± | Plus or Minus Symbol (Meaning, How To Type on Keyboard, & More)

The plus or minus sign is a mathematical symbol that indicates that a number may be more or less by a certain amount. In other words, it indicates a choice of exactly two possible values, one of which is obtained through addition and the other through subtraction.

This symbol may also mean different things in areas other than mathematics. In Science and botany for example, it means ‘with or without’ and ‘more or less’ respectively.

Copy Plus or Minus Symbol Text

The easiest way to get the Plus or Minus Symbol text is to copy and paste it wherever you need it.

Save yourself some time with the copy button above.

Once it is copied, switch over to where you need this symbol and press Ctrl and V on your keyboard to paste it there.

Plus or Minus Symbol Information Table

The table below contains some useful information about the Plus or Minus Symbol.

SYMBOL	±
NAME	Plus or Minus
CATEGORY	Mathematics
ALT CODE	0177
SHORTCUT (WINDOWS)	Alt + 0177
SHORTCUT (MAC)	Option + Shift + =
SHORTCUT (MS WORD)	00B1, Alt X
UNICODE	U+00B1
HTML	±
HEX CODE	±
HTML ENTITY	±
CSS CODE	\00B1

As much as possible, the above table has done a great deal in presenting some useful information about the Plus or Minus Symbol including keyboard shortcuts for both Windows and Mac.

The remaining section will explain this table further.

How to Get the Plus or Minus Sign

Even though there’s no dedicated key for the Plus or Minus symbol on the keyboard, you can still get this symbol using the keyboard for both Windows and Mac.

If you are also using any of the Microsoft Office or Google apps, there are quick navigations you can perform to insert this symbol in Word, Excel, PowerPoint, or Google Docs.

Without any further ado, below are the various ways to get this symbol whether with your keyboard or using the navigation in MS Office or Google Docs.

Symbol for Plus or Minus Alt Code (Keyboard Shortcut)

The Plus or Minus Symbol Alt Code is Alt + 0177.

You can simply use the Alt code method to type this symbol by pressing and holding the Alt key while typing the Symbol Alt code (0177) using the numeric keypad on the right.

Below are detailed steps you may use to type the Symbol for Plus or Minus with your keyboard.

• Open your text editor where you need to type the sign for Plus or Minus.
• Place your cursor at the desired location.
• Press and hold down the Alt key.
• Whilst holding down the Alt key, press the Plus or Minus Alt Code (0177).
• After typing the code, release the Alt key.

As soon as you release the Alt key, the symbol (±) will immediately appear exactly where you place the cursor.

NOTE: Using this Alt Code method, you can type this symbol anywhere in Windows including MS Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Google Docs or Google Sheets, etc.

Plus or Minus Symbol on Mac (Keyboard Shortcut)

Mac keyboard shortcut for the Plus or Minus Symbol is Option + Shift + =.

If you are using the Mac OS, you can easily do the Symbol for Plus or Minus on your keyboard using this shortcut. To do this,

• Click to place your cursor where you need the Plus or Minus sign.
• Press and hold the Option and the Shift keys.
• Whilst holding down these keys, press once on the = key.
• Release the Option and the Shift keys.

As soon as you hit the = key whilst holding to the Option and the Shift keys, the symbol (±) will be inserted exactly where you placed your cursor.

Plus or Minus Symbol in Word/Excel/PowerPoint

For Microsoft Office users like Word, Excel, or PowerPoint, you can use this simple mouse navigation to quickly insert the Plus or Minus sign.

NOTE: You can still use the shortcuts above to type this symbol in Word or Excel or PowerPoint. This is just another method.

Below steps will show you how to insert the Symbol for Plus or Minus in Word or Excel or PowerPoint.

• Open your Word or Excel or PowerPoint document.
• Go to the Insert Tab.

• At the far-right section, you’ll see the Symbols group. Select Symbol > More Symbols.

The Symbol window will appear as below.

• From this window, you can find the symbol (±). To find it easily, type 00B1 in the Character code: box. As soon as you type the character code, the Plus or Minus sign will appear selected.

• Click the Insert button to insert it into your Word document.
• Close the Symbol dialog.

These are the steps you may use to insert the this (±) and any other symbol in Microsoft Word or other Office apps in both Windows and Mac OS.

Plus or Minus Symbol in Google Docs

Google Docs is yet another text editor that people struggle with when it comes to typing or inserting the Sign for Plus or Minus.

Meanwhile, Google Docs has the easiest way to insert symbols that are not found on the keyboard. Without further ado, let’s see how this is done.

To get the Plus or Minus Symbol in Google Docs:

• Open Google Docs and place your cursor where you need the symbol.
• Go to Insert > Special Characters.

The Insert special characters window will appear with a search bar and a drawing pad.

• Using the Search bar, search for Plus or Minus. Then double click on the Symbol for Plus or Minus in the search results to insert it into Google Docs.

• You can also use the drawing pad below the search bar to draw the Symbol for Plus or Minus. If Google Docs recognize the drawing, it’ll display the symbol and similar signs in the results box. Then double click the symbol to insert it.

These are the steps you may use to insert this and any other symbol in Google Docs.

Sign for Plus or Minus on the Character Map (Windows)

The Character Map in Windows is a tool that is used to view characters in any installed font, to check what keyboard input (or Alt code) is used to type those characters, and to copy characters to the clipboard instead of typing them.

This section will show you how to use the Character Map tools to copy and paste the Plus or Minus Symbol with ease.

Without further ado, let’s get started.

• Go to the Windows Start menu and search for Character Map.

• The Character Map app will appear in the search result. Click on it to Launch.
• When it is open, look at the bottom left of the window and click to expand the Advance view options.

• To easily locate the Plus or Minus Symbol on the Character Map, in the Advanced view options, type ‘Plus or Minus’ in the ‘search for‘ box and hit enter.

The symbol will appear for you to copy.

• To copy this symbol, simply double click on it and it’ll be selected in the Characters to copy box. Then click on the Copy button to finally copy it to your clipboard.
• Place your cursor wherever you need the symbol and press Ctrl and V to paste the copied symbol.

And there you have it.

These are the steps you may also use to copy and paste the Plus or Minus symbol or any other symbol on your Windows PC.

Conclusion

As much as possible, we’ve tried to cover a lot of information about the Plus or Minus Symbol.

Most people find it difficult to type or insert this symbol. So, we’ve broken down the several methods and steps needed to be able to type or insert it on both Windows and Mac.

Thanks so much for reading this blog and have a wonderful day.