Number sign is part of any standard keyboard layout. On US standard keyboard layout it appears along with number 3 key. You can simply use “Shift and number 3” keys to type number sign #. On some European keyboards, it may appear as a separate key nearer to the shift key. If your key does not work properly, you can use the keyboard shortcuts to insert as an alternate option.
Number Sign # Shortcuts Summary
Below is the summary of shortcuts for number sign to type in different applications:
| Symbol Name | Number Sign |
| Main Category | Alphanumeric |
| Alt Code Shortcut (Windows) | Alt 35 |
| Alt X Shortcut (Word) | 0023 Alt X |
| Alt Code Shortcut (Mac) | Option 0023 |
| HTML Entity Decimal | # |
| HTML Entity Hexadecimal | # |
| HTML Entity Name | # |
| CSS Value | \0023 |
| JavaScript Escape String | \u0023 |
| Decimal | 35 |
| Hexadecimal | 0023 |
| Unicode Point | U+0023 |
Typing # on Windows
- On Windows based PC, press alt key and type 0035 to type # symbol.
- Alternatively, you can type the hex code 0023 then press alt and x keys to convert the code into # sign on Word documents.
- Or open Character Map app using Windows search to find and insert # symbol on your documents.
Typing # on Windows
- On Mac, press option key and then 0023 to type # sign. You need to change the language input to Unicode Hex Input in order to use alt codes in Mac.
- Press “Control + Command + Spacebar” keys or go to “Edit > Emojis & Symbols” menu in most applications. This will open Character Viewer where you can search and insert symbols. # sign is available under “Punctuation” section of the Character Viewer.
Typing # on Web Documents
- # sign has HTML entity name as well as escape codes. You can directly use the entity name on your webpages or use decimal code or hex code as given in the below example.
<span>#</span>
<span>#</span>
<span>#</span>- Use the hexadecimal code like \0023; in CSS documents.
Other Names for Number Sign
Number sign # has many other popular names.
| Crosshatch | Number symbol |
| Pound | Octothorpe |
| Hash | Hashtag |
| Rake | Mesh |
| Flash | Grid |
| Pig-pen | Tic tac toe game |
| Scratch mark | Hak |
| Garden Gate | Garden fence |
| Crunch | Waffle |
| Punch mark | Sink |
| Corridor | Hex code |
| Square | Sharp |
Example of Number Sign # Usage
There are vast usages of number sign for different purposes. Most general usage is to indicate a number: #5 indicates number 5.
Twitter Hashtag
Social networks like Twitter use hashtags to group related tweets for the same topic. When you posts a message, use # and the tag. Twitter will group all the same hashtags and create a timeline. Anyone can use the hashtag to read and get all relevant updates.
# in Coding
- Hexadecimal code is represented using # symbol like #FFFFFF. You can also indicate color code as #000000 for black in hexadecimal.
- Decimal and hexadecimal HTML escape entities use # sign.
- In CSS, you can define the name of an element using # like <div id=”#myid”></div>.
- When you have defined an element id in CSS, you can directly link the element or section in the URL.
- Most programming and scripting languages use # for different purposes. In PHP, you can declare single line comments using # symbol like below.
< ?php
echo “Hello World 456!”;
# This is a comment will not produce any effect.
echo “Hello World 123!”;
?>Other Unicode Number # Symbols
Unicode has few other number signs that you can type using alt code shortcuts.
| Symbol | Description | Alt Code |
|---|---|---|
| | Arabic Number Sign | 1536 |
| ௺ | Tamil Number Sign | 3066 |
| ﹟ | Small Number Sign | 65119 |
| ＃ | Fullwidth Number Sign | 65283 |
