How to Type Square Brackets ( [ ] ) with Windows

Can’t find square brackets on your keyboard? Find out here how to (still) type or insert square brackets on Windows (say, to edit quoted text or when coding, of course).

First, John W. Young Unzips a Pocket in His Spacesuit

On the Gemini 3 mission with fellow astronaut Gus Grissom, about one orbit into the flight, John Young opens a zipped pocket in his spacesuit and famously produces—a corned beef sandwich (apparently bought at Wolfie’s Restaurant and Sandwich Shop just before flight).

The two spacemen share bites and the blame when, of course, they return their spacecraft to earth with (potentially hazardous) crumbs and grease all over.

Now, before I unzip and get corned beef all over my keyboard, how about… inserting something into documents instead?

How to Type Square Brackets ( [ ] ) on Windows

Using a Mac? How to Type Square Brackets on a Mac

Typing Brackets Using the Windows Keyboard

Find Your Windows Key Combination for Square Brackets

To see which combinations of keys will insert square brackets on your keyboard layout:

1. Press Windows Ctrl O (the letter ‘O’) to open the Windows on-screen keyboard.
2. Look for [ and ] in the top left corner of keys.
   Found it: In that case, you can insert square brackets using Shift and the respective character.
3. Press and hold the AltGr key.
4. Look for [ and ] again on keys.
   Found it: Press AltGr together with the respective keys to input square brackets.
5. Look for [ and ] in the top left corners of keys again
   Found it: Press AltGr Shift and the respective keys.
   

Examples of Square Brackets on International Keyboards

Here are a few keyboard layouts and their square bracket key combinations:

• On a Spanish keyboard, press Shift { for [ and Shift } for ].
• On a French keyboard, press AltGr ( for [ and AltGr )for ].
• On a German keyboard, press Option 5 for [ and Option 6 for ].

Typing Square Brackets Using the Windows Emoji Panel

To insert square brackets using the Emoji keyboard on Windows:

1. Put the text cursor where you want to insert the left or right square bracket.
2. Press Windows . (period).
3. Now click or tap the Symbols button (an assortment of %⟳△+ on Windows 11 and Ω on Windows 10).
4. Double-click [ or ] to insert them.
   Keyboard alternative: You can also use the arrow keys to navigate the symbols on the panel and press Enter to insert.
   

Insert Square Brackets with the Touch Keyboard

To find square brackets on and insert them with the Windows touch keyboard:

1. Tap &123.
2. Now tap the right-pointed arrowhead (▶).
   Windows 10: Now tap the encircled right arrowhead (above abc).
3. Tap, finally, [ and ] respectively to insert them.
   

Using the Windows Alt Code

To add square brackets with the Windows Alt code using the numeric keyboard and:

1. Do turn on NumLock.
2. Press and hold the Alt key.
3. Now type 9 1 on the numeric keypad for [;
   type 9 3 for ].
   NumLock: You need to use the numeric keypad; the number keys above the letters on the keyboard do not work.
4. Release the Alt key.

Using Unicode

You can also use Windows Unicode input, of course, in WordPad to insert square brackets:

1. Type 005B for [ and 005D for ] in a WordPad document..
2. Press Alt X immediately following the Unicode codepoint.

How to Type Square Brackets ( [ ] ) on Windows: FAQ

Where do I use square brackets?

Square brackets serve primarily to make changes to direct quotes in your text, to give phonetic transcriptions and in mathematics as well as programming, of course.

Is there white space around square brackets?

No, there is no extra white space.

Square brackets enclose the word or characters that have been edited, for instance, as if they were part of them.
Example: “[o]n the Gemini 3 mission with fellow astronaut Gus Grissom [Virgil Ivan Grissom was commonly known as ‘Gus’], about one…”

Are square brackets inclusive or exclusive in mathematics?

In mathematics, square brackets define inclusive ranges and include the endpoints.

Exclusive ranges are defined using parentheses. A range can have both an exclusive range and an inclusive endpoint.

Reverse square brackets

As an alternative, a reversed square bracket can stand for an exclusive range.

Examples

[1,3]	1, 2, 3
[1,3)	1, 2
[1,3[	1, 2
]1,3[	2

Can I copy and paste square brackets?

Yes.

Use the following buttons to copy square brackets for pasting anywhere:

left bracket [	copy
right bracket ]	copy

How do I use square brackets in Word?

In Microsoft Word, you can insert brackets using the methods above, of course, and you can also use them in mathematical formulae.

(How to type square brackets ( [ ] ) tested with Windows 11 Version 22H2–23H2 and Windows 10 Version 21H1; first published September 2021, last updated September 2024)