Short answer: Use ° (the degree sign) for temperatures, angles and coordinates — 25°C, 90°. Use º (the masculine ordinal indicator) only for Spanish, Portuguese and Italian ordinals and abbreviations — 1º, nº 5. Use ⁰ (superscript zero) for exponents in plain text — 10⁰. If you typed 25ºC, that’s the ordinal, and it’s wrong. Swap it for 25°C.
Not sure which one you’ve actually got? Paste it into the Symbol Identifier and it will name the exact code point.
At a glance
| Glyph | Name | Unicode | Use it for | Don’t use it for | Example |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ° | Degree sign | U+00B0 | Temperature, angles, coordinates | Spanish ordinals | 25°C, 90°, 41°N |
| º | Masculine ordinal indicator | U+00BA | Spanish/Portuguese/Italian ordinals and abbreviations | Temperature | 1º, nº 5 |
| ª | Feminine ordinal indicator | U+00AA | Feminine ordinals in the same languages | Temperature | 1ª, Sra.ª |
| ⁰ | Superscript zero | U+2070 | Exponents in plain text | Ordinals or degrees | 10⁰, x⁰ |
Degree sign (°) — temperature, angles, coordinates
The degree sign is a clean, closed ring that sits high above the baseline. It’s the correct character for:
- Temperature — 20°C, 68°F, −40°
- Angles — a 90° turn, a 45° bevel
- Coordinates — 41°N, 2°E
- Alcohol strength in several countries, where a wine or spirit is labelled 12° rather than 12% ABV
Two conventions are worth knowing:
- Temperature spacing is a style choice, and the standards bodies disagree with the publishers. SI, ISO 80000-1 and NIST all put a space before the whole unit symbol: 25 °C. Chicago, Oxford and most everyday writing close it up: 25°C. Both are defensible — just pick one and hold it across the document.
- Angles never take a space. 90°, never 90 °. This is the one case where the standards bodies and the publishers agree.
There are dedicated single characters for ℃ (U+2103) and ℉ (U+2109), but avoid them. They’re compatibility characters, they render inconsistently across fonts, and a search for “°C” will not match them. Type the degree sign followed by a normal capital C.
(Full guide: the degree symbol.)
Masculine ordinal indicator (º) — Spanish, Portuguese, Italian
º is not a circle. It’s a tiny raised letter o.
That single fact explains everything else about it. It’s a leftover from handwritten abbreviation, where the last letter of a word was written small and lifted above the line — the same habit that gives English 1st, 2nd and the numero sign №. In Spanish, primero shrinks to 1º; número shrinks to nº.
It comes as a pair:
| Indicator | Used with | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| Masculine º (U+00BA) | Masculine nouns | 1º premio, nº 12 |
| Feminine ª (U+00AA) | Feminine nouns | 1ª planta, 3ª edición |
Because it’s a letter, it behaves like one. Unicode classifies it as a letter, not a symbol. In many serif faces it’s drawn with a small underline beneath it. It’s smaller than the degree sign, it takes the font’s letterform styling, and software that folds accents and decorations will quietly turn it back into a plain o.
Using º for temperature (25ºC) is incorrect. It looks close enough that most readers won’t consciously notice — which is exactly why it spreads.
Superscript zero (⁰) — exponents
⁰ is a raised digit zero, one of the superscript number set:
⁰ ¹ ² ³ ⁴ ⁵ ⁶ ⁷ ⁸ ⁹
Use it for exponents in plain text, where you can’t apply real formatting — 10⁰ = 1, x⁰, 2⁵.
Two practical notes:
- ⁰ has no Alt code. ² and ³ do (Alt + 0178 and Alt + 0179) because they sit in the Latin-1 range that Alt codes reach. ⁰, ¹ and ⁴–⁹ live higher up in Unicode and don’t. In Word, type 2070 then press Alt + X. Everywhere else, copy it.
- In a document, real superscript formatting beats the character. In Word, Google Docs or a web page, select the 0 and apply superscript (Ctrl + Shift + = in Word, Ctrl + . in Docs,
<sup>on the web). It scales with the font and stays editable. Save the ⁰ character for places that only accept plain text — a filename, a spreadsheet cell, a post, a URL.
(More on powers: squared & cubed.)
