The alt code method of typing symbols is very popular on the Windows operating system. This is by far the easiest way to make a check mark although it’s cheating slightly because it’s actually a square root symbol. Complete table with all Alt codes … On a Mac, you need to follow certain rules to make Alt 0173 work. I want to type basic fractions. Make sure you switch on the NumLock, press and hold down the Alt key, type the Alt Code value of the degree symbol 0176 on the numeric pad, release the Alt key and you got a ° degree symbol. The OPTION key is the “alt” key on a Mac. ALT+0169 for "1/2"). In addition, extended characters on the Mac are usually different than Windows because Windows used the ISO Latin-1 Character Set and the Mac uses the Roman character set. Activate Extended Keyboard . ** Above mentioned procedure is not aplicable for MacOS. Numbers you can type on your keyboard's Num Pad to get special symbols. Pretty simple and after you type the number combination, you just need to release the Alt key. Hold Alt and press 0173 in the numeric section of your keyboard. In Windows one uses ALT codes (e.g. We have a knowledge base of shortcuts for more than 10K symbols to use in Windows and Mac. Alt-Code.com is a one stop place to find keyboard shortcuts for symbols, special characters and language letters. In an app on your Mac, choose Edit > Emoji & Symbols, or open the Character Viewer from the Input menu (if you set the option in Keyboard preferences).. Full list of Alt codes. To use these codes, you need to activate the U.S. Extended keyboard (or ABC Extented in El Capitan) in the System Preferences following the instructions below. Whether you’re new to Mac or have been using it for years, highly specialized things like shortcuts, special Mac symbols, and accented characters might result in a web investigation spiralling out of control. Alt 0173 on Mac / Empty Character on Mac. Most Macintosh keyboards have “alt” printed in the upper right corner above the “option” label. Contains both 1 - 256 and 0128 - 0256 code ranges. Option/Alt + V. Hold down the Option key (also known as the ALT key) and press the letter “V” on your keyboard and you get “√”. Most people even think that it’s impossible to use alt code shortcuts in Mac. As you may already know, the standard apple keyboard also has two alt keys. What do you do in Mac? They will remain active in your profile between logins. 1. Typing an ASCII Character on the Mac Question: Q: What is the Mac equivalent for ALT codes? However, the way you use alt codes on Windows is very different from that of Mac. If you’ve just recently switched from Windows, you should know that Macs don’t really use alt codes to type special symbols. The chart below may be used to type extended ASCII characters on the Mac from the keyboard. See the Macintosh Computing Lab page to see which Mac operating system is installed. For example, let's type a degree symbol by using its Alt Code value on the keyboard. More Less.