What is the character on the keyboard? Symbols on the keyboard using the Alt key
The main device for manual input of information, commands and data. This article describes its structure and layout, hot keys, symbols and signs.
Computer keyboard: operating principle
Basic keyboard functions do not require special software. The drivers necessary for its operation are already available in the BIOS ROM. Therefore, the computer responds to commands from the main keyboard keys immediately after turning on.
The operating principle of the keyboard is as follows:
- After pressing a key, the keyboard chip generates a scan code.
- The scan code enters a port integrated into the motherboard.
- The keyboard port reports a fixed-number interrupt to the processor.
- Having received a fixed interrupt number, the processor contacts a special interrupt. an area of RAM containing an interrupt vector - a list of data. Each entry in the data list contains the address of the program servicing the interrupt, which matches the entry number.
- Having determined the program entry, the processor proceeds to execute it.
- The interrupt handler program then directs the processor to the keyboard port, where it finds the scan code. Next, under the control of the processor, the processor determines which character corresponds to this scan code.
- The handler sends code to the keyboard buffer, notifying the processor, and then stops working.
- The processor moves on to the pending task.
- The entered character is stored in the keyboard buffer until it is picked up by the program for which it is intended, for example, the text editor Microsoft Word.
Photo of a computer keyboard and the purpose of the keys
A standard keyboard has more than 100 keys, divided into functional groups. Below is photo of the keyboard computer with a description of key groups.
Alphanumeric keys
Alphanumeric keys are used to enter information and commands typed by letter. Each of the keys can work in different registers and also represent several characters.
Switching case (entering lowercase and uppercase characters) is carried out by holding the Shift key. For hard (permanent) case switching, Caps Lock is used.
If the computer keyboard is used to enter text data, the paragraph is closed by pressing the Enter key. Next, data entry begins on a new line. When the keyboard is used to enter commands, Enter ends the input and begins execution.
Function keys
The function keys are located at the top of the keyboard and consist of 12 buttons F1 – F12. Their functions and properties depend on the running program, and in some cases the operating system.
A common function in many programs is the F1 key, which calls up help, where you can find out the functions of other buttons.
Special keys
Special keys are located next to the alphanumeric group of buttons. Due to the fact that users often resort to using them, they have an increased size. These include:
- Shift and Enter discussed earlier.
- Alt and Ctrl – used in combination with other keyboard keys to form special commands.
- Tab is used for tabulation when typing text.
- Win – opens the Start menu.
- Esc – refusal to use the started operation.
- BACKSPACE – deleting the characters just entered.
- Print Screen – prints the current screen or saves a snapshot of it to the clipboard.
- Scroll Lock – switches the operating mode in some programs.
- Pause/Break – pause/interrupt the current process.
Cursor keys
The cursor keys are located to the right of the alphanumeric pad. Cursor is a screen element indicating the location for entering information. The directional keys move the cursor in the direction of the arrows.
Additional keys:
- Page Up/Page Down – move the cursor to page up/down.
- Home and End – move the cursor to the beginning or end of the current line.
- Insert – traditionally switches the data input mode between insertion and replacement. In different programs, the action of the Insert button may be different.
Additional numeric keypad
The additional numeric keyboard duplicates the actions of the numeric and some other keys of the main input panel. To use it, you must first enable the Num Lock button. Also, the additional keyboard keys can be used to control the cursor.
Keyboard shortcut
When you press a certain key combination, a particular command is executed for the computer.
Commonly used keyboard shortcuts:
- Ctrl + Shift + Esc – open the Task Manager.
- Ctrl + F – search window in the active program.
- Ctrl + A – selects all content in the open window.
- Ctrl + C – copy the selected fragment.
- Ctrl + V – paste from the clipboard.
- Ctrl + P — prints the current document.
- Ctrl + Z – cancels the current action.
- Ctrl + X – cut the selected section of text.
- Ctrl + Shift + → selecting text by words (starting from the cursor position).
- Ctrl + Esc - opens/closes the Start menu.
- Alt + Printscreen – screenshot of the active program window.
- Alt + F4 – closes the active application.
- Shift + Delete – permanently delete an object (past the trash can).
- Shift + F10 – call the context menu of the active object.
- Win + Pause – system properties.
- Win + E – launches Explorer.
- Win + D – minimizes all open windows.
- Win + F1 – opens Windows Help.
- Win + F – opens the search window.
- Win + L – lock the computer.
- Win + R – open “Run a program”.
Keyboard symbols
Surely, many users have noticed symbols for nicknames and other social networks. How to make symbols on the keyboard if there are no explicit keys for this?
You can place characters on the keyboard using Alt codes - additional commands for entering hidden characters. These commands are entered by simply pressing Alt + a decimal number.
You can often come across questions: how to make a heart on the keyboard, an infinity sign or a euro on the keyboard?
- alt + 3 =
- Alt+8734 = ∞
- Alt + 0128 = €
These and other keyboard symbols are presented in the following tables in the form of pictures. The “Alt code” column contains a numeric value, after entering which, in combination with the Alt key, a certain character will be displayed. The symbol column contains the final result.
