Mac Option Key tip #09: Special Characters

Updated September 4th, 2022.

Our Mac Option key Tip-a-Palooza continues with Mac Option Key Tip #09.

Your documents will look better if you use the right characters. For example, mañana looks better than “manana,” and resumé looks better than “resume.” The Mac’s always been able to generate these characters (not true for PCs), so why not learn how and start using the right characters today. Check out the handy table below.

Character	Keystroke(s)
• (bullet)	Option-8
¢	Option-4
ñ	Option-n, then n
é	Option-e, then e
™	Option-2
®	Option-r
° (degree symbol)	Option-Shift-8
	Option-Shift-K

You may be wondering how you’ll ever remember these things, but take a look at the keyboard and some of them will become fairly obvious. For example, the cent sign (¢) is on the same key as the dollar sign ($). The bullet (•) is on the same key as the asterisk (*), which some people use for bullets (until they read this blog entry). And the degree symbol is on the same key also. And it sort of looks like an asterisk or a bullet.

Note: you can also type a degree symbol with Option-K, and also with Option-0 (a zero). But it’s not exactly the same, and it’s not actually a degree symbol. I don’t know what it is, and you would probably get away with it, but the right way to type a degree sign is with Option-Shift-8.

OK now– that’s 9 articles, all about the Option key.

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Click here to see all of my blog posts involving the Option key. Save yourself time and effort with the tips in those posts! Copyright 2008-2024 Christian Boyce. All rights reserved.

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