How To Type Unicode Characters In Windows

What are Unicode Characters?

Unicode characters can be useful for a number of reasons. The main advantage to Unicode is that it allows symbols to be stored as a unique code. This way the code appears the same across different platforms so it is useful for symbols that are not on your keyboard.

How To Enter Unicode Characters

To type Unicode characters in Windows all you have to do is hold down the (left) “Alt” key then press the “+” key on your number pad while still holding down the alt key, then type the number code and let off the “Alt” key. This is the basic method and will work for most inputs you would have.

If you are trying to type Unicode that don’t belong to the Basic Multilingual Plane (e.g. it has letters or doesn’t look like [U+FFFF] then the easiest way to obtain it is to google the Unicode and then copy and paste the resulting symbol that you are looking for. If you would like to type in ALT codes head on over to this tutorial.