Mac Keyboard Symbols: Complete Reference Guide (2026)
Every Mac keyboard symbol explained — ⌘, ⌥, ⌃, ⇧, and all the special characters the Option key produces. A reference you'll actually bookmark.
Mac keyboards are covered in symbols that aren’t labeled on the keys. You see ⌘ in a menu and you know that’s Command, but what about ⌃? Or ⇧? And then there’s the Option key, which secretly produces dozens of special characters that most people never discover.
This is the reference page. Bookmark it.
Modifier key symbols
When you see keyboard shortcuts in Mac menus, they use symbols instead of words. Here’s the complete list:
| Symbol | Name | Key | What it does |
|---|---|---|---|
| ⌘ | Command | Command (Cmd) | The primary modifier for most shortcuts (⌘C = copy, ⌘V = paste) |
| ⌥ | Option | Option (Alt) | Secondary modifier, also produces special characters when held |
| ⌃ | Control | Control (Ctrl) | Used in Terminal shortcuts and some app-specific combos |
| ⇧ | Shift | Shift | Capitalizes letters, accesses secondary shortcut variants |
| ⇪ | Caps Lock | Caps Lock | Toggles uppercase typing |
| fn | Function | fn (Globe) | Accesses function keys (F1–F12), opens Emoji picker on newer Macs |
| ⎋ | Escape | Escape (Esc) | Cancel, exit, dismiss |
| ⏎ | Return | Return/Enter | Confirm, new line |
| ⌫ | Delete | Delete (Backspace) | Delete character to the left |
| ⌦ | Forward Delete | fn + Delete | Delete character to the right |
| ⇥ | Tab | Tab | Tab key, move to next field |
So when a menu says ⌘⇧N, that means Command + Shift + N. When you see ⌥⌘Space, that’s Option + Command + Space.
Once you recognize these symbols, every Mac menu becomes readable.
Option key special characters
This is the part most people don’t know about. Holding the Option key while pressing other keys produces special characters. Here are the most useful ones:
| Shortcut | Character | Name |
|---|---|---|
| Option + G | © | Copyright |
| Option + R | ® | Registered trademark |
| Option + 2 | ™ | Trademark |
| Option + Minus | – | En dash |
| Option + Shift + Minus | — | Em dash |
| Option + 8 | • | Bullet point |
| Option + Shift + 8 | ° | Degree symbol |
| Option + ; | … | Ellipsis |
| Option + P | π | Pi |
| Option + = | ≠ | Not equal to |
| Option + Shift + = | ± | Plus-minus |
| Option + [ | " | Left double quotation mark |
| Option + Shift + [ | " | Right double quotation mark |
| Option + ] | ' | Left single quotation mark |
| Option + Shift + ] | ' | Right single quotation mark |
| Option + 0 | º | Masculine ordinal |
| Option + / | ÷ | Division sign |
| Option + V | √ | Square root |
| Option + 5 | ∞ | Infinity |
| Option + W | ∑ | Summation |
| Option + Shift + 2 | € | Euro sign |
| Option + 3 | £ | British pound |
| Option + Y | ¥ | Yen/Yuan |
There are more, but these are the ones you’ll actually use. The full set changes depending on your keyboard layout — the table above is for the standard U.S. layout.
How to see all of them
Want to explore every Option-key combination on your specific keyboard? Go to System Settings → Keyboard → Input Sources → Edit, then check “Show Input menu in menu bar.” Click the Input menu icon and select Show Keyboard Viewer. Now hold the Option key, and the on-screen keyboard shows you every character available.
The Character Viewer
For symbols that aren’t mapped to a keyboard shortcut, the Character Viewer is your go-to tool.
How to open it:
- Edit → Emoji & Symbols from any app’s menu bar
- Or press Control + Command + Space
- On newer Macs with a Globe key, press fn to open the Emoji picker, then click the icon in the top right to switch to the full Character Viewer
How to use it:
- Type what you’re looking for in the search field — “degree,” “copyright,” “arrow,” whatever
- Double-click the character to insert it wherever your cursor is
- Click the “Add to Favorites” button on characters you use often so they appear in the Favorites section
The Character Viewer has every Unicode character — math symbols, arrows, currency signs, emoji, dingbats, all of it. It’s thorough but slow, which is why it’s better as a discovery tool than an everyday typing method.
Text expansion for your most-used symbols
Here’s the pattern I see: you look up a special character, use the Character Viewer or memorize the Option shortcut, and then forget it three days later because you don’t use it often enough to build muscle memory.
Text expansion solves this. In TypeSnap, you can create triggers for any character:
;copy→ © (copyright);tm→ ™ (trademark);reg→ ® (registered);em→ — (em dash);en→ – (en dash);deg→ ° (degree);neq→ ≠ (not equal);ell→ … (ellipsis)
The trigger is whatever makes sense to you. You pick the abbreviation, TypeSnap handles the expansion. Works in every app on your Mac, no modifier keys to remember.
For symbols you use daily, this is faster than any keyboard shortcut. For symbols you use once a month, it’s the only way you’ll reliably remember how to type them.
Keep this page or skip it entirely
Bookmark this reference for the next time you need an Option-key character. Or — set up text expansion triggers for the five or six symbols you actually use, and skip the reference entirely.
TypeSnap is a one-time purchase, no subscription. Set up your symbol triggers once and stop looking up keyboard shortcuts.
Stop typing the same things over and over
TypeSnap expands your snippets instantly. One-time purchase, no subscription.