How to Insert a German Double S ( ß ) in Word

Insert a German Double S (ß) in Word

by | Aug 6, 2024 | Useful Tech

Looking to write “Straße” or “Soße” perhaps? Find out here how to insert the German double S character (‘ß’) using Word for Windows and Mac.

First, When You Take Eggs

When you take eggs out of the carton, I would love for you to do me a favor: please remove one from the left, one from the right, one from the front, one from the back, etc. Looking at the carton from above, it will—ideally—look doubly symmetrical.

In this manner, the center of mass for the carton stays roughly at the center of the carton, and the next person picking it up (while juggling what usually needs to be juggled in the kitchen) does not drop an unbalanced weight of three eggs.

Now that the eggs are safely out, the carton balanced and the Palatschinken done, consider this: some people like to add vanilla sauce to certain varieties of the crêpe-like pancakes. To add that to our feast in its Germanized version (Vanillesoße), we’ll have to take the Eszett out of the character carton:

How to Insert a German Double S ( ß ) in Word for Windows

Using the Symbol Dialog

Time needed: 1 minute

To insert the German sharp s (Eszett) in Word for Windows:

  1. Position the text cursor where you want to insert the Eszett character ‘ß’ in your document.

  2. Go to the Insert tab on the ribbon.

  3. Choose Symbol in the Symbols section.

  4. Select More Symbols….

  5. Select (normal text) for Font:.

    Here’s why: This inserts the ‘ß’ in the typeface currently in use in the document; otherwise, the font will switch mid-text for just the double-s.
    No Eszett: If the normal text font does not include the ‘ß’ character, you can select a similar typeface for inserting the German double-s, of course.

  6. Double-click ß in the Latin-1 Supplement subset.

    Frequently Eszett: If you insert the double s often, you can set up a text expansion or a shortcut key for the character; see below.
    Windows keyboard shortcut: Using the Windows US-International keyboard layout, you can also press AltGr S to insert the Eszett.
    Inserting the German double s using the Word for Windows Symbol dialog

Using a Word Shortcut

To set up a key combination for the German double-S character in Word for Windows:

  1. Go to and highlight ß in the Word Symbol dialog. (See above.)
  2. Click Shortcut Key….
  3. Klick in the Press new shortcut key: field.
  4. Now type the key combination you would like to use for inserting ß.
    Example: Alt Ctrl S works, though it conflicts with the default shortcut for splitting the current document view horizontally.
  5. Click Assign.
    Set up a shortcut for inserting the sharp s (Eszett) in Word for Windows
  6. Now click Close twice.

Now, to type the Eszett:

  • Press the key combination you set up for inserting the German double s.

Using Unicode

You can also the double-S character using Unicode directly in any Word document:

  1. Type 00DF.
  2. Press Alt X immediately afterwards.
    Inside words: While it is possible to replace Unicode code points with their characters inside words, the preceding characters often intervene. So, to insert ß using this method it is best to type 00DF as a word on its won, then remove whitespace or cut and paste the character to its proper place.

How to Insert a German Double S ( ß ) in Word for Mac

Using the macOS Keyboard Shortcut für ß

To input the German double-s in Word for Mac using the standard macOS shortcut:

  1. Put the cursor where the character ß should be inserted.
  2. Press and hold S.
  3. As soon as the pop-up menu appears, press 1 to select ß.
    Mouse: You can also click the double-s with the mouse, of course.
    Insert the Eszett easily in Word for Mac using the macOS shortcut

Using the Word Symbol Dialog

To insert the German double s character in Word for Mac using the Symbol dialog:

  1. Go to the Insert tab on the ribbon.
  2. Click Advanced Symbol.
  3. Go to the Symbols tab.
  4. Select the font you want to use for inserting the Eszett (typically … (Body)).
  5. Highlight the ß character.
  6. Click Insert.
    Insert the German double s using the Word for Mac Symbol dialog

Using a Custom Shortcut

You can set up a custom keyboard shortcut for the Eszett in Word for Mac:

  1. Go to the Symbols dialog in Word for Mac (see above).
  2. Highlight ß.
  3. Click Keyboard Shortcut….
  4. Now click in the Press new keyboard shortcut: field.
  5. Press the key combination you want to use for the double-s.
    Example: You can press Command Option S, for example; note that this will overwrite the standard shortcut for splitting the document display.
  6. Click Assign.
  7. Click OK and close the Symbols dialog.
    Setting up a custom keyboard shortcut for the German character “sharp s” in Word for Mac

Insert a German Double S ( ß ) in Word on the Web and the Word Apps

To add the Eszett to your documents In Word on the Web as well as well as Word for Android and iOS:

How to Insert a German Double S ( ß ) in Word: FAQ

Can I insert the uppercase ẞ in Word?

Yes.

To insert the uppercase German double-s character ẞ most simply:

  • Word for Windows: Type 1E9E followed by Alt X.
  • Word for Mac: Press and hold Shift S, then select ẞ from the menu that pops up.

You can also copy the symbol below for pasting, of course.

lowercase sharp s ß
uppercase sharp s ẞ

Can I also use substitute characters?

Yes.

You can

  • always substitute SZ for ẞ and
  • substitute SS for ẞ when no confusion (with the same word using SS in the first place) is possible.

(How to insert a German double s (ß) in Word tested with Word for Windows 2310 and Word for Mac 16.78; first published September 2023, last updated August 2024)

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