Please note that if the additional numeric keypad is not enabled - Num Lock is not pressed, then the Alt + number key combination may lead to unexpected results.
For example, if you press Alt + 4 in the browser without Num Lock enabled, the previous page will open.
Punctuation marks on the keyboard
Sometimes users, when trying to put a punctuation mark on the keyboard, do not get exactly what they expected. This is due to the fact that different keyboard layouts imply different use of key combinations.
Below we discuss how to put punctuation marks on the keyboard.
Punctuation marks with Cyrillic alphabet
- " (quotes) - Shift + 2
- № (number) - Shift + 3
- ; (semicolon) - Shift + 4
- % (percentage) - Shift + 5
- : (colon) - Shift + 6
- ? (question mark) - Shift + 7
- ((open bracket) - Shift + 9
- – (dash) – button labeled “-”
- , (comma) - Shift + “period”
- + (plus) – Shift + button with plus sign “+”
- . (dot) – button to the right of the letter “U”
Latin punctuation marks
- ~ (tilde) - Shift + Yo
- ! (exclamation mark) - Shift + 1
- @ (dog - used in email address) - Shift + 2
- # (hash) - Shift + 3
- $ (dollar) – Shift + 4
- % (percentage) - Shift + 5
- ^ — Shift + 6
- & (ampersand) - Shift + 7
- * (multiply or asterisk) - Shift + 8
- ((open bracket) - Shift + 9
- ) (close bracket) - Shift + 0
- – (dash) – key on the keyboard labeled “-”
- + (plus) - Shift and +
- = (equal) – equal sign button
- , (comma) – key with the Russian letter “B”
- . (dot) - key with the Russian letter “Yu”
- < (левая угловая скобка) — Shift + Б
- > (right angle bracket) - Shift + Yu
- ? (question mark) – Shift + button with a question mark (to the right of “Y”)
- ; (semicolon) – letter “F”
- : (colon) – Shift + “F”
- [ (left square bracket) – Russian letter “X”
- ] (right square bracket) – “Ъ”
- ( (left curly brace) – Shift + Russian letter “X”
- ) (right curly brace) – Shift + “Ъ”
Computer keyboard layout
Computer keyboard layout— a scheme for assigning symbols of national alphabets to specific keys. Switching the keyboard layout is done programmatically - one of the functions of the operating system.
In Windows, you can change the keyboard layout by pressing Alt + Shift or Ctrl + Shift. Typical keyboard layouts are English and Russian.
If necessary, you can change or add a keyboard language in Windows 7 by going to Start – Control Panel – Clock, language and region (sub-item “change keyboard layout or other input methods”).
In the window that opens, select the “Languages and keyboards” tab - “Change keyboard”. Then, in a new window, on the “General” tab, click “Add” and select the required input language. Don't forget to save your changes by clicking OK.
Virtual computer keyboard
The virtual keyboard is a separate program or an add-on included in the software. With its help, letters and symbols are entered from the computer screen using the mouse cursor. Those. During the typing process, the computer keyboard is not involved.
A virtual keyboard is needed, for example, to protect confidential data (login and password). When entering data using a regular keyboard, there is a risk of information being intercepted by malicious spyware. Then, via the Internet, the information is transmitted to the attacker.
You can find and download a virtual keyboard using search engines - it won’t take much of your time. If Kaspersky anti-virus is installed on your PC, you can launch the virtual keyboard through the main program window; it is included in it.
Screen keyboard
On-screen keyboard is a keyboard on the touch screen of a smartphone, which is pressed with the user’s fingers. Sometimes the on-screen keyboard is called a virtual keyboard.
Also, the on-screen keyboard on your computer is included in the list of Windows accessibility features. If you have stopped typing, suddenly turned off, etc., the on-screen keyboard for Windows will come to the rescue.
To launch the on-screen keyboard in Windows 7, go to Start - All Programs - Accessories - then Accessibility - On-Screen Keyboard. It looks like this.
To switch the keyboard layout, use the corresponding buttons on the taskbar (near the date and time, at the bottom left of the monitor screen).
What to do if the keyboard does not work
If your keyboard suddenly stops working, don’t rush to get upset, first find out what caused the breakdown. All the reasons why the keyboard does not work can be divided into hardware and software.
In the first case, if the keyboard hardware is broken, fixing the problem without special skills is very problematic. Sometimes it’s easier to replace it with a new one.
Before you say goodbye to a seemingly faulty keyboard, check the cable with which it is connected to the system unit. It may have come off a little. If everything is fine with the cable, make sure that the breakdown is not caused by a software glitch in the computer. To do this, restart your PC.
If after a reboot the keyboard shows no signs of life, try to wake it up using the solution available in Windows. The sequence of actions is given using Windows 7 as an example; if you have a different version of the Windows operating system, proceed by analogy. The principle is approximately the same, the names of the menu sections may differ slightly.
