Type the ‘Plus or Minus sign’ ± into Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint or Outlook. Both in Office for Windows and Office for Mac.
Plus-Minus ± symbol isn’t just used for equations, it’s also used as a shortcut for ‘plus or minus’. In statistics you’ll often see results given as being “ ± 3% ”.
How Plus or Minus ± looks in different fonts.
Here’s some examples of how Plus-Minus ± looks in common Office fonts. In some the two characters are separated but some others are joined.
Plus-Minus ± codes
These are the important code numbers or values you’ll need to enter the Plus / Minus or ±
Decimal: 177 Hex: 00B1
Web: ± or ± or ±
(web codes aren’t used in Microsoft Office, we’ve included them for the sake of completeness.)
Word and Outlook
The Plus / Minus ± sign does NOT have an inbuilt shortcut in Word.
Use the standard Word Alt + X symbol shortcut B1 + Alt + X
Once in a document you can copy it to AutoCorrect and make your own shortcut.
Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook
Insert | Symbols | Symbol and look for the Plus-Minus symbol.
Windows
In Windows there are several shortcuts to enter the Plus or Minus ± character into any program, but they use a numeric keypad, not the number row above the letters.
Alt + 0177
Windows Character Map
The Windows Character Map accessory in all Windows releases
Character Map has a search feature, something missing from the Insert | Symbol in Office.
MacOS and Office for Mac inserting characters
On a Mac, to enter the Plus-Minus ± symbol:
- Command + Control + Spacebar shortcut to open the Character Viewer.
- Search for “ Plus “ and the Viewer should find the symbol you need.
Despite the name Character Viewer, the Apple system tool will also insert characters into any program, including Office for Mac.
Registered Trade Mark ® symbol in Word and Office
X cross symbol ✗ in Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook
Type Infinity ∞ symbols in Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook
Reversed Question Mark / Irony ⸮ symbol in Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook
