Often when browsing forums, in comments, in nicknames, signatures, we see original characters that are not on the keyboard. The question arises, how to enter special characters from the keyboard if there are no special keys for them? And everything is done quite simply, in this article several approaches will be considered.

To enter special characters, just hold down the key Alt and while holding it, dial the character code. For example, to enter an emoticon, press Alt + 1 ... Each special character has a specific code. All these codes are summarized in the ASCII code table, which can be downloaded from http://ascii.org.ru/ascii.pdf. The first 30 numbers are special graphic characters, from 32 to 175 and from 224 to 247 are punctuation marks, numbers and letters, and from 176 codes are pseudo-graphic symbols (frames).

For convenience, here is a list of special character codes.

In addition to those shown in the list, there are also other special characters. You can find out the codes for typing them through the well-known text editor Microsoft Word (there is a similar feature in OpenOffice).

On the menu Insert - Symbol open the window and select the desired symbol. Its code is displayed at the bottom of the window ( Keyboard shortcut ). There, first the hexadecimal code is indicated (we do not need it), and then the code for entering from the keyboard, after the word Alt +.

Note immediately if after Alt + it says “ X ", This means that the character can be entered only in Word in the following way: first enter the character code, and then press the key combination Alt + X ... As a result, the code will be replaced with the corresponding symbol. In addition to the previous list, we will mention a few more codes:
© - 0169
® - 0174
† - 0134
™ - 0153

Another way is to use Symbol Map, a utility included with Windows ( Start - All Programs - Accessories - Utilities - Symbol Table). In this program, a character is also selected, and the code for entering it from the keyboard (if possible) is indicated in the lower right corner.

No computer or laptop user can do without letters on the keyboard, entered using the appropriate keys. Almost every key has 2 letters - English at the top and Russian at the bottom, i.e. the keyboard has 26 letters of the English alphabet and 33 letters of the Russian alphabet. Moreover, it can be both lowercase and uppercase letters, which are printed using the Shift key.

There are punctuation marks in both the English and Russian layouts, although they are located in different places on the keyboard. It is convenient when working with Russian text that the period and comma are the same key, which is located in the bottom row of the letter keys of the very last. Only the comma is printed in combination with the Shift key. And in the English layout, the period is the key with the Russian letter Y, and the comma is B. So you do not need to switch from one font to another to enter these punctuation marks.

We use digital signs or numbers not only for calculations, but also in the text to denote various numerical data. In this case, you can use both the upper numeric row of the keyboard and the additional numeric block (small numeric keypad) located on the right of the keyboard.

The main signs of arithmetic operations (plus "+", minus "-", multiplication "*", division "/"), located on the small numeric keypad, by analogy with the usual calculator, so it is convenient to use them in calculations. But if you just need to type the equal sign "=", and not find out the result of the calculations, then you will not find such a sign there. It is located in the upper digital row after the number 0 through one key.

What are the most commonly used characters on the keyboard

If you look closely at the keyboard, you can see that many characters are hidden in the digital row and on the right side of the letter rows, the last keys. To enter characters instead of letters or numbers when printing, you need to switch the upper case with the Shift key.

If you go in order, starting with the number 1, then in this way, when printing Russian texts, you enter:

1) exclamation mark "!";
2) opening and closing quotation marks at the beginning and end of the phrase "...";
3) then, if necessary, the number sign “No.”;
4) semicolon ";";
5) "%";
6) colon ":";
7) question mark "?";
8) the asterisk "*", which is also used as a multiplication sign in computer calculations;
9) round opening "(";
10) round closing bracket ")" on the key with the number 0;
11) a hyphen and a "-" sign - look the same in the computer version. A dash (longer) appears automatically with spaces before and after this character in text programs, or is entered using a special code.
12) the sign is equal to "=" and the sign "+" in upper case, i.e. in combination with the Shift key.

It is noteworthy that the exclamation mark,%, *, parentheses are found in both Russian and English keyboard layouts on the same keys.

But some characters only exist in the English layout. For example, square [...] and curly (...) brackets, which are located on keys with Russian letters X (opening) and b (closing), ">" (key with Russian letter Y) and less "Rarely used characters on the keyboard

In everyday life, an ordinary user rarely has to use characters that exist only in the English layout: different versions of quotation marks “...”, '...', `...`, dashes “|”, forward “/” and backward “\” slash, tilde “~ ". But the paragraph sign "§" or the degree "°" would not hurt , but they are not on the keyboard. You have to enter some characters in the text in a different way.

