How to type the degree symbol
- Windows: hold Alt, type 0176 on the numeric keypad, release. The legacy code Alt+248 produces the same character — but prefer 0176; the no-leading-zero codes come from the old DOS character set and are less predictable across apps.
- Mac: Option+Shift+8.
- HTML:
°or°. - Phones: long-press the 0 key on the number keyboard — iOS and most Android keyboards hide ° behind it.
- Word: type
00B0then press Alt+X.
The two impostors
Three little raised circles live in Unicode, and only one of them means degrees:
- ° DEGREE SIGN (U+00B0) — the real one. Use it for temperature and angles.
- º MASCULINE ORDINAL INDICATOR (U+00BA) — the Spanish/Portuguese ordinal, as in 1º (primero). On a Mac, Option+0 types this, not the degree sign — the single most common way the wrong circle ends up in a weather tweet. It's often underlined in fonts, which gives it away.
- ˚ RING ABOVE (U+02DA) — a floating accent mark meant for building characters like å. It sits differently on the line and means nothing thermally.
Does it matter? Visually, barely. But search, spreadsheets, and code treat them as three different characters — "90°" won't match "90º" — so the wrong one is a bug you can't see.
Spacing, for the sticklers
Convention: no space before ° in temperatures with a scale letter (72°F), and the degree sign closed up against the number for angles (90°). SI style puts a space before the whole unit (72 °F) — pick your style guide and stay loyal.
Symbol data last reviewed: July 9, 2026.