How to Enter Symbols into Window Forms or ASP.NET web pages

Letters with Accents

This list is organized by Accent type. To determine the appropriate numeric code, match the accent with the vowel.

Accent	A	E	I	O	U	Y
Grave (Cap)	À 0192	È 0200	Ì 0204	Ò 0210	Ù 0217
Grave (Lower)	à 0224	è 0232	ì 0236	ò 0242	ù 0249
Acute (Cap)	Á 0193	É 0201	Í 0205	Ó 0211	Ú 0218	Ý 0221
Acute (Lower)	á 0225	é 0233	í 0237	ó 0243	ú 0250	ý 0253
Circumflex (Cap)	Â 0194	Ê 0202	Î 0206	Ô 0212	Û 0219
Circumflex (Lower)	â 0226	ê 0234	î 0238	ô 0244	û 0251
Tilde (Cap)	Ã 0195	--	Ñ 0209	Õ 0213	--
Tilde (Lower)	ã 0227	--	ñ 0241	õ 0245	--
Umlaut (Cap)	Ä 0196	Ë 0203	Ï 0207	Ö 0214	Ü 0220	Ÿ 0159
Umlaut (Lower)	ä 0228	ë 0235	ï 0239	ö 0246	ü 0252	ÿ 0255

Example: To input the acute a á (0225), hold down the ALT key, type 0225 on the numeric keypad, then release the ALT key.

If you are having problems inputting these codes, please review the instructions for using the codes at the bottom of this Web page.

Other Foreign Characters

These include special punctuation and unique consonant and vowel symbols.

SYMBOL	NAME	CODE NUMBER
¡	Upside-down exclamation mark	0161
¿	Upside-down question mark	0191
Ç, ç	French C cedille (caps/lowecase)	0199 0231
Œ,œ	O-E ligature (caps/lowecase)	0140 0156
ß	German Sharp/Double S	0223
Ø,ø	Nordic O slash (caps/lowecase)	0216 0248
Å,å	Nordic A ring (caps/lowecase), Angstrom sign	0197 0229
Æ, æ	A-E ligature (caps/lowecase)	0198 0230
Þ, þ	Icelandic/Old English Thorn (caps/lowecase)	0222 0254
Ð, ð	Icelandic/Old English Eth (caps/lowecase)	0208 0240
« »	Spanish/French quotation marks	0187 0171

Currency Symbols

SYMBOL	NAME	CODE NUMBER
¢	Cent sign	0162
£	British Pound	0163
€	Euro currency	0128
¥	Japanese Yen	0165
ƒ	Dutch Florin	0131
¤	Generic currency symbol	0164

Math Symbols

SYMBOL	NAME	CODE NUMBER
÷	Division sign	0247
°	Degree symbol	0176
¬	Not symbol	0172
±	Plus/minus	0177
µ	Micro	0181

Other Punctuation

These incude copyright symbols and special section marks.

SYMBOL	NAME	CODE NUMBER
©	Copyright symbol	0169
®	Registered symbol	0174
™	Trademark	0153
•	List Dot	0149
§	Section Symbol	0167
–	en-dash	0150
—	em-dash	0151
¶	Paragraph Symbol	0182

Using the Codes

Windows assigns a numeric code to different accented letters, other foreign characters and special mathematical symbols. For instance the code for lower case á is 0225, and the code for capital Á is 0193. The ALT key input is used to manually insert these letters and symbols by calling the numeric code assigned to them.

To use the codes:

1. Place your cursor in the location where you wish to insert a special character.
2. Activate the numeric key pad on the right of the keyboard by pressing Num Lock (upper right of keyboard). The Num Lock light on the keyboard will indicate that the numeric key pad is on.
   
   NOTE: You must use the numeric key pad; if you use the number keys on the top of the keyboard, the characters will not appear. If you are on a laptop or computer without a separate numeric keypad, other methods are recommended.
3. While pressing down the ALT key, type the four-digit code on the numeric key pad at the right edge of the keyboard. The codes are "case sensitive." For instance, the code for lower-case á is ALT+0225, but capital Á is ALT+0193.
   
   NOTE: If you have the International keyboard activated, you will only be able to input codes with the ALT key on the left side of the keyboard.
   
4. Release the ALT key. The character will appear when the ALT key is released.
   
   NOTE: You must include the initial zero in the code. For example to insert á (0225) you must type ALT+0225, NOT ALT+225.