What is an alt code? Alt-code is the characters that are displayed when you press the key combination on the keyboard Alt + X, where X is a set of numbers (a specific number) on the NumPad "e. NumPAd is a block of numbers on the keyboard, usually located on the right. Windows systems are not available when using a regular keyboard. They can only be called using additional commands. Press the ALT button and enter a number in the decimal system. I hope everything is clear here. The Alt code table will help you navigate and find the desired character.

Attention! Type numbers on the side Num-pad keyboard.

English layout

Russian layout

Every computer user, especially actively using social networks, wondered: what are special characters and where to find them on the keyboard? The answer to this question is not difficult. The thing is that only frequently used symbols are displayed on the keyboard: letters, punctuation marks, arithmetic operations.

But there are many other symbols in the world. And in order to use them, you need to know some concepts. Such characters are called special characters. The difference is that they are more comic than really useful.

How to enter special characters from the keyboard?

To begin with, let's analyze the simplest and most understandable input of special characters that are already located on the device keyboard. To do this, hold down the Shift key and select the desired symbol.

But do not forget that for convenience, the symbols are separated by keyboard layouts. Therefore, pay attention to the location of the sign relative to the main one.

Using special characters when creating passwords

Many users wondered how to create a strong password. To do this, you do not need to create huge sets of different letters, numbers and punctuation marks, just use an unusual icon. So how do you use the special characters on your keyboard for your password?

To use a special character when entering a password, you must enable NumLock. After that, you should hold down the Alt key and "+", then we type the required set of characters and get the sign we need. But in the password itself, it will not be registered as a special character, but will be written in the encoding required for this.

Using Unicode on the Windows 10 keyboard

To use special characters on the Windows 10 keyboard, you need to go to the taskbar and request a table in the search bar. And then run this application.

In the table that opens, you can select a font. To copy a symbol, click on it twice and click "Copy" in the bottom line. You can also select the language for the character set.

Entering special characters using the keyboard

The most practical way to type characters is to combine the Alt key and the desired Unicode. Special characters on the Alt keyboard will be discussed in the table below.

But before you know about them, you need to understand the principle of entering these characters. To enter the character we need, press the Alt key, then press "+" on the right side of the keyboard and type a digital command in which the desired character is encrypted.

Tables of special characters for text description

And now, in fact, let's look at how some special characters look. Many of them are used infrequently.

Special symbols table - arrows

And these special characters are perfect for any kind of scheme. This table is worth having at hand.

Punctuation table

Well, you can't do without these signs when writing articles. They are familiar to everyone, without exception.

Arithmetic Signs Table

Such signs are just a godsend for a mathematician. None can be recorded without their help.

Table of Latin, Greek and Hebrew letters

Not many, of course, will use these signs when working with a computer. However, knowing about them will not hurt your overall development.

Additional symbol table

Here are some more useful signs. Perhaps they will come in handy for you too.

Finally

There are many symbols in the world that computer users need to use for their own purposes. It is impossible to know all of them. After all, over its centuries-old history, humanity has created more than a million different codes and other types of information encoded in the image, but there are tables of special characters that are available to all users.

These signs have a huge field of application, so many will have to face them. Entering special characters from the keyboard is easy. The main thing is to be able to use the capabilities of your device, and this will allow you to use various special characters for your own purposes.

Let's imagine a trivial situation: you need to enter a special character in some text, but there is no key with such a character on the keyboard.

How to be?

If you are working in a text editor , then there are no problems:

- select the menu Insert -> Symbol ...;

- in the opened dialog box Symbol select the desired symbol;

- press the key Insert(you can insert by double-clicking the left button on the selected symbol).

And if you are working in a "non-advanced" text editor, for example, in Notepad(by the way, the program Notebook it is very convenient to use it as a notebook - for current notes and notes. Since it "weighs" less than Word, it loads faster and works faster in it)?

How to be?

There is a way out, and it is always at hand!

- press and hold the key Alt;

- on the additional numeric keypad (the numeric block is located on the right side of the keyboard), enter the character code;

- when you release the key Alt, the desired character will be inserted into the text.

Note. There must be a numeric keypad (if not, turn it on by pressing the key NumLock).

Some of the symbols are listed below:

Knowledge of these codes (or at least the presence of a printed sheet with these codes "at hand") allows you to increase the speed of work on the keyboard, even in Word"e.