Looking for ‘§’ on the keyboard? Trying to refer to legal code or insert a footnote with a unique character? Find out here how to type the section symbol ( § ) on a Mac.
First, In Hoc Signo Scribes
When paper and vellum and linen were prohibitively expensive, scribes wasted space even less than they wasted words.
So, instead of starting a new paragraph on a new line—with an empty line to boot as separation, they continued writing in the same line and without so much as additional whitespace.
They did mark the section’s start, of course, with a section mark—signum sections in Latin.
They did not waste ink and paper for writing “signum sectionis,” of course—and abbreviated the marking to SS.
From that SS, theory and legend have it, the section sign § developed with its two intertwined letters ‘S’. That is, quite naturally, just one history for the sign among many.
Now let’s turn to entering the section sign quite naturally, though, on a Mac:
How to Type the Section Symbol ( § ) on a Mac
Looking for the paragraph sign? How to Make the Paragraph Symbol ( ¶ ) on a Mac
Using Windows? How to Type the Section Symbol ( § ) on Windows
Time needed: 1 minute
To enter the section symbol character on a Mac:
- Position the text cursor where you want to put the section sign.
- Press Option 6.
More keyboard layouts: The key combination above works for the U.S. and U.S. international keyboard layouts; see below for finding the key for your keyboard.
What comes next: Always follow the section mark with a non-breaking space character and then the paragraph or section number to avoid having the § sign alone by itself at the end of a line; for proper typographic style, it always belongs with the section number.
Find the Key for Typing § on Your Mac Keyboard
To locate the key combination that lets you type the section sign on your keyboard:
- Open Keyboard Viewer.
- Press the Shift, Option and Command keys individually and together to reveal potential key combinations and spot the § character.
Here are a couple of random examples:
| Keyboard | Section Sign § |
|---|---|
| French | § |
| German | Shift 3 |
| Italian | Shift ù |
| Spanish | Option 6 |
| Telugu | § |
How to Type the Section Symbol ( § ) on a Mac: FAQ
Can I enter the section symbol using Unicode?
Yes.
To type the section character using the Unicode codepoint on a Mac:
- Enable and switch to Unicode Hex Input.
- Press and hold Option.
- Now type 0 0 A 7.
- Release the Option key.
Can I copy and paste the paragraph sign?
Yes.
Use the following button to copy the § sign right for pasting anywhere, of course:
§ |
Is there a HTML entity for §?
Yes.
In HTML source code, you can use § to insert a § section mark.
(How to type the section symbol ( § ) on a Mac tested with macOS Sonoma 14.3–14.6, Ventura 13.1, Monterey 12.3, and Big Sur 11.3; first published August 2021, last updated August 2024)