Whether you have just switched from a PC to a Mac and have discovered that “and @ the keys are not where you expected, you cannot find euro signs, pound sign or hash key on your Mac keyboard, or you use To write some unusual characters or accents and don’t know how, is here to help.
The first problem is that the location of the special characters can depend on where you are based in the world: Keyboard layout differs by country, where certain characters get more prominent role on the keyboards for the people who use them more. You will find Qwerty keyboards for English speaking, while French speakers get an Azerty keyboard and the Germans, for example, get Qwertz. Keyboards have completely different key layouts depending on the country, so we have included the location of these special keys for a variety of keyboards.
Even us and British keyboards have a number of surprising differences in key placement. Australians tend to use the US keyboard layout.
Another source of confusion is the fact that some Mac keyboards are feeling the all -key, while others call Option Key all (depending on your point of view). On a Mac keyboard, the key has a symbol similar to this: ⌥
This means that some guides you want to read will talk about an option or all key that you can’t see on your Mac. The key is the same. See: Where is the option key.
And if you are using a PC keyboard with your Mac, the all -key will do the job with the option key while the Windows key is doing the command’s job and you will undoubtedly be very confused.
To enter ° $ €@® ©# £ € ¢ ™ and Æ
It’s not a hidden sword word! These are all symbols that you may find yourself that need to write again and again, and yet they are hidden from your MAC keyboard. Don’t worry, we’ll tell you what to do to write them.
Before we begin, this is a practical overview of the hidden characters that you can write using everything. The first example is the American keyboard, the second is a British keyboard. To see an overview of another keyboard on your screen, we include the steps to see it below.

The ‘hidden’ keys on an American apple keyboard.
Foundry

They ‘hid’ keys on a British apple keyboard
Foundry
How to write eurosymbol on a Mac keyboard – €
- On an American keyboard to write euro, press: ALT/OPTION-Shift-2 = €
- On a British keyboard to write euro, press: ALT/OPTION-2 = €
European keyboards give the euro keyboard more prominent, but the location of the euro key and the required combination of required keys depends on the country.
- At French Apple Magic keyboards you will find the euro sign (and dollar signs) next to the return key.
- In German, Italian, Swiss and Spanish keyboards, the euro sign is entered by pressing the setting/all and the e key.
- Portuguese keyboards have Euro signs at number 3: Press option/everything and the key.
- For Nordmen and the Danish, the euro is entered by pressing Option/All and Number 4.
- And Dutch keyboards have the euro at number 2.
How to write the Pound Sign on a Mac keyboard
Writing a pound of sign difficult because the location of the key will vary depending on the keyboard, but also the word itself has a different meaning depending on where you are.
For British residents, the word pounds the currency: £. However, some countries call the hashtag or the hashish key a pound.
If you are in the UK, Hashtag signed the 3 -Key with the Pound Sign (£), but on another country’s keyboards, the UK is found £ -Signed elsewhere (we will come to the next).
How to write a # (hash)
- On an American keyboard for type # you only need to press SHIFT-3 = #
- On a British keyboard for Type #, press ALT/OPTION-3 = #
- The hash sign on French keyboards is found to the left of number 1.
- German keyboards have the hash key next to the return key.
- Norwegian, Spanish, Swedish and Portuguese keyboards have the hashish key at number 3.
- Italian keyboards have the hash key (Cancelletto) just above the lower right right wrench.
How to write a £ (pound sign)
We mention the British pound sign here for anyone who uses a non-burnt keyboard as its location on a British keyboard is no mystery (OK-If you still see, it’s the 3 key).
- On an American keyboard, type £, press ALT/OPTION-3 = £
The key of £ may not even be illustrated on the American keyboard!
- On French and Swiss keyboards, £ over the right change key is found next to the Enter/Return key.
- Italian keyboards have £ on number 3, like UK keyboards.
How to write ‘on’ – @
This @ Key is a confusion point for PC users who come to Mac keyboards because “key- and @ key switch places.
- On an American or British keyboard you will find the @ key on the 2 key. You need to press SHIFT-2 = @.
- Spanish and Swedish keyboards also have @ on 2.
- In Danish, Norwegian, Portuguese and Swiss keyboards, the @ key is next to the return key over the right change key.
- French keyboards have @ -sign to the left of 1.
- German keyboards have @ key on L.
- Italian keyboards also have @ next to L.
Where is “the key?
- On an American or British keyboard you will find “Keyen will be in the lower right where“ The key is located.
- In German, Danish, Norwegian, Portuguese, Spanish, Swiss, Swedish and Italian keyboard is “The key of 2.
- French keyboards have ”at 3.
© ® and ™
The various copyright and trademark signs can often be used in certain working lines. Fortunately, there is an easy way to write them on a Mac keyboard.
You may think that logically the copyright sign would be hidden on the C key but you would have wrong. The C key is the home of different accented CS. To write A ©, press ALT/OPTION and G.
If you want to write the registered trademark symbol less option/everything and r:
As for ™ how to write depends on the keyboard:
- On a US keyboard for Type ™, press: ALT/OPTION-2 = ™
- On a British keyboard for Type ™ press: Shift-Alt/Option-2 = ™
Want to write pi (π) symbol? We have a tutorial that explains how to do this: how to write pi (π) symbol on a Mac or iPhone.
Æ
This one was popularized by Elon Musk and Grimes when they named their child Æ A-12 Musk.
If you want to write Æ, just press and hold the A key. You can see a number of settings appear in a box – just select the one you want or press 5.
Degrees
If it gets hot where you are, you can tell someone. In which case a degree sign could be convenient. How to write A °
- Change-ALT/OPTION-8 = °
You may wonder what circumstances will make you write an Apple logo, but with Apple naming a few products with the Apple symbol if you may be that you need to write tv or Watch. If you do, the key combination is as follows:
Read: How to write on an iPhone.
A control or cross or cross
This is a convenient – V looks almost like a cross or marking mark, add an option/everything and that’s what you get.
Other keys
There are a few keys hidden in sight. We mention them here in case you struggle to find them:
~ (Aka tilde -signed) – It is to the left at the switch key
/ – to the right at the switch key
– to the right over the shift key
| – Press SHIFT and \ (next to ENTER/RETURN)
Writes accents on a Mac keyboard
If you are trying to write accents on an English keyboard if it can be a little daunting – if you are using a keyboard designed for this language, it will be significantly easier to write accents for obvious reasons. To write an accented letter, all you have to do is press and keep the relevant key. When you do, a menu appears with the different accented characters to choose from.
For example, if you press and hold the E key, you will eventually see this menu appear. You can select the version with your marker or by pressing the corresponding number.

