Alt Code Shortcuts for Bracket Symbols

First, this article is NOT about Adobe Brackets code editor. If you are looking for Brackets editor then checkout our tutorial on using the editor here. This article is about inserting various bracket symbols in your documents using keyboard shortcuts.

Do you know there are more than 150 bracket symbols available? And you can insert all these symbols on Windows and Mac documents using alt code keyboard shortcuts. In technical terms, there are many names for brackets like square brackets, parenthesis and braces. However, most of these brackets are part of general punctuation symbols in Unicode.

List of Bracket Symbol Shortcuts

Here is a list of 150+ shortcuts for various bracket symbols. Use search box to filter the result.

Inserting Brackets Symbols

There are three types of brackets available on a standard keyboard:

• Parenthesis ( )
• Braces or curly brackets { } and
• Square brackets [ ]

However, you can use alt keys in Windows and option keys in Mac to insert special double bracket symbols like｟ ｠.

Using Bracket Symbols in Windows

• On Windows based documents, hold the alt key and type the decimal code in the first column of the below table. For example, alt 12298 will produce left double angle bracket like《.
• In Microsoft Word documents, you can use the hexadecimal code in the second column of the below table with alt and x keys. For example, type FD3F then press alt and x keys to produce ornate right parenthesis like ﴿.

Using Bracket Symbols in Mac

• On Mac, you can use the hexadecimal code given in the second column of the table.
• Change the input method to Unicode Hex Input from the top menu bar.
• Press one of the alt or option keys and type 29FD to produce right pointing curved angle bracket like ⧽. You can use all 4 digits code using this method.

Font and Size Variations

You can change the font and size of the bracket symbols similar to any other text on your Word or Pages documents. Below are some size variations to show how it will look.

Using Bracket Symbols in HTML, CSS and JavaScript

Besides Windows and Mac documents, you can also the shortcuts in web documents like HTML, CSS and JavaScript.

• In HTML, use the decimal codes with the prefix &#. For example & # 9182; (without spaces) will produce top curly bracket like ⏞. Some brackets also have entity name which you can directly use instead of the code like & lbrace; (without spaces) to produce left curly bracket like {.
• Use the hex code in CSS and JavaScript like \23DE; and \u23DE respectively.