Go to Start - Control Panel - Hardware and Sound - Device Manager. In the window that opens, if you have problems with your keyboard, it will be marked with a yellow label with an exclamation mark. Select it with the mouse and select Action – Delete from the menu. After uninstallation, close Device Manager.
Return to the Hardware and Sound tab and select Add a Device. After searching for equipment, your keyboard will be found and its drivers will be installed.
If the hardware installation was successful and the keyboard failure was due to a software glitch, the Num Lock key indicator on the keyboard will light up.
If the problem cannot be resolved, then a temporary solution may be.
These days, a computer keyboard, like a mouse, is considered a low-value device. However, it plays an important role in working with a computer.
For most computer programs designed for text editing, there are special characters or symbols that can be easily inserted into documents using a character table or by pressing a combination of the well-known Alt key and a sequence of 10 numbers on Num Lock.
Not all computer users know about these functions, but there are often times when the use of such key combinations that are not visible on the keyboard becomes necessary. In order not to panic, you should familiarize yourself in detail with the hidden capabilities of text editors.
Where can I see special characters?
In order to view the special characters available for permanent use, you need to go to the Start or “Start” menu, then open the “All Programs” tab, then “Standard”, “Service”, and at the end find the “Character Table” item and select it.
In the small window that opens you can see all the special symbols, there are about three thousand of them. In addition, if necessary, characters from the designated table can be quickly copied to the clipboard in order to then transfer it to the document being edited. In order to carry out this action, you need to select the required font, then select the character of interest from the list, click on “Copy” or Copy. In the edited text, you need to position the mouse cursor at the place where you want to put the symbol, and paste it using the appropriate Ctrl+V command.
Using Alt Code
Special characters can also be typed by pressing several keys on the numeric part of the Num Lock keyboard, but this is necessary while holding down the Alt key, located on both the left and right sides of the keyboard. To do this, first of all you need to turn on the numbering mode (press the Num Lock key - the indicator should light up). Then you can safely move on to typing the required code. While holding down the Alt button, you need to enter the code of the desired character on the numeric keypad, consisting of a sequence of several numbers, and then release Alt.
Why is knowledge of special characters in Alt code useful?
Your last name or first name will look non-standard if you write them with beautiful symbols “to your liking,” for example, on social networks such as VKontakte. One of the most popular symbols is the Euro - €. In this case, you will need the combination “Alt + 0136”. The following character on the keyboard is considered almost irreplaceable - “paragraph” - § (Alt + 0167).
It will be useful for website developers to learn how to “make” a “trademark” sign in a text document: ™. To do this, type “Alt + 0153”. There are also other combinations of numbers that are responsible for characters that differ in the English and Russian keyboard layouts. Some of them are unique, so they are available for entry by applying the appropriate
Alt code
Every computer user, especially those who actively use social networks, has wondered: what are special characters and where to find them on the keyboard? The answer to this question is not something complicated. The thing is that the keyboard displays only frequently used symbols: letters, punctuation marks, arithmetic operations.
But there are many other symbols in the world. And to use them, you need to know some concepts. Such characters are called special. Their difference is that they are more comic than truly useful.
How to enter special characters from the keyboard?
First, let’s look at the simplest and most understandable input of special characters that are already located on the device’s 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.
We use special characters when creating passwords
Many users have wondered how to create a strong password. To do this, you don’t need to create huge sets of different letters, numbers and punctuation marks; just use an unusual icon. So how do you use special characters on your keyboard for a password?
To use a special character when entering a password, you must enable NumLock. After this, you should hold down the Alt key and “+”, then 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 necessary 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 after that launch this application.
In the table that opens, you can select a font. To copy a symbol, double-click on it and click “Copy” in the bottom line. You can also select the character set language.
Enter special characters using the keyboard
The most practical way to type characters is a combination of the Alt key and the desired Unicode. Special characters on the Alt keyboard will be discussed in the table below.
But before you learn 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 the numeric command in which the desired character is encrypted.
Tables of special characters for describing text
Now, let’s actually look at what some special characters look like. Many of them are used infrequently.
| Name | Symbolism | View | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| 160 | space without breaks | ||
| iexcl | 161 | ¡ | exclamation point upside down |
| cent | 162 | ¢ | cent |
| pound | 163 | £ | GBP |
| euro | 0128 | € | Euro |
| 8591 | ₪ | shekel | |
| curren | 164 | ¤ | currency unit |
| yen | 165 | yen or yuan | |
| 166 | ¦ | dotted vertical bar | |
| sect | 167 | § | paragraph |
| uml | 168 | ¨ | diaeresis |
| copy | 169 | copyright sign | |
| ordf | 170 | ª | ordinal numerator (feminine) |
| 186 | º | ordinal numerator (male) | |
| 171 | « | opening quote | |
| 187 | » | closing quote | |
| not | 172 | ¬ | negation |
| 173 | place of possible transfer | ||
| 176 | ° | degree | |
| permil | ‰ | ppm | |
| acute | 180 | ´ | accent mark |
| micro | 181 | µ | micro |
| para | 182 | ¶ | paragraph symbol |
| middot | 183 | · | dot |
| cedil | 184 | ¸ | cedilla |
| sup1 | 185 | ¹ | superscript (unit) |
| 175 | the longitude sign is placed on top of the vowel | ||
| iquest | 191 | ¿ | question mark upside down |
| 174 | ® | registered trademark mark |
Table of special symbols - arrows
And these special characters are perfect for any schemes. This table is worth having on hand.
