are my Alt codes not working?
Num Lock must be on. With it off, Alt+4 can be read as Alt and the left arrow, and a browser goes back a page. The digits must come from the number pad. Keep Alt held until the last digit is in. Check the zero, because 176 and 0176 are different characters. A wrong letter from a short code points to code page 850.
What do codes above 255 do?
It depends on the app, which is why this list stops at 255. The IBM PC kept only the remainder after dividing by 256, so 520 gave the same character as 8, and some apps still do. Others, rich text editors in particular, read 256 to 65,535 as a Unicode code point. There, Alt+9731 types a snowman, U+2603, because 9731 is 2603 in hexadecimal.
Do games have their own Alt codes?
No. WoW alt codes are these same codes, because the operating system turns the code into a character, not the game. What differs is what a game accepts. A name box may refuse some characters, and a game font may lack others, which shows as an empty box.