You can find accents associated with the following keys: e, y, u, i, o, a, s, l, z, c, n.
To write emoji on a mac
You may think emoji is limited to iPhones and iPads, but they are not. It is possible to access emoji on your Mac. When using a text therapist or similar program, you can tap the control command room to get emoji pallet up.
Read our guide to using emoji on Mac here.
To write other signs of a Mac
You may remember character viewer – a tool that you could expand to find different characters to be added to text documents. It was going on emoji, and when Emoji arrived it seems to be hidden away, but it still is there.
As above, press the Control-Command-Space to get the Emoji pallet up and then click the icon in the top right of the emoji box to get the character show up. Here you will find more than emoji: There are also arrows, other currency symbols, math symbols and more.
This is where you will find currency symbols as ¥ ₽ ₩ ₱ ₱ £ ﷼ £ ﷼
Math Symbols such as XXX ∄ ℇ ≥ ≥ ≯ ∑ √ ∱≉
There are also some pictograms that prior to emoji including all of these

How to see the keyboard overview on your screen
To see the keyboard overview of any language, follow these steps:
- If you have a symbol that indicates OS/UK or another language in the menu at the top of your screen (next to the spotlight icon), click it.
- You will see opportunities to show emoji & symbols and show keyboard viewer. Click Show Keyboard Viewer.
- You can click the Option Key (⌥ key next to the command key) on the overlooked keyboard to see which characters will appear when you press it in connection with another key.
- If you press the shift and option keys, you will be other options available to you.
If you do not see the symbol in your menu, go to System Setting> keyboards and make sure the view input menu is selected in the menu bar.
A bonus is the fact that when you write with this keyboard viewer on view, you will see different suggested Autocomplet words that you might want to use.

If you find yourself using different characters often, you might be able to try an app like PopChar X from Ergonis. The app makes it really easy to access the different characters available in the different fonts on your Mac. You can buy this for $ 29.99/£ 30.85.
Do you wonder how to copy and paste on a Mac? You can also find our iPhone keyboard tips useful.