How to Type the Cent Symbol (¢) on Any Device

Q: How do I type the cent symbol on Windows?

Hold Alt and type 0162 on the numeric keypad with Num Lock turned on, or type 00A2 and then press Alt + X in Microsoft Word.

Q: What is the HTML code for the cent symbol?

You can use either: ¢ ¢ Both produce the cent symbol ( ¢ ) in HTML.

Q: How do I type the cent symbol in Google Docs?

Go to Insert → Special characters and search for cent , or copy and paste the ¢ symbol directly into your document.

Q: Should the cent sign come before or after the number?

In everyday US writing, the cent sign is placed after the number, such as 75¢ or 99¢ .

Short answer: on a Mac, press Option + 4. On Windows, press Alt + 0162 on the numeric keypad. Or just copy the cent symbol below.

¢ Copied!

The cent sign ¢ is used for prices under a dollar (75¢) and for “cents per” rates like “12¢ per minute.” Here’s how to type or copy it on every common device and app.

Quick reference

Platform	How to type ¢
Copy / paste	Tap the copy button above
Mac	Option + 4
Windows (numpad)	Alt + 0162 (Num Lock on)
Windows (no numpad)	Win + . → Symbols → ¢, or Character Map
Word	Type 00A2, then Alt + X
iPhone / iPad	Long-press $ on the symbols keyboard → ¢
Android	Long-press $ on the symbols keyboard → ¢
Chromebook	Ctrl + Shift + U, then 00a2, then Enter
Linux	Ctrl + Shift + U, then 00a2 (IBus)
Google Docs	Insert → Special characters → search “cent”
HTML	`¢` or `¢`
Unicode	U+00A2

Note: the Mac and Windows shortcuts below assume a US English keyboard layout. On other layouts the keys can differ — if a shortcut gives the wrong character, use the copy box or the Character Map / Character Viewer method instead.

Type the cent symbol on Mac

Press Option + 4.

Plain 4 types the dollar sign $ — adding Option turns it into ¢. That’s the whole trick, and it’s why the two get mixed up.

Keyboard shortcuts for the cent symbol on Mac and Windows

If you can’t remember the shortcut (Character Viewer)

Press Control + Command + Space to open the Character Viewer.
Search cent.
Double-click ¢ to insert it.

Type the cent symbol on Windows

Alt code (with a numeric keypad)

Make sure Num Lock is on, then hold Alt and type 0162 on the numeric keypad. Release Alt and ¢ appears. The Alt-code method is layout-independent, so it works even on non-US keyboards.

No numpad? (laptops)

Most laptops don’t have a separate numeric keypad, so Alt + 0162 does nothing. Use one of these instead:

Emoji & symbols panel: press Win + . (period), open the symbols tab (the Ω icon), choose Currency, and pick ¢.
Character Map: open Character Map (search “charmap” in Start), find ¢, then Select → Copy.
Word: type 00A2 and press Alt + X — Word converts it to ¢.
Copy it from the box at the top of this page.

Type the cent symbol on iPhone and Android

On both iPhone and Android, the cent sign lives behind the dollar key on the symbols keyboard:

Tap 123 (or ?123 on Android) to switch to numbers/symbols.
Press and hold the $ key.
A small popup of currency symbols appears — slide to ¢ and release.

The exact popup depends on your keyboard app (Gboard, Apple, Samsung Keyboard), so if ¢ isn’t in the list, copy it from the top of this page or add it as a text replacement (type something like cc → ¢).

Type the cent symbol on Chromebook

Chromebooks support Unicode hex entry:

Hold Ctrl + Shift and press U, then release. A small underlined u appears.
Type the hex code 00a2 (or just a2).
Press Enter or Space.

This works in most text fields, including Google Docs. If it doesn’t work in a particular app, use Insert → Special characters in Docs, or copy ¢ from above.

