Hey I was trying to copy a custom character I made for a presentation, however, when I try to paste it into google docs it won’t and when I paste it in a text doc it just shows up with the unicode box instead of the actual symbol. How can I fix this?
I have Office 2013 on Win7 OS on my laptop which does not have a separate number pad. Because you can only enter the ALT keystroke combination on a number pad I was not looking forward to copying and pasting every time I had to enter a special character. (I’m in law school so it’d be section and paragraph symbols) In Word 2013 you can go to Insert-Symbols-Symbol-More Symbols. In the window that pops up find the symbol you want and choose a “Shortcut Key.” I made the section symbol ALT+1 and the paragraph symbol ALT+2. It’s not going to be as helpful if you regularly use a lot of different characters, but if you only need a few regularly it will help immensely.
I just noticed that the character “” (backslash or reverse solidus), among others, does have an ALT keystroke (ALT+92 or ALT + 0092). However, Character Map won´t show it on the bottom right corner. Any ideas why?
When I choose a character, it does not show the keystroke to the right side at all, it is blank. It just shows U+4 digits. How do I turn the keystroke reveal on?
Almost no Unicode characters have a keystroke like the small number of ASCII ones that do. There’s a way to set Windows to let you use the same sort of thing using the Unicode code point (the hexadecimal number on the left at the bottom): http://www.windowsvistasecret.net/secret.asp?haber=54, for example, says it may require a small edit to the registry if it’s not enabled in the first place.
Also, there’s a typo in the article: “Were to find […]”
This makes completely no sense what so ever to me. When I look @ my character map, in the “Times New Roman Font” for example, and there isn’t a keystroke for a character in the box on the bottom right hand side, how do I create the character I want in my text?
I read through the link that you provided, and it was almost impossible to understand. Maybe I should make something else clear. I am NOT a programmer. I do NOT know any computer languages. The terms in the other link you provided don’t make any sense to me. When something says “press ALT+x”, which keys EXACTLY am I supposed to press? I know about the “Alt” key, but is it also the “+” key, and the “X”, or what? I know this sounds like I’m an absolute idiot to you programmer/smart types, but I don’t know that stuff. Or am I just pressing two keys simultaneously? The “Alt” key, and the “X”.
Maybe an expressed example would help. In Times New Roman, the symbol for the heart in a deck of cards shows on the bottom left as “U+2665”. How would I make that, in to this, “♥”? Beings there is not a keystroke on the bottom right hand side. Is my only option then to copy/paste as I did here?
Thanks for any answer, and I’m sorry if I stretched this out too far, and for sounding like an idiot. 🙂
Hello,
“Alt+numbercode” means, as I said in the article, “Hold down the ‘Alt’ key and, in the numeric pad type the number code” so, for “Alt + X” while you are pressing the Alt key, you also press the “X” key.
Not all characters have a keycode but you can copy them as mentioned: click on the symbol, press the “Select” button, and then the “Copy” button. Paste the character in the document where you want it, as you did in the comment above.
14 Responses to “How to Use Special Characters in Windows with Character Map”
Hey I was trying to copy a custom character I made for a presentation, however, when I try to paste it into google docs it won’t and when I paste it in a text doc it just shows up with the unicode box instead of the actual symbol. How can I fix this?
Excellent user friendly article. Thank you. You made my life easier.
Thank you so much for your time and energy: You have helped me a lot!
A quick note that I discovered:
I have Office 2013 on Win7 OS on my laptop which does not have a separate number pad. Because you can only enter the ALT keystroke combination on a number pad I was not looking forward to copying and pasting every time I had to enter a special character. (I’m in law school so it’d be section and paragraph symbols) In Word 2013 you can go to Insert-Symbols-Symbol-More Symbols. In the window that pops up find the symbol you want and choose a “Shortcut Key.” I made the section symbol ALT+1 and the paragraph symbol ALT+2. It’s not going to be as helpful if you regularly use a lot of different characters, but if you only need a few regularly it will help immensely.
Hi there,
I just noticed that the character “” (backslash or reverse solidus), among others, does have an ALT keystroke (ALT+92 or ALT + 0092). However, Character Map won´t show it on the bottom right corner. Any ideas why?
Does anyone know how the “modifier characters” that I find in character map work? Microsoft doesn’t seem to have anything about this on their website.
If I create a special character, use it in a Word or Visio document, and email that file to someone else — what will that person see?
Try emailing one to yourself to find out.
Good idea, so long as I retrieve the email on a different computer, which I will do. Thanks
I can find a gradient symbol anywhere. Did Bill’s education stop before vector calculus? It would be ∆ upside down
When I choose a character, it does not show the keystroke to the right side at all, it is blank. It just shows U+4 digits. How do I turn the keystroke reveal on?
Almost no Unicode characters have a keystroke like the small number of ASCII ones that do. There’s a way to set Windows to let you use the same sort of thing using the Unicode code point (the hexadecimal number on the left at the bottom): http://www.windowsvistasecret.net/secret.asp?haber=54, for example, says it may require a small edit to the registry if it’s not enabled in the first place.
Also, there’s a typo in the article: “Were to find […]”
This makes completely no sense what so ever to me. When I look @ my character map, in the “Times New Roman Font” for example, and there isn’t a keystroke for a character in the box on the bottom right hand side, how do I create the character I want in my text?
I read through the link that you provided, and it was almost impossible to understand. Maybe I should make something else clear. I am NOT a programmer. I do NOT know any computer languages. The terms in the other link you provided don’t make any sense to me. When something says “press ALT+x”, which keys EXACTLY am I supposed to press? I know about the “Alt” key, but is it also the “+” key, and the “X”, or what? I know this sounds like I’m an absolute idiot to you programmer/smart types, but I don’t know that stuff. Or am I just pressing two keys simultaneously? The “Alt” key, and the “X”.
Maybe an expressed example would help. In Times New Roman, the symbol for the heart in a deck of cards shows on the bottom left as “U+2665”. How would I make that, in to this, “♥”? Beings there is not a keystroke on the bottom right hand side. Is my only option then to copy/paste as I did here?
Thanks for any answer, and I’m sorry if I stretched this out too far, and for sounding like an idiot. 🙂
Hello,
“Alt+numbercode” means, as I said in the article, “Hold down the ‘Alt’ key and, in the numeric pad type the number code” so, for “Alt + X” while you are pressing the Alt key, you also press the “X” key.
Not all characters have a keycode but you can copy them as mentioned: click on the symbol, press the “Select” button, and then the “Copy” button. Paste the character in the document where you want it, as you did in the comment above.