Punctuation table
Well, you can’t do without these signs when writing articles. They are familiar to everyone without exception.
| Name | Symbolism | View | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| bull | 8226 | . | small black circle |
| hellip | 8230 | … | ellipsis |
| prime | 8242 | ′ | single stroke - minutes and feet |
| 8243 | ″ | double prime - seconds and inches | |
| 8254 | ‾ | underscore | |
| frasl | 8260 | ⁄ | right slash |
| Basic punctuation | |||
| ndash | 8211 | - | dash |
| mdash | 8212 | — | em dash |
| lsquo | 8216 | ‘ | left single quote |
| 8217 | ’ | right single quote | |
| 8218 | ‚ | single quote (lower) | |
| 8220 | “ | double quote (left slant) | |
| 8221 | ” | double quote (right slant) | |
| 8222 | „ | double quote (lower) | |
Table of arithmetic signs
Such signs are a godsend for a mathematician. None of them can be written down without their help.
| Name | Symbolism | View | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| times | 215 | × | multiplication sign |
| divide | 247 | ÷ | division sign |
| frasl | 8260 | ⁄ | decimal point |
| minus | 8722 | − | minus sign |
| il | 60 | < | less than sign |
| GT | 62 | > | greater sign |
| le | 8804 | ≤ | less or equal |
| ge | 8805 | ≥ | more or equal |
| 8776 | ≈ | asymptotically equal | |
| ne | 8800 | ≠ | inequality |
| equiv | 8801 | ≡ | identical, coincides with |
| plusmn | 177 | ± | plus or minus |
| frac14 | 188 | ¼ | one quarter |
| frac12 | 189 | ½ | a half |
| frac34 | 190 | ¾ | three quarters |
| sup1 | 185 | ¹ | superscript unit |
| 178 | ² | two in superscript (square) | |
| 179 | ³ | three in superscript (cube) | |
| 8730 | √ | square root (radical) | |
| 8734 | ∞ | infinity sign | |
| sum | 8721 | ∑ | summation sign |
| 8719 | ∏ | work mark | |
| part | 8706 | ∂ | partial differential |
| int | 8747 | ∫ | integral |
| forall | 8704 | ∀ | for all |
| exist | 8707 | ∃ | exists |
| empty | 8709 | ∅ | empty set; diameter |
| 8711 | ∇ | nabla | |
| isin | 8712 | ∈ | belongs |
| notin | 8713 | ∉ | do not belong |
| ni | 8715 | ∋ | contains |
| lowast | 8727 | ∗ | asterisk operator |
| prop | 8733 | ∝ | proportionally |
| ang | 8736 | ∠ | corner |
| and | 8743 | ∧ | logical AND |
| or | 8744 | ∨ | logical OR |
| cap | 8745 | ∩ | intersection |
| cup | 8746 | ∪ | Union |
| there4 | 8756 | ∴ | hence |
| sim | 8764 | similarity sign - "changes from" - tilde sign | |
| 8773 | ≅ | approximately equal to | |
| sub | 8834 | ⊂ | this is a subset |
| sup | 8835 | ⊃ | this is a superset |
| nsub | 8836 | ⊄ | is not a subset |
| sube | 8838 | ⊆ | is a subset or equal to |
| 8839 | ⊇ | is a superset or equal | |
| 8853 | ⊕ | plus in a circle | |
| otimes | 8855 | ⊗ | multiplication sign in a circle |
| 8869 | ⊥ | orthogonal, perpendicular | |
| sdot | 8901 | ⋅ | dot operator |
| fnot | 402 | ƒ | function sign |
Table of Latin, Greek and Hebrew letters
Not many people, of course, will use these signs when working with a computer. However, knowing about them will not hurt for overall development.
