Eager to wish a pleasant pie day in style? Looking for the appropriate bold italic mathematical symbol for pi? Find here how to type the symbol for pi ( π ) on a Mac with a keyboard shortcut, and how to find the mathematical symbols to boot.
First, the River ∏
Show me a river, and I’ll show you a river that bends.
No natural waterway should be straight all the way. So, every river is longer from source to mouth if you follow its turns than if connect the two spots with a string.
Because rivers bend in curves one way and then—quite necessarily—another, it has been hypothesized that the ratio of the two lengths might be (about) equal to the ratio of a circle’s circumference to its diameter—or equal to π.
In reality, this does not seem to bear out… but we still need the symbol for pi to write about that charming idea:
How to Type the Symbol for Pi ( π ) on a Mac
Using the Mac Pi Symbol Keyboard Shortcut
Time needed: 1 minute
To type the symbol for the number pi ( π ) using the keyboard on a Mac:
- Position the text cursor where you want to insert the pi symbol.
Here’s where: Treat ‘π’ like the number it represents, typically leaving a whitespace character before and after it.
- Press Option P.
U.S.-English keyboard: The shortcut above works for the U.S.-English Mac keyboard layout as well as a few others more; to find the shortcut for your keyboard, see below.
Big pi: For an uppercase Greek letter ‘∏’ (which resembles a portal to some extent), press Option Shift P.
Mathematics: For use in mathematical formulae, Unicode provides the symbol for pi in various formatting options as separate characters; see below for inserting those instead of the text character for the lowercase (or uppercase) Greek character pi.
Example: Perky π day!
Find the Pi Symbol for Your Keyboard Layout
To locate the key combination to use for entering π using your Mac’s current keyboard layout:
- Open macOS Keyboard Viewer.
- Press the Option key.
- Look for the symbol for pi.
Found it: Press Option together with the corresponding key to insert π.
Didn’t find it: Press Option together with Shift or Command together with Shift to reveal more possible key combinations.
Also Greek to me: How to Type Lambda on a Mac Keyboard
Using Character Viewer to Insert Pi
To use the Mac Character Viewer or emoji panel to insert the various version of the symbol for pi:
- Put the text cursor where you want to place the symbol for pi.
- Select Edit | Emoji & Symbols from the menu.
macOS keyboard shortcut: You can also press Fn E or 🌐︎ to open the emoji panel. - Search for
letter pi.
Mathematical: To insert the mathematical symbols for pi, search forsmall pi(lowercase symbols) orcapital pi(uppercase symbols) instead. - Double-click the desired symbol for pi under Unicode Name.
Emoji panel: Inserting the various symbols for pi works just as well using the macOS emoji panel.
On Windows? How to Insert the Pi Symbol ( π ) on Windows
How to Type the Symbol for Pi on a Mac: FAQ
Can I also copy the pi symbols for pasting?
Yes.
In lieu of searching the proper key combination or just the right symbol for π using Character Viewer, you can copy the desired character below for pasting:
lowercase letter pi π | |
uppercase letter pi ∏ |
mathematical bold lowercase pi 𝛑 | |
mathematical bold uppercase pi 𝚷 | |
mathematical italic lowercase pi 𝜋 | |
mathematical italic uppercase pi 𝛱 | |
mathematical bold italic lowercase pi 𝝅 | |
mathematical bold italic uppercase pi 𝜫 | |
mathematical sans-serif bold lowercase pi 𝝿 | |
mathematical sans-serif bold uppercase pi 𝝥 | |
mathematical sans-serif bold italic lowercase pi 𝞹 | |
mathematical sans-serif bold italic uppercase pi 𝞟 | |
double-struck lowercase pi ℼ | |
mathematical sans-serif bold italic uppercase pi ℿ |
Example for mathematical use:
(How to type the symbol for pi on a Mac tested with macOS Sequoia 15.0; first published October 2024)