For every symbol you can type, there is a corresponding numerical representation. This is because a computer can only process numbers. The ASCII table (American Standard Code for Information Interchange) lists the numeric value for all characters and symbols. You can enter every character from this table, even if you don’t see the corresponding sign on your keyboard. To be able to type special symbols & codes, you can follow the instructions below.
Instructions for Microsoft Windows®:
- To view the ASCII table, open your Internet browser and enter the web address www.asciitable.com.
- Locate the desired character and its corresponding decimal value. (i.e. the character “@” is at line 64).
- Place your cursor to the field where you would like to type in this character.
- Hold down the “Alt” key and on the numeric keypad (be sure it is ON), type in the decimal code and then release the “Alt” key.
- Now the character has been written.
Instructions for Mac:
- In an opened document, place the cursor to the field you would like to type in the character.
- Click “Edit > Special Characters.”
- When the “View” menu opens, choose the type of character you would like to view.
- Click the “By Category” and choose the category for your symbol.
- Find the desired symbol and double-click the symbol.