| Name | Symbolism | View | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Letters | |||
| Agrave | 192 | À | capital A with blunt accent |
| 193 | Á | And with a sharp accent | |
| Acirc | 194 | Â | A with a circumflex (a diacritic mark above a vowel) |
| 195 | Ã | And with a tilde | |
| Auml | 196 | Ä | And with three (a sign above a vowel to pronounce it separately from the preceding vowel) |
| 197 | Å | And with the top circle | |
| AElig | 198 | Æ | AE characters |
| Ccedil | 199 | Ç | C with cedilla |
| Egrave | 200 | È | E with blunt accent |
| 201 | É | E with acute accent | |
| 202 | Ê | E with circumflex (diacritic over vowel) | |
| 203 | Ë | E with three | |
| Igrave | 204 | Ì | I with obtuse accent |
| 205 | Í | I with acute accent | |
| Icirc | 206 | Î | I with circumflex |
| Iuml | 207 | Ï | I with three |
| ETH | 208 | Ð | ETH symbols |
| Ntilde | 209 | Ñ | N with tilde |
| Ograve | 210 | Ò | O with obtuse accent |
| 211 | Ó | O with acute accent | |
| Ocirc | 212 | Ô | O with circumflex |
| Otilde | 213 | Õ | O with tilde |
| Ouml | 214 | Ö | O with three |
| Oslash | 216 | Ø | O with a stroke |
| Ugrave | 217 | Ù | U with blunt accent |
| 218 | Ú | U with acute accent | |
| 219 | Û | U with circumflex | |
| Uuml | 220 | Ü | U with three |
| Yacute | 221 | Ý | Y with acute accent |
| THORN | 222 | Þ | THORN |
| agrave | 224 | à | lowercase A with blunt accent |
| 225 | á | And with a sharp accent | |
| acirc | 226 | â | And with circumflex |
| atilde | 227 | ã | And with a tilde |
| auml | 228 | ä | And with three |
| aring | 229 | å | And with the top circle |
| aelig | 230 | æ | Ae |
| ccedil | 231 | ç | And with a cedilla |
| egrave | 232 | è | E with blunt accent |
| 233 | é | E with acute accent | |
| 234 | ê | E with circumflex | |
| euml | 235 | ë | E with three |
| igrave | 236 | ì | I with obtuse accent |
| 237 | í | I with acute accent | |
| icirc | 238 | î | I with circumflex |
| iuml | 239 | ï | I with three |
| eth | 240 | ð | eth symbols |
| ntilde | 241 | ñ | N with tilde |
| ograve | 242 | ò | O with obtuse accent |
| 243 | ó | O with acute accent | |
| ocirc | 244 | ô | O with circumflex |
| otilde | 245 | õ | I with tilde |
| ouml | 246 | ö | I with three |
| oslash | 248 | ø | O with a stroke |
| ugrave | 249 | ù | U with blunt accent |
| 250 | ú | U with acute accent | |
| 251 | û | U with circumflex | |
| uuml | 252 | ü | U with three |
| yacute | 253 | ý | Y with accent |
| thorn | 254 | þ | thorn |
| yuml | 255 | ÿ | Y with three |
| Letters of the Greek alphabet | |||
| 913 | Α | greek capital letter alpha | |
| 914 | Β | beta | |
| 915 | Γ | greek capital letter gamma | |
| 916 | Δ | delta | |
| 917 | Ε | greek capital letter epsilon | |
| 918 | Ζ | zeta | |
| 919 | greek capital letter eta | ||
| 920 | Θ | theta | |
| 921 | Ι | greek capital letter iota | |
| 922 | Κ | kappa | |
| 923 | Λ | greek capital letter lambda | |
| 924 | Μ | mu | |
| 925 | greek capital letter nu | ||
| 926 | Ξ | xi | |
| 927 | Ο | greek capital letter omicron | |
| 928 | Π | pi | |
| 929 | greek capital letter rho | ||
| 931 | Σ | sigma | |
| 932 | greek capital letter tau | ||
| 933 | Υ | upsilon | |
| 934 | greek capital letter phi | ||
| 935 | Χ | hee | |
| 936 | greek capital letter psi | ||
| 937 | Ω | omega | |
| 945 | α | greek small letter alpha | |
| 946 | β | beta | |
| 947 | γ | greek small letter gamma | |
| 948 | δ | delta | |
| 949 | ε | greek small letter epsilon | |
| 950 | ζ | zeta | |
| 951 | greek small letter eta | ||
| 952 | θ | theta | |
| 953 | ι | greek small letter iota | |
| 954 | κ | kappa | |
| 955 | λ | greek small letter lambda | |
| 956 | μ | mu | |
| 957 | greek small letter nu | ||
| 958 | ξ | xi | |
| 959 | ο | greek small letter omicron | |
| 960 | π | pi | |
| 961 | greek small letter rho | ||
| 962 | ς | sigma (final) | |
| 963 | σ | greek small letter sigma | |
| 964 | τ | tau | |
| 965 | υ | greek small letter upsilon | |
| 966 | φ | fi | |
| 967 | greek small letter chi | ||
| 968 | ψ | psi | |
| 969 | ω | greek small letter omega | |
| Hebrew letters | |||
| 1488 | א | aleph | |
| 1489 | ב | Beth | |
| 1490 | ג | Gimel | |
| 1491 | ד | Daled | |
| 1492 | ה | neck | |
| 1493 | ו | wav | |
