You might be a recent switcher from PC to Mac, you may have discovered that the “ and @ symbols are not located where you expect them to be—in fact they are totally missing. Or perhaps you are asked to type some special symbols or letters with accents on a Mac keyboard, we will help you concerning that.
Depending on your location, the special characters could be found The layout of the keyboard changes from one country to another; in those countries, there are some letters which are more relevant and used commonly than others. QWERTY keyboards are available for those who speak English and Azeerty keyboards are for the French speaking individuals while Germans will use QWERTZ.
U.K. and U.S. keyboards have a number of unexpected differences. Many Australians tend to use the American keyboard layout when typing. European keyboards come with different key layouts so we’ve also included these special keys’ locations below.
If you are using a PC keyboard with your Mac the Alt key will be Option while the Windows key will be Command and you will no doubt be very confused.
How to type °$€@®©# £€¢™ and Æ
That’s not obfuscated swearing! Rather, those are symbols you may have to type over and over again but are just hidden on your Mac keyboard. Rest assured, we will tell you what to do to type them.
Here’s a handy guide to the hidden characters you can type using Alt before we begin (they might be slightly different if you aren’t using a U.K. keyboard).
How to type Euro (€) symbol on a Mac keyboard
- On a U.S. keyboard to type euro press: Alt/Option-Shift-2 = €
- On a U.K. keyboard to type euro press: Alt/Option-2 = €
Other Languages
- French: The euro (€) and dollar ($) signs are located next to the return key.
- German, Italian, Swiss, Spanish: Press Option/Alt + E for the euro (€).
- Portuguese: Press Option/Alt + 3 for the euro (€).
- Norwegian, Danish: Press Option/Alt + 4 for the euro (€).
- Dutch: Press Option/Alt + 2 for the euro (€).
How to type the pound sign on a Mac keyboard
The hash key is hard to type due to the key’s position changing based on the keyboard being used such that it’s mean different things in different places pound. United Kingdom based individuals view pound as £ (the currency) although hash and hashtag are names undertaken in some countries.
Let me explain this to you, when you are in the UK keyboard “#” takes the same key with £ but on other nation’s keyboard layout they put extra symbols instead of UK’s £ (will cover that later on).
How to type a # (hash)
- U.S. keyboard: Press Shift + 3.
- U.K. keyboard: Press Alt/Option + 3.
- French keyboard: The hash key is located to the left of the number 1.
- German keyboard: The hash key is positioned beside the Enter key.
- Norwegian, Spanish, Swedish, and Portuguese keyboards: The hash key is on the number 3 key.
- Italian keyboard: The hash key (called “cancelletto”) is found just above the lower right Shift key.
How to type ‘at’ – @
This @ symbol is a place of confusion for those who have PCs and are coming to Macintosh keyboards because the @ symbol and ” symbol trade places.
- US and UK: Shift + 2
- Spanish and Swedish: Same as US/UK (Shift + 2)
- Danish, Norwegian, Portuguese, and Swiss: Look for the “@” key near the Enter key, above the right Shift key.
- French: Left of the number 1 key.
- German and Italian: Look for the “@” symbol on the key with the letter “L”.
How to type ” key
- US and UK keyboards: Look for the double quote key (“) next to the single quote key (‘) on the bottom right side.
- German, Danish, Norwegian, Portuguese, Spanish, Swiss, Swedish, and Italian keyboards: The double quote key (“) is usually on the number 2 key, but press the Shift key to access it.
- French keyboards: The double quote key (“) is on the number 3 key, but again, press Shift to use it.
How to type© ® and ™
In some professions, there is frequent use of various badges indicating copyrights and trademarks, with the good news being that with Mac keyboard, there is a simple method of typing these signs.
- Alt/Option-G = ©
- Alt/Option-R = ®
- U.S. keyboard: Alt/Option-2 = ™
- U.K. keyboard: Shift-Alt/Option-2 = ™
How to type Degrees, check mark or tick or other symbols
For degree
- Shift-Alt/Option–8 = °
For tick
- Option/Alt-V = √
Other Symbols
- Tilde (~): Holding Shift and pressing the key next to the number 1 (usually the key with the squiggle on it).
- Forward slash (/): Holding Shift and pressing the key with the question mark (usually next to the right Shift key).
- Dash (-): Pressing the hyphen key (it might look like a minus sign). On some keyboards, a longer dash (–) might be available by holding a special key combination (consult your keyboard manual).
- Vertical bar (|): This straight line up and down is created by holding Shift and pressing the backslash key () (usually located near the Enter key).