Pi is one of the most popular mathematical constants used in all areas of mathematics and physic. It is the ratio of circumference to diameter of a circle and has an approximate value of 22/7 or 3.14. You can easily write Pi with freehand as a Greek small letter Pi (π). However, there is no default key available in keyboard to type Pi in Windows and macOS. If you need to frequently use π in your documentation, here is how you can type Pi symbol with keyboard shortcuts.
Keyboard Shortcuts Summary
Before we explain different methods to type Pi symbols, here is a summary of keyboard shortcuts.
| Symbol Name | Greek Small Letter Pi (π) |
| Alt Code Shortcut | Alt + 0960 |
| Alt + X (Word Document) | 03C0 Alt + X |
| Mac Shortcut | Option + P |
| HTML Entity Decimal | π |
| HTML Entity Hexadecimal | π |
| HTML Entity Name | π |
| CSS Value | \03C0; |
| JS Escape Sequence | \u03C0 |
| Decimal | 960 |
| Hexadecimal | 3C0 |
| Unicode | U+03C0 |
Type Symbol in Windows
There are multiple ways to type Pi symbol in Windows depending on the application.
Type Pi Symbol Using Alt Code Shortcuts
When you have larger keyboard with separate numeric pad then using alt code shortcuts is the easiest option.
- First turn on the numeric key and place the cursor in the position where you want to insert the symbol.
- Hold one of the alt keys and type 0960 using numeric pad.
- This will create the Pi symbol π on your document.
Using Alt + X Method in Word
This is a useful option to type the symbols only in Microsoft Word documents. The advantage here is that you do not need separate numeric keypad for this to work.
- Press 03C0 and press alt + x keys together.
- This will convert the hexadecimal value to Pi symbol like π.
Typing Pi Symbol in Microsoft Office Applications
In addition to above alt + x method on Word, you can use the Symbol utility in all Microsoft Office applications like Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook.
- Open any other Office applications and go to “Insert” menu.
- Select “Symbols > Symbol > More Symbols” to open the utility.
- Change the subset to “Greek and Coptic” and find the Pi symbol.
- You can double click to insert the symbol on your document.
Using Equation Editor
You can use the equation editor in Office applications when you want to type quick equations with Pi. Go to “Insert > Symbols > Equation” to open equation editor. You can choose equations like A=πr2 directly from the available formulae or type Pi symbol by choosing it from “Basic Math” symbols list.
You can use the autocorrect option in equation editor by typing \pi to make the symbol quickly. However, equations are not like normal text in your document. You may to align them properly to blend with other content especially when you need to print out.
Type Pi Symbol with Character Map
If none of the above methods work, then you can use the standalone Character Map app in Windows.
- Type charmap in Windows Search box and open Character Map app.
- Click on “Group by” and select “Unicode Subrange” option. On the pop-up that appears, select “Greek” option.
- Now, you can see all Greek letters and click on Greek small letter Pi symbol.
- Click on “Select” button and then “Copy” to copy the symbol into your clipboard.
- You can paste the copied symbol on any application.
Using Emoji Panel in Windows
Windows computers come with an emoji panel that you can access by pressing “Win + Dot” shortcut keys. After opening the pop-up, click on “Symbols” and then “Language Symbols”. Here, you can find the Pi symbol π and insert on any application.
Type Pi Symbol in Mac
It is also easy to type Pi symbol in Mac using one of the below methods.
Mac Keyboard Shortcut for Pi (π)
The easiest method to insert π symbol in Mac is to simply press “Option + P” keyboard shortcuts. This should work on all models and all OS versions. In case if this shortcut is not working, try any of the below methods.
Using Hex Code Input
First, you have to change your keyboard input method from the standard ABC to Unicode Hex Input. You can toggle the language input anytime from the top bar.
- Make sure the input method is showing as U+ which is Unicode Hex Input.
- Place the cursor on the position where you want to type the symbol.
- Hold one of the option keys on your keyboard and type 03C0 to make Pi symbol π.
- You can continue typing with U+ input or change to ABC.
Using Character Viewer
If you are not able to change the keyboard input, follow this method to type Pi symbol using Character Viewer app.
- When you are in any application like Pages or Microsoft Word for Mac, go to “Edit > Emoji & Symbols” menu. Alternatively, you can press “Command + Control + Space”.
- This will open Character Viewer app and click on the small arrow to choose “Customize List…” option.
- Select “Greek” from the pop-up and click “Done” button.
- Now click on the “Greek” option in the sidebar and find Greek Small Letter Pi symbol π.
- Double click on the symbol to insert on your document.
Type Symbol in HTML and CSS
You can use the decimal or hexadecimal code points in the below format to insert Pi symbol in HTML documents. In addition, Pi also has a HTML entity name which you can use.
<p>π</p>
<p>π</p>
<p>π</p>Similarly, use the hexadecimal value like below in your CSS to insert Pi symbol.
li:before {
content:\03C0;
font-family:Arial;
}Symbol Variations
Pi symbol is like any other text characters in Windows and Mac applications. Therefore, you can change the font color, size and apply text effects to the symbol. In addition, Mac Character Viewer app offers in-built font variation for the symbol. You can choose the symbol that look like freehand writing from the hundreds of available variations.
Below are some of the examples of Pi symbol with text effect in Microsoft Word document. As you can see, you can apply text effect to highlight the formula or equation to differentiate from other text content.
Below are some of the other Pi symbols with variations. Remember, Greek also has a capital Pi Π (alt + 0928) and a Pi symbol ϖ (alt + 0982) which are different than the mathematical Pi (π) symbol.
| Pi Symbols | Name | Alt Code | Alt + X |
|---|---|---|---|
| 𝛑 | Mathematical Bold Small Pi | 120529 | 1D6D1 |
| 𝜋 | Mathematical Italic Small Pi | 120587 | 1D70B |
| 𝝅 | Mathematical Bold Italic Small Pi | 120645 | 1D745 |
| 𝝿 | Mathematical Sans-Serif Bold Small Pi | 120703 | 1D77F |
| 𝞹 | Mathematical Sans-Serif Bold Italic Small Pi | 120761 | 1D7B9 |
Getting Pi Value
As mentioned, the approximate value of Pi is 22/7 and below are some of the fractions used to calculate Pi value.
22 / 7
333 / 106
355 / 113
52163 / 16604
103993 / 33102
104348 / 33215
245850922 / 78256779However, Pi is an irrational number having never ending decimals with no repeating pattern. People use 3.14 as an approximate value and here is the first 100 digits of Pi value.
3.1415926535897932384626433832795028841971693993751058209749445923078 164062862089986280348253421170679You can also quickly get the Pi value by searching in Google which will show up to 11 decimal points.
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