| 1494 | ז | zain | |
| 1495 | ח | hat | |
| 1496 | ט | tet | |
| 1497 | י | yud | |
| 1498 | ך | soffit cafe | |
| 1499 | כ | cafe | |
| 1500 | ל | lamed | |
| 1501 | ם | ma'am spotlight | |
| 1502 | מ | ma'am | |
| 1503 | ן | nun-soffit | |
| 1504 | נ | noon | |
| 1505 | ס | samekh | |
| 1506 | ע | ain | |
| 1507 | ף | pay-soffit | |
| 1508 | פ | pay | |
| 1509 | ץ | tzaddik sofit | |
| 1510 | צ | tzaddik | |
| 1511 | ק | Kuf | |
| 1512 | ר | raysh | |
| 1513 | ש | tires | |
| 1514 | ת | tav | |
Additional symbol table
Here are some other helpful signs. Perhaps they will be useful to you someday too
| Name | Symbolism | View | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| 9824 | ♠ | spades suit sign | |
| 9827 | ♣ | sign of the suit "clubs" | |
| 9829 | hearts suit sign | ||
| 9830 | ♦ | sign of the suit "diamonds" | |
| 9674 | ◊ | rhombus | |
| 9675 | ○ | circle | |
| 9679 | ● | black circle | |
| 9668 | ◄ | triangle to the left | |
| 9660 | ▼ | black triangle down | |
| 9658 | black triangle to the right | ||
| 9650 | ▲ | black triangle up | |
| 9632 | ■ | black square | |
| 9642 | ▪ | black square | |
| 9643 | ▫ | square | |
| 9792 | ♀ | feminine | |
| 9794 | masculinity | ||
| 34 | " | double quote | |
| amp | 38 | & | ampersand |
| lt | 60 | < | less than sign |
| GT | 62 | > | "more" sign |
| circ | 710 | ˆ | circumflex symbol |
| tilde | 732 | ˜ | tilde |
| trade | 8482 | ™ | trademark sign |
Finally
There are many symbols in the world that computer users need to use for their purposes. It is impossible to know all of them. After all, humanity over its centuries-old history has created more than a million different codes and other types of information encoded in images, but there are tables of special characters that are available to all users.
These signs have a huge scope, so many will have to deal with them. Entering special characters from the keyboard is not difficult. 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.
Today we’ll talk about one remarkable feature that a fairly small number of PC users know about. This may be surprising, but I’ve already seen a lot of how, for simple copying, which is performed using the Ctrl-C key combination, people select the desired fragment (usually a word) with the mouse, then press the right key and select the “copy” option. An alternative option is to copy using the button located on the toolbar.
How do you usually insert characters into text that are not explicitly listed on the keyboard? The “Symbol Table” program is called ( Win+R → charmap → Enter), there the required symbol is searched for a long time and persistently, which is added. There is perhaps only one downside to this solution - it takes too long to search. I don’t argue that sometimes you come across truly “unprintable characters”, but usually this is not required.
To dial the Alt code, you should hold down the Alt key (are you surprised?) and on the numeric keypad (the one on the right, behind the arrows), press the indicated numbers one by one, then release the Alt key. Problems may arise with shortened keyboards, which is typical for laptops. In this case, as a rule, you need to additionally hold down the blue Fn key.
In the table below I tried to collect the most necessary symbols, supplemented by potentially useful ones. In addition to Alt codes, HTML mnemonics are also provided.
Mnemonics is a construction that encodes special characters in a certain way. Has the form: &designation; -.
ampersand+designator+semicolon
There are contraindications for the arbitrary use of special characters from the table. It doesn't matter whether the symbol is printed "as is" or using mnemonics, it can only be displayed if it is presented in the font used. Otherwise, you will see a rectangle, a question mark, and something else indicating that there is no image for the specified symbol. Now this problem is successfully solved thanks to plug-in fonts. But text authors need to keep in mind that a Word document typed in the Calibri font will not always be fully displayed by a customer who uses a different operating system with its own set of pre-installed fonts. The “most useful symbols” can be considered safe, but problems can occur with fractions.
