Type the Tilde ~ into Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint or Outlook. Both in Office for Windows and Office for Mac. Plus an emoji alternative to Tilde.
Tilde is used to mean ‘approximate’ as in “ ~30 minutes late”. In maths it means ‘similar order of magnitude’ e.g. “ a ~ b “.
Tilde ~ symbol is easy on most keyboards (mostly top left) , but if other keyboards don’t have Tilde there are other options.
How Tilde ~ looks in different fonts.
Here’s some examples of how Tilde ~ looks in common Office fonts.
Tilde – like emoji – Wavy Dash
There isn’t a Tilde emoji but there is Wavy Dash 〰️ (Unicode 3030
) which looks similar. It’s available in the Windows Emoji Panel and MacOS Character Viewer.
Tilde ~ codes
These are the important code numbers or values you’ll need to enter the Tilde or ~
Decimal: 126 Hex: 007E or just 7E
Web: ˜ or ~ or ~
(web codes aren’t used in Microsoft Office, we’ve included them for the sake of completeness.)
Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook
Insert | Symbols | Symbol and look for the Tilde symbol.
Windows
In Windows there are several shortcuts to enter the Tilde ~ character into any program, but they use a numeric keypad, not the number row above the letters.
Alt + 126
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 most (all?) Mac keyboards, the Tilde will be on the top left key. If not,
- Command + Control + Spacebar shortcut to open the Character Viewer.
- Search for “Tilde “ 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.
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