Write temperatures and angles in style with the degree sign. Find out here how to type the degree symbol ( ° ) on a Mac keyboard (and how to enter the symbols for ℃, ℉ and K as well).
First, Check the Réaumur Thermometer
First, check the thermometer for 26° Ré.
Lukewarm is just right for the cows’ milk to curdle early in the elaborate process of making parmesan cheese.
A production world breathing (and living from) tradition, a dairy is also one of the few places where “lukewarm” is measured in degrees Réaumur, a temperature scale dividing the span between water’s freezing and boiling point into 80 (almost) equal parts made up by the thoroughly fascinating and eminently influential René‐Antoine Ferchault de Réaumur.
Now, Réaumur or Fahrenheit, we have to find a way to type the degree sign:
How to Type the Degree Symbol ( ° ) on a Mac Keyboard
Using the Mac Degree Keyboard Shortcut
Time needed: 3 minutes
To find and type the degrees symbol ( ° ) on your Mac‘s keyboard:
- Position the text input cursor where the degree sign is to appear.
Here’s where: Use a non-breaking space between the number and the degree symbol, then follow that directly with the letter for the scale.
- Press Option Shift 8.
International keyboards: The is where you can find the degree symbol on a U.S.-English keyboard; see below for the degree symbols under different keyboard layouts.
On an iPhone? How to Type the Degrees Symbol ( ° ) on iPhone (In Any Language)
Using Keyboard Viewer
To enter the degrees symbol ( ° ) using the macOS Keyboard Viewer:
- Open Mac Keyboard Viewer.
- Look for the ° symbol.
“Shift”: If you see it to the top and left of the key’s main character, press or click Shift to reach it. - Press or click Option to see more characters.
Now: If you see °, press or click it while keeping Option pressed.
Shift: Again, if you see ° to the top and left of a character, press that character holding down Option and Shift.
Giving a range of temperatures? How to Insert the Plus or Minus Sign on a Mac
Using Character Viewer to Insert the Degree Symbol on a Mac
To enter the degree symbol with Character Viewer with macOS:
- Position the text cursor where you want to add the degree symbol.
- Select Edit | Emojis & Symbols… from the menu.
- Click in the Search field.
- Type
degree. - Double-click the degree symbol to insert it.
Find the Degree Symbol for Your Mac Language Keyboard
| Language | Degree Symbol Key Combination |
|---|---|
| English | Option Shift 8 |
| Albanian | Option Shift K |
| Arabic | Option ٠ |
| Bulgarian | Option 2 |
| Croatian | Option Shift 8 |
| Czech | Option = |
| Danish | Option Shift ' |
| Dutch | Option 0 |
| Belgian | Option U |
| Estonian | Option Shift Q |
| Faroese | Option Q |
| Finnish | Option Shift Q |
| French | Option U |
| French (Canada) | Option ; |
| Georgian | Option 9 |
| German | Shift ^ |
| Greek | Option 7 |
| Hawaiian | Option 0 |
| Hungarian | Option Shift Ö |
| Icelandic | Option T |
| Inuktitut | Option 0 |
| Italian | Option K |
| Kazakh | Option O |
| Kurdish | Option Shift 0 |
| Kyrgyz | Option Shift 8 |
| Latvian | Option Shift 8 |
| Lithuanian | Option Shift ū |
| Macedonian | Option 1 |
| Maori | Option 0 |
| Norwegian | Option Shift Q |
| Polish | Option Shift 7 |
| Portuguese | ° |
| Portuguese (Brazil) | Option O |
| Romanian | Option O |
| Russian | Option O |
| Serbian | Option 2 (Option 0) |
| Slovak | Option = |
| Slovenian | Option 0 |
| Spanish | Option 8 |
| Spanish (Latin America) | Option 0 |
| Swedish | Option Shift Q |
| Tajik | Option Shift 8 |
| Tongan | Option 0 |
| Turkish | Option Shift 8 |
| Ukrainian | Option O |
| Uzbek (Cyrillic) | Option Shift 8 |
| Vietnamese (Telex) | Option Shift Ü |
How to Type the Degree Symbol ( ° ) on a Mac Keyboard: FAQ
How can I insert the degrees symbol if my keyboard does not offer it?
To insert the degrees symbol in text no matter your keyboard layout, use the following:
Degrees symbol ° |
How should I write degrees temperature (centigrade, Kelvin, Fahrenheit,…)
For degrees Celsius or centigrade and Fahrenheit, you can use the degrees symbol and the letter, for Kelvin use just the letter.
Unicode also includes special characters for each sign that also assures the proper typographic distance between the degree symbol and the letter. You will not find these degree signs on the Mac keyboard, but you can find them in Character Map or copy them here:
Degrees Fahrenheit ℉ | |
Degrees centigrade ℃ | |
Kelvin K |
Is there a 180 degrees symbol?
No.
While no dedicated symbol exists for 180°, you can substitute a number of Unicode characters.
Arrows through circle ⥈ | |
Measured angle with number annotation ∡180 | |
Half-filled circle ◒ | |
Anti‑clockwise semicircle arrow ↶ |
(How to find the degree symbol on a Mac keyboard tested with macOS Sonoma 14.0, Ventura 13.3, Monterey 12.0, Big Sur 11.5 and Catalina 10.15; first published September 2021, last updated April 2024)