| Explanations about the signatures “for ru” and “for en”. This is the current, active, input language. As a rule, the default switching is assigned to the Alt+Shift key combination. | Symbol | Alt+ | Mnemonics |
|---|---|---|---|
| Name/purpose | |||
| - | 0151 | — | Most useful symbols |
| « | 0171 | « | em dash (m-dash), for Russian the only correct spelling |
| » | 0187 | » | opening quote "herringbone" |
| 0160 | closing quotation mark "herringbone" | ||
| … | 0133 | … | ellipsis |
| „ | 0132 | „ | non-breaking space (words separated by such a space are always on the same line) |
| “ | 0147 | “ | double bottom quote |
| ” | 0148 | ” | double left quote |
| ‚ | 0130 | ‚ | double right quote |
| ‘ | 0145 | ‘ | single lower quote |
| ’ | 0146 | ’ | single left quote |
| © | 0169 | single right quote | |
| ™ | 0153 | ™ | copyright (copyright protection symbol) |
| ® | 0174 | ® | trademark |
| – | 0150 | - | trademark protection sign |
| " | 34 | " | mid dash (n-dash) |
| < | 60 | < | programmer double quote |
| > | 62 | > | "more" sign |
| ‘ | 39 | " | regular single quote (located to the left of the Enter key) |
| & | 38 | & | ampersand |
| ° | 248 or 0176 |
° | degree sign |
| № | 252 or 0185 (for ru) |
№ | number sign (Shift+3 in Russian layout) |
| √ | 251 | √ | Square root |
| · | 250 0183 |
· | interpunct (point for dividing words in Latin writing) |
| ¤ | 253 0164 |
¤ | currency sign |
| € | 0128 (for ru) 0136 (for en) |
€ | Euro symbol |
| ¥ | 0165 | ¥ | yen symbol |
| ¢ | 0162 | ¢ | cent symbol (American) |
| £ | 0163 | £ | pound symbol (British) |
| × | 0215 | × | multiplication sign |
| ÷ | 0247 | ÷ | division sign |
| − | - | − | minus sign (correct, not the same as minus hyphen) |
| + | 43 | + | plus sign |
| ± | 0177 | ± | plus or minus |
| ¹ | 0185 | ¹ | superscript "1" |
| ² | 0178 | ² | superscript "2" |
| ³ | 0179 | ³ | superscript "3" |
| ‰ | 0137 | ‰ | ppm |
| | 0173 | - | “soft” hyphen (means that in a given place the browser, at its discretion, can hyphenate part of the word), must be identical in spelling to a hyphen, invisible to the user except in cases of word hyphenation |
| Arrows | |||
| 16 | right | ||
| ◄ | 17 | ◄ | left |
| ▲ | 30 | ▲ | up |
| ▼ | 31 | ▼ | down |
| ↕ | 18 | ↕ | up down |
| ↔ | 29 | ↔ | left-right |
| 24 | up | ||
| ↓ | 25 | ↓ | down |
| → | 26 | → | right |
| ← | 27 | ← | left |
| ¶ | 20 or 0182 |
¶ | paragraph symbol |
| § | 21 or 0167 |
§ | paragraph symbol |
| ` | 96 | - | typewritten back apostrophe (to the left of key 1, above Tab) |
| Other symbols | |||
| ☺ | 1 | - | smiley |
| ☻ | 2 | - | inverted smiley |
| 3 | hearts (heart) | ||
| ♦ | 4 | ♦ | diamonds |
| ♣ | 5 | ♣ | clubs (crosses) |
| ♠ | 6 | ♠ | peaks |
| 7 or 0149 |
. | bullet for list | |
| ♂ | 11 | - | designation of the male gender (symbol of the planet Mars) |
| ♀ | 12 | - | designation of the female gender (mirror of Venus) |
| ƒ | 0131 | ƒ | Latin f with a tail |
| † | 0134 | † | cross |
| ‡ | 0135 | ‡ | double cross |
| ¡ | 0161 | ¡ | inverted exclamation point |
| ¦ | 0166 | ¦ | "ragged" vertical line |
| ¬ | 0172 | ¬ | negative sign |
| µ | 0181 | µ | symbol "micro" (used in the SI system to indicate the corresponding prefix) |
| Greek lowercase letters | |||
| α | - | α | alpha |
| β | - | β | beta |
| γ | - | γ | gamma |
| δ | - | δ | delta |
| ε | - | ε | epsilon |
| ζ | - | ζ | zeta |
| η | - | η | this |
| θ | - | θ | theta |
| ι | - | ι | iota |
| κ | - | κ | kappa |
| λ | - | λ | lambda |
| μ | - | μ | mu |
| ν | - | ν | nude |
| ξ | - | ξ | xi |
| ο | - | ο | omicron |
| π | - | π | pi |
| ρ | - | ρ | ro |
| σ | - | σ | sigma |
| τ | - | τ | tau |
| υ | - | υ | upsilon |
| φ | - | φ | fi |
| χ | - | χ | hee |
| ψ | - | ψ | psi |
| ω | - | ω | omega |
| Greek capital letters | |||
| Α | - | Α | alpha |
| Β | - | Β | beta |
| Γ | - | Γ | gamma |
| Δ | - | Δ | delta |
| Ε | - | Ε | epsilon |
| Ζ | - | Ζ | zeta |
| Η | - | Η | this |
| Θ | - | Θ | theta |
| Ι | - | Ι | iota |
| Κ | - | Κ | kappa |
| Λ | - | Λ | lambda |
| Μ | - | Μ | mu |
| Ν | - | Ν | nude |
| Ξ | - | Ξ | xi |
| Ο | - | Ο | omicron |
| Π | - | Π | pi |
| Ρ | - | Ρ | ro |
| Σ | - | Σ | sigma |
| Τ | - | Τ | tau |
| Υ | - | Υ | upsilon |
| Φ | - | Φ | fi |
| Χ | - | Χ | hee |
| Ψ | - | Ψ | psi |
| Ω | - | Ω | omega |
| Fractions | |||
| ½ | 0189 | ½ | fraction "one half" |
| ⅓ | - | ⅓ | fraction "one third" |
| ¼ | 0188 | ¼ | fraction "one quarter" |
| ⅕ | - | ⅕ | fraction "one fifth" |
| ⅙ | - | ⅙ | fraction "one sixth" |
| ⅛ | - | ⅛ | fraction "one eighth" |
| ⅔ | - | ⅔ | fraction "two thirds" |
| ⅖ | - | ⅖ | fraction "two fifths" |
| ¾ | 0190 | ¾ | fraction "three-quarters" |
| ⅗ | - | ⅗ | fraction "three-fifths" |
| ⅜ | - | ⅜ | fraction "three-eighths" |
| ⅘ | - | ⅘ | fraction "four fifths" |
| ⅚ | - | ⅚ | fraction "five-sixths" |
| ⅝ | - | ⅝ | fraction "five-eighths" |
| ⅞ | - | ⅞ | fraction "seven-eighths" |
When texts are replete with such “unprintable” characters, it is better to install a specialized editor that allows you to “program” the desired action for a certain key combination.
