How to insert the Beta Lower Case β symbol in Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook

Annabelle AlmerLast updated: 1 February 2023

Fonts,Microsoft 365,Microsoft Excel,Microsoft Office,Microsoft Office for Mac,Microsoft Outlook,Microsoft Powerpoint,Microsoft Word,Office 2007,Office 2010,Office 2013,Office 2016,Office 2019,Office 2021 / Office LTSC,Office 365

Type the Beta – lower case β into Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint or Outlook. Both in Office for Windows and Office for Mac.

Beta – lower case β symbol is the 2^nd letter of the Greek Alphabet. Within finance, it is used as a measure of investment portfolio risk. Within statistics, it may represent a regression slope or a non-rejection of a false null hypothesis. It has even been used to name tropical cyclones, such as Hurricane Beta in 2005 and Tropical Storm Beta in 2020.

How Beta – lower case β looks in different fonts.

Here’s some examples of how Beta – lower case β looks in common Office fonts.

Beta – lower case β codes

These are the important code numbers or values you’ll need to enter the Beta – lower case or β

Decimal: 946 Hex: 03b2

Web: β or β

(web codes aren’t used in Microsoft Office, we’ve included them for the sake of completeness.)

Word and Outlook

The Beta – lower case β sign does NOT have an inbuilt shortcut in Word.

Use the standard Word Alt + X symbol shortcut 3b2 + 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 Beta – lower case symbol.

Windows

In Windows there are several shortcuts to enter the Beta – lower case β character into any program, but they use a numeric keypad, not the number row above the letters.

Alt + 946

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.

Window 11/10 Emoji Panel

The Windows 10 Emoji Panel has the Beta – lower case β symbol. Use Win + . (period/fullstop) to open the panel.

Choose the Symbols tab (the third of the top row icons), then the Language Symbols section which is marked by the capital Ω … handy that. To find the Xi letters, scroll down the list.