£ | Pound Symbol (Meaning, How to Type on Keyboard, & More)
Pound Symbol (£) is used to denote the official currency of the United Kingdom, Jersey, Guernsey, the Isle of Man, and many other countries. It is also known in some contexts as Pound Sterling or Sterling.
In Unicode, the Pound Sterling is the character at code point U+000A3. Its HTML code is £ and you can type it on your keyboard by pressing Alt + 0163 (For Windows).
Continue reading for more details on this symbol.
Copy Pound Sterling Text Symbol
You can copy and paste this text Symbol wherever you need it. The copy button above will save you some time in doing so.
You can then paste it anywhere by pressing Ctrl and V on your keyboard once it has been copied.
Pound Symbol Information Table
There is some helpful information about the Pound text Symbol in the table below.
| SYMBOL | £ |
| NAME | Pound Sterling |
| CATEGORY | Currency Symbols |
| ALT CODE | 0163 |
| SHORTCUT 1 (WINDOWS) | Alt + 0163 |
| SHORTCUT 2 (MS WORD) | 000A3, Alt X |
| SHORTCUT 3 (MAC) | [Option] + [3] |
| UNICODE | U+000A3 |
| HTML CODE | £ |
| HEX CODE | £ |
| HTML ENTITY | £ |
| CSS CODE | \00A3 |
To the best of our ability, the above table has presented useful information about this text Symbol, including the keyboard shortcut, Unicode, and HTML code, as well.
Continue reading to gain a better understanding of how to get this symbol.
How to Get the Pound Sign
Although there is no dedicated key for the Pound symbol on the keyboard, you can still use the keyboard to type it.
You can also insert this symbol in Word, Excel, PowerPoint, or Google Docs.
Below you’ll find several methods for accessing this symbol, including keyboard shortcuts and methods utilizing MS Office and Google Docs’ built-in navigation systems.
The symbol for Pound Alt Code (Keyboard Shortcut)
The Pound Alt Code is Alt + 0163.
Note: This Alt Code shortcut works in Windows only. Keep reading for how to type Pound on Mac.
This Alt code method can be used to type this symbol by holding down the Alt key while typing 0163 on the separate numeric keypad on the right side of the keyboard
Below is a detailed step-by-step guide you may use to type the Symbol for Pound with your keyboard.
- Open your Microsoft Word document where you need to type this symbol.
- Click to place your cursor in the document where you need to type this symbol.
- On the keyboard, press down the Alt key with one hand.
- As you hold down the Alt key, press the Pound Alt Code (0163).
- Now release the Alt key.
After you release the Alt key, the Pound text symbol (£) will immediately appear exactly where you place the cursor.
Pound Symbol on Mac (Keyboard Shortcut)
Mac keyboard shortcut for the Pound Symbol is [Option] + [3].
If are using the Mac OS, you can easily type the Symbol for Pound on your keyboard using this shortcut. To do this,
- Click to place your cursor where you need the Pound sign.
- Press [Option] + [3].
As soon as you hit these hotkeys, the symbol (£) will be inserted exactly where you placed your cursor.
Insert Pound Symbol in Word/Excel/PowerPoint
You can quickly insert any symbol in Microsoft Office applications such as Word, Excel, or PowerPoint by using this simple mouse navigation.
The steps below will show you how to insert the Pound Symbol in Word, Excel, or PowerPoint.
- Open your Word or Excel, or PowerPoint document.
- Go to the Insert tab.
- On the far-right section, you’ll see the Symbols group. Select Symbol > More Symbols.
The Symbol window will appear as below.
- The symbol (£) can be found in this window. To find it quickly, simply type 00A3 in the Character code: box. The Pound sign will be selected as soon as you type the code.
- Insert it into your Word document by clicking the Insert button.
- Close the Symbol dialog.
These are the steps for inserting the Pound symbol (£) and any other symbol in Microsoft Word or other Office apps on both Windows and Mac OS.
Pound Sterling Symbol In Google Docs
Google Docs is also another text editor with which users may struggle to type or insert the Pound sign.
Meanwhile, Google Docs provides the simplest method for inserting symbols that are not found on the keyboard.
Without further ado, let’s get into it.
To get the Pound Symbol in Google Docs:
- Launch Google Docs and position your cursor where the symbol is going to be inserted.
- Go to Insert > Special Characters.
The Insert special characters window will appear., which includes a search bar and a drawing pad.
- Using the Search bar, search for Pound. Then, in the search results, double-click on the text Symbol for Pound to insert it into Google Docs.
- You can also draw the Pound Symbol using the drawing pad located below the search bar. If Google Docs recognizes the drawing, it will display the symbol and similar signs in the results box. Then double-click the symbol to insert it.
These are the steps to insert this and any other symbol into Google Docs.
Pound Symbol on The Character Map (Windows)
In Windows, the Character Map is a tool that can be used to view characters in any installed font, determine what keyboard input (or Alt code) is used to type those characters, and copy characters to the clipboard instead of typing them with your keyboard.
This section will demonstrate how to use the Character Map tool to easily copy and paste this Symbol.
Without further ado, let’s get into it.
- Search for Character Map in the Windows Start menu.
- You should see the character Map appear in the search results. Click on it to launch it.
- When it’s open, go to the bottom left corner of the window and click to expand the Advance view options.
- To easily locate the Pound Symbol on the Character Map, search for the symbol name (Pound) in the search box.
The symbol will be displayed for you to copy.
- To copy this symbol, double-click it, and it will be selected in the Characters to copy box. Then, finally, click the Copy button to copy it to your clipboard.
- Place your cursor where you want the symbol and press Ctrl + V to paste it.
And there you have it.
These are the steps you can take to copy and paste the Pound symbol or other symbols on your Windows PC.
Adding Pound Symbol in HTML/CSS
The HTML code for the Pound symbol is £
The CSS code for the Pound Symbol is \00A3
Symbols like the Pound that are not found on your keyboard can also be added in HTML using entities.
HTML entities are used to display invisible and reserved characters that would otherwise be read as HTML code. It’s in the form of a string of text that starts with an ampersand (&) and ends with a semicolon (;).
To add the Pound Symbol to an HTML page, you can use its entity name or number (decimal or hexadecimal reference) as shown in the example below:
// html example
<span>£</span>
To display the Pound from CSS, you can use a CSS shortcode or CSS entity as shown in the example below:
// css example
span {
content: "\00A3";
}
Conclusion
Most people have difficulty typing or inserting this symbol. So, we’ve broken down the various methods and steps required to type or get it into your documents.
And as you can see above, we’ve attempted to cover as much information about the Pound Sterling text Symbol as possible.
Thank you for taking the time to go through this blog.