12/25/14 63.2KEveryone can type text today. Even the most staunch opponents of new technologies know how to type symbols on the keyboard ( but they don't do it out of principle). After all, all that is required is to find the key with the desired letter or punctuation mark and press it with your finger:
But sometimes situations arise when the desired character is simply not on the keyboard. For example, a person writes a text about the temperature at the South Pole, but there is no symbol indicating degrees. In this case, not only a beginner, but also a fairly experienced user may become confused ( or the one who considers himself to be one).
But there is certainly a way out of this situation. When the characters on the keyboard do not meet the requirements, you must use other input methods. Some of them will be discussed in this article.
Why isn't everything on the keyboard?
If you look just below the monitor screen, you can see different symbols on the keyboard, which, however, look very familiar. They are used, oddly enough, for printing, and humanity has been interested in this activity for quite a long time.
Back in 1868, the typewriter was introduced to the world ( although they tried to do this a century earlier), the letters on it were arranged in alphabetical order, and it took people 22 years to eliminate this inconvenience. In turn, in 1890, the QWERTY layout appeared, which migrated to modern keyboards.
Thus, the composition and arrangement of the main symbols were developed over the years, and over time, humanity did not come up with something radically new in this regard, but only improved the old.
Why do keyboards remain the same, and there is no one who wants to make money on the newness? You need to understand that large companies producing equipment must focus on a wide audience, so the symbols and signs on the keyboard are designed for the most general needs. To understand manufacturers, it is necessary to define the categories of people who use computers.
- Regular users. They need to go online, check their email and, in some cases, write small texts ( messages, announcements):
These people do not require additional characters on the keyboard, and even those that are there are too many.
- Programmers:
Keyboard symbols include the basic reserved constructs of many programming languages ( &, |, #, (), etc.). Such popular and most widely used languages as C, C++, Lisp, Java have an established syntax, which was initially partially adjusted to the symbols available on the keyboard. Therefore, if the standard layout changes significantly now, this will lead to significant inconvenience for programmers, and no one wants this.
- Office workers. These comrades in most cases operate with numbers, so their needs closely intersect with those of programmers:
Mathematical operations, percentage and dollar signs are faithful companions of each report.
Needless to say, today everyone uses a computer, everywhere. In many cases, people need to enter characters that are not available on the keyboard. These could be some kind of scientific designations or simply more suitable means of display in a particular situation.
In order to accommodate all the known symbols, thousands of keyboards would be needed, but the keys have a remarkable property: they can be pressed several at a time. However, more on this later.
Special characters
We are accustomed to the fact that a character is something visual, but when formatting text it is often necessary to make indentations and line breaks, which are ignored by the browser when displayed. In this case, special characters are used. The keyboard does not have them, but in the html code you can, for example, write , which will mean a non-breaking space.
Let's imagine another situation: you are writing an article about Internet technologies and want to give examples of HTML language tags. But here’s the problem: you know how to put the symbols ( not small anymore), but the browser treats the tags as tags and renders nothing. In this case, special symbols come to the rescue again.
Sometimes the authors of articles are faced with a complicated problem: how to write characters on the keyboard if there are none on it. The weak give up and use tricks, calling into words what they could not type. The initiates turn to special symbols and find what they need:
For example, 7 is the Jewish star; The symbol is not on the keyboard, but it is very useful when writing religious texts.
Character codes
The codes for special characters in the html language have already been discussed above, but there are other ways to show what is not shown on the keyboard keys.
First of all, we should mention encoding standards: ASCII, Unicode, UTF-8, which allow not only entering characters using the keyboard, but also setting them programmatically, when not the number 300 is displayed on the screen, but a beautiful heart ( if the encoding is set to ASCII).
There is a way to expand existing characters on the keyboard - ALT code. To enter characters this way, you don’t need to go to any special editor:
In order to know how to make symbols on the keyboard ( even those that are not there and that you don’t know about), just have a sign in front of your eyes and, holding down the alt key, enter a sequence of numbers.
How to enter something that is not on the keyboard?
For those who do not know how to make characters on the keyboard that are not displayed on the keys, putting together everything mentioned above, there are several ways.
