How it works
This subscript generator lowers the numbers in a formula, so H2O comes back as H₂O, or lowers a whole line. Its 130 characters and formulas paste as text, not formatting. Some apps strip or block these characters, and screen readers may read them badly.
Read the full guide
Numbers on top, the whole line below
The large card, Numbers only, lowers every digit and leaves the letters alone: Fe2O3 becomes Fe₂O₃. Whole line, below it, lowers every letter and sign that has a subscript. For a maths index, type only what goes below the line: n+1 gives ₙ₊₁.
62 formulas and indices, ready to tap
The table keeps 50 chemical formulas and 12 maths indices, from H₂O to aₙ₊₁. Type h2o in Find a character or formula, then tap the tile to copy it. The table also holds all 68 subscripts in Unicode. Whole line turns a capital into its small letter and leaves a letter with no subscript plain.
Tips
- Numbers only lowers every digit, even one in front: 2H2O comes back as ₂H₂O. Convert H2O alone and type the 2 in yourself.
- A typed hyphen becomes U+208B Subscript minus, so n-1 gives ₙ₋₁. Unicode defines that character as the lowered form of the minus sign, U+2212.
Questions and answers
How do I type a subscript 2?
Type 2 in the box and copy it from Numbers only, or tap ₂ in the table. It is U+2082 Subscript two, one character.
How do I copy H₂O or CO₂ with the small 2?
Tap the H₂O or CO₂ tile under Chemical formulas in the table. Each is three characters: two plain letters and U+2082 Subscript two. A longer formula, such as H2SO4, goes in Your text.
Why are some subscript letters missing?
Unicode added lowered letters a few at a time, mostly for phonetic writing, never as an alphabet. Its code chart files h, k, l, m, n, p, s and t under the Uralic Phonetic Alphabet. No subscript b, c, d, f, g or q exists.
Should I use these characters or subscript formatting?
Where formatting exists, use it. A W3C note recommends style markup for subscripts in mathematics, because markup can lower a whole expression, and the HTML sub element lowers any character. These characters are for plain text boxes that have no formatting.
Why does a subscript show as an empty box?
The reader's font has no shape for that character. The newest here are subscript w, y, z and the Latin gamma, from Unicode 18.0 of September 2026, then the 26 Cyrillic letters of September 2022. The digits and five signs date from 1993.