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What is this?

This applies to computers running Mac OS X. By holding down the option (or alt) key and pressing a letter on the keyboard, you can easily type a symbol.
Some of the better known ones among designers are the © symbol and the en (–) dash.

How do I use it?

The first column in the table represents what key you have to hit to get the symbol in the second column.
Some symbols are actually modifiers, and requires you to press a second key. An example of this is the "squiggly line" over an n. Press opt+n, n to get ñ.
Some fonts display the symbols radically different from what you see here. Furthermore, some of these symbols are very small.
Mouse over a symbol to see in Arial or Helvetica (depending on which font you have installed, Arial taking priority).
Symbols are currently in Courier typeface.

Your help is wanted!

Know what the names are to any of these symbols? Let me know!

Try it!

lowercase option keys

Letter Symbol Note
a å  
b ∫  
c ç  
d ∂  
e ´(é)
[é]

Press a letter after pressing "option+e" to combine the letter and symbol.
Ex: "option+e" then "e" gives: é
f ƒ  
g © copyright
h ˙  
i ˆ(î)
[ö]

Press a letter after pressing "option+i" to combine the letter and symbol.
Ex: "option+i" then "i" gives: î

Press return key after pressing "option+i" to get: ö
j ∆  
k ˚  
l ¬  
m µ  
n ˜(ñ)
[÷]

Press a letter after pressing "option+n" to combine the letter and symbol.
Ex: "option+n" then "N" gives: Ñ

Press return key after pressing "option+n" to get: ÷
o ø  
p π pi
q œ  
r ® registered
s ß  
t †  
u ¨(ü)
[ü]

Press a letter after pressing "option+u" to combine the letter and symbol.
Ex: "option+u" then "u" gives: ü

v √ square root
w ∑  
x ≈  
y ¥ yen
z Ω omega

Shift option / caps lock keys
(* indicates where caps lock won'twork)

Letter Symbol Note
A Å  
B ı  
C Ç  
D Î  
E ´  
F Ï  
G* ˝  
H Ó  
I ˆ  
J Ô  
K*
[]

This is a special character that will only show up on computers running OS X, and only with certain fonts. I've included an image here to be sure that everyone can see what it is.
L Ò  
M Â  
N ˜  
O Ø  
P ∏  
Q Œ  
R* ‰  
S Í  
T ˇ  
U ¨  
V ◊  
W „  
X ˛  
Y Á  
Z* ¸  

Numbers and Symbols

Key Symbol Note
` `
[è]

Press a letter after pressing "option+e" to combine the letter and symbol.
Ex: "option+e" then "e" gives: é
1 ¡  
2 ™ trademark
3 £ pounds
4 ¢ cents
5 ∞  
6 §  
7 paragraph
8 •  
9 ª  
0 º  
- – en dash
= ≠ does not equal
Key Symbol Note
~ `  
! ⁄  
@ € euro
# ‹  
$ ›  
% fi fi ligature
^ fl fl ligature
& ‡  
* °  
( ·  
) ‚  
_ — em dash
+ ±  
Key Symbol Note
[ “  
] ‘  
\ «  
; … ellipise
' æ ae ligature
, ≤ less than or equal to
. ≥ greater than or equal to
/ ÷ division
Key Symbol
{ ”
} ’
| »
: Ú
" Æ
< ¯
> ˘
? ¿