Short answer: Press Shift + 6 on a US or UK keyboard (and on a Mac). On many European layouts (German, French), the caret is a dead key — press it, then press space for a standalone ^, or it will combine with the next vowel into â, ê, î. On Windows you can also hold Alt and type 94.
The caret is one of many special keys — see the full set with names in the keyboard symbols guide, or grab any character from the Alt Code Finder.
The caret, ^ (formally the circumflex accent, informally the “hat”), sits above the 6 and does a surprising amount: it stands in for exponents, powers regular expressions, means XOR in code, and — in its original life — is an accent mark. Let’s start with the one thing that trips people up.
The dead-key catch on European layouts
On US and UK keyboards, Shift + 6 gives you a caret straight away. But on German (QWERTZ) and French (AZERTY) layouts, the caret key is a dead key: it makes no character on its own and instead waits for the next letter, so pressing it before a vowel produces â, ê, î, ô, û. To get a standalone ^, press the caret key and then tap the space bar. (On German keyboards the key is at the top-left, next to the 1; on French it’s near P.)
Quick reference
| Item | Value |
|---|---|
| US / UK / Mac | Shift + 6 |
| German / French | dead key → then space for standalone ^ |
| Windows Alt code | Alt + 94 |
| Word | 005E then Alt + X |
| HTML | ^ / ^ |
| Unicode | U+005E (CIRCUMFLEX ACCENT) |
Type ^ on Windows
- Shift + 6 on US/UK.
- Dead-key layouts (German, French): press the caret key, then space.
- Alt code: hold Alt, type 94 on the numeric keypad, release.
- Word:
005E+ Alt + X, or Insert → Symbol (search “Caret”); Win + . and Character Map also work.
Type ^ on Mac
Press Shift + 6 on US/UK Mac layouts. On German/French Mac layouts the caret is a dead key too — press it, then space, for a standalone ^; otherwise use the Character Viewer (Control + Command + Space).
The caret in maths & Excel
Since plain text can’t do superscripts, the caret stands in for exponentiation: 2^3 means “2 to the power of 3,” and x^2 means x squared. Excel uses it the same way — =2^3 returns 8. In statistics, a caret placed over a letter — x̂ (“x-hat”) — marks an estimated value. (For a true superscript ², see the squared symbol.)
The caret in code
- Bitwise XOR — in C-style languages
a ^ bis exclusive-or. - Regex anchor —
^matches the start of a line or string; inside a character class,[^abc]negates it (anything except a, b or c). - Control-key notation —
^Cmeans Ctrl + C,^Zmeans Ctrl + Z, and so on in terminals. - Windows CMD escape — in the Command Prompt,
^escapes special characters (e.g.echo this ^> that).
The circumflex accent
Before computing, ^ was an accent mark. As the circumflex, it sits over vowels in French (forêt), Portuguese, and other languages to signal a lengthened vowel, a lost letter, or a specific sound. On a keyboard you produce accented vowels with the dead-key method above, or with the combining circumflex (U+0302) applied to a letter. To add accents on a US keyboard in general, see accents on a US keyboard.
Type ^ on Linux, ChromeOS & phone
- Linux / ChromeOS: Shift + 6 (US); or Ctrl + Shift + U, type
5e, Enter. - Phone: tap the 123 / symbols key — ^ is on the symbols page.
What the caret is
The name caret comes from Latin caret, “it lacks,” and from its resemblance to the proofreader’s caret ‸, the little mark showing where to insert missing text. The ASCII and Unicode standards call the character a circumflex accent, but in everyday computing it’s the caret — or, casually, the “hat.” Online, a row of carets (^^^) often points up at the message above, meaning “this.”
Troubleshooting
| Problem | Fix |
|---|---|
| Pressing ^ then a vowel gives â/ê | Your layout treats ^ as a dead key — press ^ then space for a plain caret. |
| Nothing appears when I press the caret key | Same dead-key behaviour — tap space after it. |
| ^ shows as a box ▯ | Very rare for ^ — switch to any standard font. See symbol showing as a box. |
| I need a real superscript, not 2^3 | Use a superscript character or your app’s superscript formatting — see squared symbol. |
| Shift + 6 types something else | Wrong layout — check Settings (Windows) or System Settings (Mac). |
Recap
- Type it → Shift + 6 (US/UK/Mac); European layouts: dead key → space; Alt + 94 on Windows.
- Maths → exponent (2^3), Excel
=2^3, x-hat estimate. - Code → XOR, regex start/negation, ^C control notation.
Frequently asked questions
How do I type the caret (^)?
On a US or UK keyboard, and on a Mac, press Shift + 6. On German and French layouts the caret is a dead key: press it and then tap the space bar for a standalone ^, otherwise it combines with the next vowel into â, ê or î. On Windows you can also hold Alt and type 94, or copy it from this page.
What is the ^ symbol called?
Familiarly it’s the caret. Its formal name in the ASCII and Unicode standards is the circumflex accent, and casually it’s also called the “hat.” The name “caret” comes from the proofreader’s mark used to show where text should be inserted.
What does the caret do in maths?
Because plain text can’t show superscripts, the caret stands in for exponents: 2^3 means “2 to the power of 3” and x^2 means x squared. Excel uses the same notation, so =2^3 returns 8. In statistics, a caret over a letter (x̂, “x-hat”) indicates an estimated value.
What does ^ mean in code?
In C-style languages the caret is the bitwise XOR operator (a ^ b). In regular expressions it anchors the start of a line or string, and inside square brackets it negates a character class, so [^abc] matches anything except a, b or c. In terminals, ^C is shorthand for Ctrl + C.
Why does pressing ^ then a vowel give â or ê?
On German, French and some other layouts the caret is a dead key — it adds a circumflex accent to the next letter you type instead of printing on its own. That’s how you get accented vowels like â and ê. To type a plain caret, press the caret key and then the space bar.
Where is the caret on the keyboard?
On US and UK keyboards it’s Shift + 6, above the 6 on the number row. On a German keyboard it’s the dead key at the top-left, next to the 1; on a French keyboard it’s a dead key near the P. Wherever it’s a dead key, follow it with space for a standalone caret.
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.