Every once in a while you come across a symbol you want to use that is not available on your keyboard. it may be the © for a copyright notice or the ° for the temperature you are writing. Most of these symbols are hidden in the Character Map on Windows. To access the Character Map click on the Start button > All Programs > Accessories > System Tools > Character Map. At the bottom of the Character Map window you can o search for a specific character such as “beta” or “alpha” or “mu” and only the relevant symbols will be shown. Simply double click on the desired symbol so that it shows in the bottom list of characters to copy. Click the copy button and these characters will be copied to your clipboard and it can be pasted to the document of your choice.
This technique can prove useful for mathematical and scientific discussions where symbols are commonly used. Using the actual symbol is more visually appealing than referring to the symbol by name. Alternatively, you can also search for the symbol you are looking for by name online and will likely get a relevant result.
Last Updated on July 27, 2015 by Nathan Vidal