You can access the Character Viewer in most Mac apps by just hitting Command+Option+T

From this special character viewer, you can easily insert any special character and browse through all of the special characters available to Mac OS X. You can also use it to insert special characters in foreign languages, assuming you have the foreign language packs installed. This is a lot easier than trying to memorize some of the more obscure key commands for typing accented letters and the Apple logo !

Typing the square root symbol in Mac OS X is just a matter of hitting ALT+V

√ – ALT+V

Note that these are Qwerty English specific instructions, other keyboard layouts and languages will likely vary.

You can insert the degree temperature symbol into any Mac OS X app by hitting the following key command:

Option+Shift+8 produced one like this: Temperature Symbol: 85°
Option+K types a symbol like this: Degree Symbol: 24˚

As you can see the symbols are slightly different but I couldn’t tell you why or what for, so just use which ever one you want. If it’s 35˚ outside, now you can tell someone!

This is simple stuff though right? Well, I just got an email from a relative who was clearly very frustrated that they couldn’t figure out how to type the degree temperature symbol in Mac OS X. I laughed about it for a second but then realized I’ve been asked this question a few times before especially from recent switchers, so clearly some of the simple things just need a simple explanation. Happy temperature telling!

Grave, tilde, acute, circumflex, umlaut… all the fun accent codes that you might need to use. So if you need to type an accented letter in Mac OS X, here’s how.

To get this type of accent over a letter, type this command followed by the letter you want accented:

à – option+`
â – option+i
á – option+e
ä – option+u
ã – option+n

I just used the letter A as an example but you can insert accents over letter. Now my sister in Spanish class can stop pulling her hair out. Buena suerte Trish!

£ – Typing the symbol for the British Pound is done by hitting Option+3 in Mac OS X

This should come in handy the next time you’re in the UK with your Mac! Most Mac system fonts will have the ability to type the British Pound symbol but some of the fancier aftermarket fonts will not be able to render the £ pound symbol properly.

€ – If you want to reference the Euro symbol on your Mac, type the following command:

€ Euro Symbol – Option+Shift+2

A friend of mine just asked “How do I type the Euro symbol in OS X?” and he’s pretty tech savvy, so if he didn’t know than I’m sure many others don’t. The Euro is becoming increasingly powerful in global economics so it’s probably a good idea to know how to type the symbol, whether or not you ever use the currency itself or it’s symbol beyond your Mac is up to you though.

It’s worth noting that the Euro symbol is only available to type in some Mac OS X fonts, you won’t be able to use it with all font combinations, particularly some of the custom and funky font sets are lacking euro support.

¢ is the symbol for the Cent, and typing it on your Mac may not be as obvious as it should be, but it’s easy.

Just hit Option+4 to type the cent symbol as shown here: ¢

Typing this should work in all Mac apps assuming you are using a font that has support for the cent symbol.

Typing the Apple Logo is a fun little trick that’s easy to do and looks pretty cool:



So how do you do it with your Mac keyboard?

Option+Shift+K will type the Apple logo as so: 

I have no idea what this is displayed like to a Windows user, so don’t be surprised if it looks like something totally different, but on Mac you will see the Apple logo in all it’s glory.

Note: see the comments below for how to type the Apple logo on various world keyboards. Thank you to our readers for supplying this information!