Alt Code Shortcuts for Superscript and Subscript

People use superscripts and subscripts in documents for citation purposes. The good example is your bank and credit card applications where you can find lot of * symbols. And at the end of the document you can see the meaning of * like ‘T & C applies’. Here are some other examples of using superscript and subscript.

• Entering temperatures with degree symbol like 49⁰ F or 25⁰ C.
• Indicating degrees in mathematical expressions like 45⁰ angle.
• Typing mathematical formulas like (a+b)²=a² + b².
• Power of 2 or 3 like 10² and 2³.
• Quick note on top or bottom of the word like Tip⁽^tips⁾ or Tip₍_tips₎.
• General citation and references like Citationⁱ or Quote₊.

Superscript and Subscript in Office Documents

Microsoft Office applications already have a way to type superscript and subscript. In Windows, you need select the text and click on the icon to make it super or subscript.

If you are using Office 365 on Mac, use have similar superscript/subscript icons in the ribbon under “Home” tab.

For Apple iWork documents like Pages, you have to navigate through “Format > Fonts > Baseline > Superscript/Subscript”. Alternatively, use “Control + Command + +/-” shortcuts.

Alt Code Shortcuts for Superscript and Subscript

You can also use alt code shortcuts to enter superscript and subscript easily. We have large collection of alt code shortcuts for Windows and Mac. And here is a list of shortcuts for superscript and subscript symbols.

Using in Windows Documents

• You need to hold one of the alt codes on your keyboard and then enter the decimal numbers from the numeric pad. For example, alt + 8308 will make superscript ⁴.
• On Microsoft Word documents, enter the hexadecimal code as in the above table, then press alt and x keys together. That will convert the code into a superscript or subscript. For example, 00B2 Alt + X will make superscript two like ².

If keyboard shortcuts are not working, then there is an alternate way for you. Open Character Map app using Windows search and group by “Unicode subrange”. With this selection, click on “Superscript/Subscript” range to find all relevant symbols.

Typing Superscript and Subscript in Mac

• On Mac, change the input method to Unicode Hex Input. Hold one of the option keys and type the hexadecimal code in the above table. For example, option + 208C will make subscript equal to symbol like ₌.
• In addition to keyboard shortcuts, you can use Character Viewer app. Go to “Edit > Emoji & Symbols” menu in any app. Search for “superscript” or “subscript” in the search box and insert them wherever you need.

Shortcut Image Reference

Below is the summary of shortcuts in image format. If you want to keep the shortcuts offline, right click and save the image to your computer.

Superscript and Subscript Generator Tool

If you need to insert long superscript and subscript strings frequently, then try our free tool for this purpose. This single tool can help you to generate text in superscript, subscript, lowercase, uppercase and with smaller font sizes of 11px and 9px. You can provide any alphanumerical and special characters as input and copy paste the resulted output anywhere in your Microsoft Word or other documents.