Short answer: On a US or UK keyboard (and Mac), press Shift + 7. On Windows you can also hold Alt and type 38 on the numeric keypad. In HTML, write it as &, because a bare & starts a character reference. Or just copy it below.
Want the codes for any character at a glance? The Alt Code Finder shows the Windows, Mac and HTML method for each one.
The ampersand, &, is the logogram for the word “and.” It’s a standard key on almost every keyboard, so the real questions are the tricky bits: how to write it in HTML, how it behaves in URLs and code, and where it hides on non-US layouts.
Quick reference
| Layout / context | Type & | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| US / UK QWERTY | Shift + 7 | same on both, above the 7 |
| German (QWERTZ) | Shift + 6 | |
| French (AZERTY) | press 1 | unshifted — digits need Shift on AZERTY |
| Mac | Shift + 7 | |
| Any Windows | Alt + 38 | numeric keypad, Num Lock on |
| HTML | & | escape the reserved character |
Unicode: U+0026 · HTML: & / &
Type & on Windows
- US / UK: Shift + 7 (the 7 on the number row, not the numpad).
- German: Shift + 6. French (AZERTY): just press the 1 key — on AZERTY the digits are the shifted characters, so & sits unshifted above 1.
- Alt code: hold Alt, type 38 (or 0038) on the numeric keypad, release.
- Picker: Win + . opens the emoji/symbol panel.
Type & on Mac
Press Shift + 7 — it’s the same on US and UK Mac layouts.
The HTML catch: write & as &
In HTML (and XML), & is a reserved character: it begins a character reference like © or ©. So to display a literal ampersand, you escape it as & (or &). A raw & in your markup can be misread by the parser and cause validation or rendering errors — this is one of the most common HTML mistakes.
The same character does other structural jobs:
- URLs: & separates query-string parameters —
?page=2&sort=asc. When that URL appears inside HTML (anhref), still write it as&. In the URL itself it can be percent-encoded as%26. - CSS/JS: usually fine as a literal &, but inside HTML attributes the
&rule applies.
& in Excel & code
- Excel / Sheets: & is the concatenation operator —
=A1&B1joins the two cells’ text, and=A1&" "&B1adds a space. - Programming: a single & is bitwise AND (and, as a prefix in C/C++/Rust/Go, the “address-of” operator,
&x); a double && is logical AND. In a shell, a trailing & runs a command in the background, and && chains commands (run the next only if the first succeeds).
Type & on Linux, ChromeOS & phone
- Linux / ChromeOS: Shift + 7 on a US layout; or Ctrl + Shift + U, type
0026, Enter. - Phone: tap the 123 / symbols key — & is on the symbols page (sometimes the second one).
What the ampersand means
& is shorthand for “and,” and it began as a ligature of the Latin word et (“and”) — Roman scribes fused the E and T into a single stroke as early as the 1st century AD, and in some italic fonts you can still see the “et” inside the &. The odd name comes from the alphabet: & was once recited as the 27th “letter” after Z, and since “&” by itself is a word, children said “and per se and” (“& by itself means and”), which slurred into “ampersand.”
In use today: company names and titles (AT&T, H&M, Tom & Jerry), R&B, and informal writing where space is tight. In formal prose, spell out “and.”
Troubleshooting
| Problem | Fix |
|---|---|
| Shift + 7 types something else | Wrong layout, or you used the numpad 7 — use the number row and check your layout. |
| My ampersand breaks the web page | You wrote a raw & in HTML — escape it as &. |
| A link with & is cutting off | In the href, write &; the plain & is fine in the actual URL bar. |
| & shows as a box ▯ | Very rare for & — switch to any standard font. See symbol showing as a box. |
| & in a filename causes errors | Avoid & in filenames (special meaning in URLs/shells) — use “and” or an underscore. |
Recap
- US / UK / Mac → Shift + 7. German → Shift + 6. French → press 1.
- Any Windows → Alt + 38, or copy it above.
- HTML →
&. URL → separates parameters. Excel → joins text.
Frequently asked questions
How do I type the ampersand (&)?
On a US or UK keyboard, and on a Mac, press Shift + 7 (the 7 on the number row). On Windows you can also hold Alt and type 38 on the numeric keypad. On a phone, tap the 123/symbols key and select &. Or copy the ampersand from this page.
Why do I have to write & instead of & in HTML?
In HTML, & is a reserved character that starts a character reference (like ©). To display a literal ampersand you escape it as & (or &). A bare & in your markup can be misread by the browser’s parser and cause validation or display errors.
How do I type & on a French (AZERTY) keyboard?
Just press the 1 key without Shift. On the AZERTY layout the digits are the shifted characters, so their unshifted positions hold symbols — and the ampersand sits above the 1 key, typed with no modifier.
What does the ampersand mean and where does its name come from?
The ampersand means “and.” It began as a ligature of the Latin word “et” (and), with the E and T fused into one stroke. The name comes from schoolchildren reciting & as the 27th letter of the alphabet: “and per se and” (meaning “& by itself means and”), which slurred over time into “ampersand.”
What’s the difference between & and && in programming?
A single & is usually the bitwise AND operator, and in C, C++, Rust and Go it’s also the “address-of” operator (as in &x). A double && is the logical AND. In a shell, a trailing & runs a command in the background, while && chains commands so the next runs only if the previous one succeeds.
How does & work in a URL?
In a URL, & separates the parameters in the query string — for example ?page=2&sort=asc. When you put that URL inside HTML (in an href), write the & as &; in the address bar itself the plain & is correct, and it can be percent-encoded as %26.
Written by Igor R.. Tested on Windows 11, macOS and US, UK and European keyboard layouts. Symbol code points follow the Unicode Standard. Last updated July 2026.