Ever wonder how to type a ≥ (greater than or equal to) symbol?

This only applies to computers running Mac OSX. Each key has an extra hidden symbol behind it, allowing you to type special characters and diacritic marks easily.

You have to hold the Option key (somtimes called Alt) and press another key to get the symbol. Further, pressing Shift and Option gives access to more special characters.

The left side of each table shows what key you need to press with Option to the symbol shown next to it. The right side of the table is the same keys, but shows the symbols you get when pressing Shift and Option at the same time.

Test Area (draggable)

Table Reference

Option + key symbols Shift + Option + key symbols
Option+ Symbol Note / Name Option+Shift+ Symbol Name/Note
[ typographers quotes [ typographers quotes
] typographers quote ] typographers quotes
\ « left double angle quotes \ » right double angle quotes
; ellipsie ; Ú capital U with acute
' æ lowercase latin letter ae ' Æ capital latin letter ae
. less than or equal to . ¯ macron
. greater than or equal to . ˘ breve
/ ÷ division / ¿ inverted question mark
Option + key symbols Shift + Option + key symbols
Option+ Symbol Note / Name Option+Shift+ Symbol Note / Name
~ `

grave accent

Hitopt + `, then a letter
to combine grave accent to letter

~ `  
1 ¡ inverted exclamation mark 1 fraction slash (?)
2 trademark 2 euro
3 £ british pounds 3 left angle quote
4 ¢ cents 4 right angle quote
5 infinity 5 fi ligature
6 § section 6 fl ligature
7 paragraph / pilcrow sign 7 alveolar click or double dagger
8 bullet 8 ° ring
9 ª feminine ordinal indicator 9 · square bullet
0 º degrees 0 single low 9 quotation mark
- en dash - em dash
= does not equal = ± plus or minus
Option + key symbols Shift + Option + key symbols
Option+ Symbol Name / Note Option+Shift+ Symbol Name / Note
a å lowercase a with ring above A Å capital A with ring above
b lowercase esh or integeral sign B ı dotless i
c ç lowercase c with cedilla C Ç capital C with cedilla
d   D Î I with circumflex
e ´(é) opt+e, then e gives: é E ´ acute
f ƒ florin sign F Ï I with umlaut
g © copyright G ˝ double acute
h ˙   H Ó capital O with acute
i ˆ(î)

opt+ i, then i again gives: î
opt + i, then return to get: ö

I ˆ circumflex
j delta J Ô capital O with circumflex
k ˚ dakuten (?) K

Apple logo ()

Appears only on Macs

l ¬ not sign L Ò  
m µ lowercase mu M Â capital A with circumflex
n ˜(ñ)

Tilde

opt + n, then N gives: Ñ

opt+ n, then return gives: ÷

N ˜ small tilde
o ø lowercase O with stroke O Ø capital O with stroke
p π pi P cryllic capital Pe (?)
q œ ligature latin letter oe Q Œ ligagure capital letter OE
r ® registered R per mille sign
s ß eszett (german sharp s) S Í I with acute
t dagger T ˇ caron
u ¨(ü) umlaut 
option + u, then u gives: ü
U ¨ umlaut
v square root V lozenge
w esh W double low 9 quotation mark
x approximately X ˛ ogonek
y ¥ yen Y Á capital A with acute
z Ω omega Z ¸ cedilla