Unicode on macOS: How to Write 150.000+ Special Characters

How to Set Up the “Unicode Hex Input” Keyboard

1️⃣ Open System Settings → Keyboard.

2️⃣ Look for Text Input > Input Sources.

3️⃣ Click Edit, then click on the Plus “+” Button.

4️⃣ Search for “Unicode Hex Input”.

5️⃣ Click Add.

And that’s it! You’ve just enabled a new keyboard layout for typing Unicode characters by their hex values.

Switching to the Unicode Keyboard

Now that you’ve added it, there are a few ways to turn it on:

• Control + Space: Tap this shortcut to toggle through your available keyboards. Keep pressing Space while holding Control to switch between them (the symbol in the top-right menu bar changes from “A” to “U+”).

• Menu Bar: Click the keyboard icon (might show “A” or “U+”) in the menu bar at the top of your screen, then select “Unicode Hex Input”.

• Fn / Globe key: On many newer Macs, pressing the fn key or the globe key also cycles through your keyboards.

Typing Hex Values

Time for the fun part:

1. Make sure your keyboard is set to Unicode Hex Input (the icon should show “U+” in the menu bar).

2. Hold down the Option key, then type the 4-digit (or more!) hex code for the character you want.

3. Release the Option key, and boom—the character appears!

For example, if you want the character € (Euro sign), whose code is U+20AC, just press:

Option + 2 0 A C

Let go of Option, and you’ll see the Euro symbol in your text!

Want Unicode without setting up a Keyboard?

If you don't need the Unicode keyboard all the time, you can search for the character with the "Emojis & Symbol" window (either press the fn key or CTRL + ⌘ + Space). Type the hex code in the search bar and you'll get your desired symbol.

The most common Unicode Characters on macOS

All 150.000+ Unicode Characters on Symbl.cc

If you’re not sure which hex code you need, check out symbl.cc. It’s a handy site listing tons of characters, symbols, and their associated Unicode values.s

Why Unicode? A Bit of Background

You might be used to Alt codes on Windows that use decimal values (like Alt+0169 for ©). On macOS, you don’t get that exact decimal approach for ASCII codes; instead, Apple moved to a Unicode-based input system. Here’s why:

• ASCII Is Limited: Traditional ASCII only covers 128 characters (or 256 if you count extended ASCII). That’s fine for basic English letters and punctuation, but it doesn’t come close to covering other languages, math symbols, emojis, or specialized glyphs.

• Unicode Is Universal: Unicode covers over 100,000 characters (and counting!), letting you type everything from ancient scripts to the latest emojis. So, one standard to rule them all!

• UTF-8: This is the most popular encoding for Unicode on the web. It’s a way to store all those thousands of Unicode characters efficiently, and it’s backward-compatible with good old ASCII. macOS and most modern systems default to UTF-8 these days, making cross-platform text much more seamless.

In short, macOS is fully geared to the modern Unicode world—so instead of referencing old-school decimal codes, you use a hexadecimal approach. It might feel different at first, but once you get used to typing Option + 2665 for a ♥, you’ll never look back!

Happy typing! Now you can bring all those unique symbols, letters, emojis, and more into your documents (and impress your friends while you’re at it). If you ever forget a code, remember to check out symbl.cc or search “Unicode <character name>” online. Have fun exploring the wonderful world of Unicode on your Mac!