Type the cent symbol on Linux

On most Linux desktops with IBus (GNOME, etc.):

Hold Ctrl + Shift + U, release, type 00a2, then press Enter or Space.

If you have a Compose key set up, Compose → c → / also produces ¢.

Cent symbol in Word, Google Docs, Excel and Sheets

Microsoft Word. Any Windows/Mac method above works. The cleanest is to type 00A2 and press Alt + X. Or use Insert → Symbol → More Symbols and search the character code 00A2.

Google Docs. Go to Insert → Special characters, search cent, and click ¢. Or paste it in directly.

Excel and Google Sheets. There’s no built-in “cent” currency format, so you have two practical options:

Type it as text: 75¢ (fine for labels, but it won’t do math).
Work in dollars and format the cell as Currency: store 0.75, display $0.75.

If you want a number to display with a ¢ while staying calculable, use a custom number format instead of storing text. Store the number of cents as a real number and apply the format code 0"¢" — enter 75 and it shows 75¢ while the cell stays numeric (so it still sums and calculates). In Google Sheets, set the same code under Format → Number → Custom number format.

Cent symbol in HTML and CSS

In HTML, use the named entity or the numeric entity — all render ¢:

html

&cent;    <!-- named entity -->
&#162;    <!-- decimal -->
&#xA2;    <!-- hex -->

In CSS (for a ::before/::after content value), escape the code point:

css

.price::before { content: "\00A2"; }

Where to place the cent sign

In everyday US writing, the cent sign goes after the number: 75¢, not ¢75. (The dollar sign is the opposite — $5, before the number.)

Examples: 75¢ · 99¢ · “12¢ per minute” · a 50¢ coin.

Cent symbol vs. similar characters

Don’t confuse ¢ with these look-alikes:

ç — a lowercase c with a cedilla (as in façade), not currency.
¤ — the generic currency sign, a placeholder for “some currency.”

If you pasted a symbol and it looks slightly off, check it against the ¢ in the copy box above.

Troubleshooting

Alt + 0162 does nothing. You need a real numeric keypad with Num Lock on. On a laptop without one, use Win + ., Character Map, Word’s Alt + X, or copy ¢ above.
I got $ instead of ¢ on Mac. Plain 4 is the dollar sign — you need Option + 4 for ¢.
The shortcut types a different symbol. You’re probably on a non-US keyboard layout. Use the copy box or the Character Map / Character Viewer method, which don’t depend on layout.
¢ shows as a box or “?” after pasting. The font in that app doesn’t include the glyph — switch to a common font (Arial, Times, Calibri) or use the HTML entity on the web.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I type the cent symbol on Windows?

Hold Alt and type 0162 on the numeric keypad with Num Lock turned on, or type 00A2 and then press Alt + X in Microsoft Word.

How do I type the cent symbol on a Mac?

Press Option + 4. Pressing 4 by itself produces the dollar sign ($), so add the Option key for ¢.

Why do I get $ instead of ¢ on my Mac?

The dollar sign is typed with the 4 key alone. To get the cent symbol, hold Option and press 4.

What is the HTML code for the cent symbol?

You can use either:
¢
¢
Both produce the cent symbol (¢) in HTML.

How do I type the cent symbol in Google Docs?

Go to Insert → Special characters and search for cent, or copy and paste the ¢ symbol directly into your document.

Should the cent sign come before or after the number?

In everyday US writing, the cent sign is placed after the number, such as 75¢ or 99¢.

How do I type the cent symbol on my phone?

On iPhone and Android, tap 123 (or ?123) for the symbols keyboard, then press and hold the $ key and slide to ¢ in the currency popup.

Recap

Mac: Option + 4. Windows: Alt + 0162. On the web: ¢. Everywhere else, copy ¢ from the top of this page. The cent sign is U+00A2 in the Unicode Standard.

Written by Igor R. Tested on Windows 11, macOS, and iOS. Last updated June 2026. Codes verified against the Unicode Standard.