Other lookalikes worth knowing
° and º aren’t the only ring-shaped characters people confuse. If a character “looks right but behaves wrong”, it may be one of these:
| Glyph | Name | Unicode | What it’s actually for |
|---|---|---|---|
| ˚ | Ring above | U+02DA | A diacritic mark, as in Å — not a degree sign |
| ∘ | Ring operator | U+2218 | Function composition in maths (f ∘ g) |
| ○ | White circle | U+25CB | A geometric shape |
| 0 | Digit zero | U+0030 | The number zero |
| o / O | Letter o | U+006F / U+004F | The letter |
The ring above (˚) is the sneakiest of the group. It’s nearly identical to ° in most fonts, and some layouts and older software insert it by accident.
How to tell them apart
| If you see… | It’s probably… |
|---|---|
| A clean ring, high above the baseline, the same size in any font | ° degree sign |
| Something smaller, often underlined, sitting like a letter | º ordinal indicator |
| A digit-shaped 0 matching the height of ² and ³ | ⁰ superscript zero |
| A ring that belongs to a letter (Å) | ˚ ring above |
The one-line rule: ask what the character means, not what it looks like.
- Measurement → °
- Spanish/Portuguese/Italian ordinal → º
- Exponent → ⁰
Why the mix-up happens
Spanish and Portuguese are the only keyboard layouts with a dedicated key for the ordinal indicator: º unshifted, ª on Shift. On the Spanish (Spain) layout that key sits to the left of the 1, where a US keyboard puts the backtick. Typing the degree sign on that layout takes a modifier combination; typing º takes one keystroke.
So 25ºC gets typed thousands of times a day by people who aren’t being careless. They’re being efficient with the key under their finger.
Phone keyboards add a second route: on Spanish and Portuguese mobile layouts, º and ª sit in the long-press menus of the letter keys, close to where the number layer offers °. And autocorrect can carry the error forward once it’s in your text.
None of that makes 25ºC correct. It just explains why you keep seeing it.
Does the difference actually matter?
Yes — and not just to typographers. The three characters have different code points, so every piece of software that compares text treats them as different characters. Worse, when software does normalise them, it doesn’t normalise them the same way: under Unicode compatibility normalisation (NFKC), º collapses to a plain letter “o” and ⁰ collapses to a plain digit “0”, while ° is left untouched. So depending on which system touches your text, 25ºC either stays as an odd character or silently becomes 25oC.
Concrete places this bites:
- Spreadsheets. A column mixing 25°C and 25ºC won’t group, filter or COUNTIF as one value. Lookups miss. Pivot tables split one category into two.
- Find & Replace. Searching for °C silently skips every ºC in the document. You’ll think you’ve fixed everything.
- Search and databases. A product listed at 180ºC may not surface for someone searching 180°C — and if the index normalises, it may be stored as “180oC” instead.
- CSVs and imports. Scripts that parse temperature strings choke on the unexpected character, or wave it through as dirty data.
- Screen readers. ° is a symbol and º is a letter, so they fall under different rules: whether ° is announced at all depends on the reader’s punctuation/symbol verbosity level, while º is simply folded into the word being read. Testing across NVDA, JAWS and VoiceOver shows symbol pronunciation is inconsistent at the best of times — so don’t rely on a lookalike carrying your meaning.
The fix is boring and cheap: use the character you mean.
How to type each one
Windows
| Glyph | Method |
|---|---|
| ° | Alt + 0176 (numeric keypad, Num Lock on) |
| º | Alt + 0186 |
| ª | Alt + 0170 |
| ⁰ | No Alt code — use the Word method below, or copy it |
No numeric keypad? Press Windows key + . for the emoji and symbol panel and search “degree”, or open Character Map (charmap). More fixes: why Alt codes don’t work.
Mac
| Glyph | Method |
|---|---|
| ° | Shift + Option + 8 |
| º | Option + 0 (zero) |
| ª | Option + 9 |
| ⁰ | No shortcut — copy it, or use the Character Viewer |
Open the Character Viewer with Ctrl + Cmd + Space and search “degree” or “superscript zero”.
iPhone & iPad
- Tap 123 for the number keyboard.
- Press and hold the 0 key. The degree sign appears in the pop-up — slide onto it and release.
- º and ª appear on the long-press menus of the letter keys on the Spanish and Portuguese layouts.
- ⁰ isn’t on the keyboard. Copy it, or add a Text Replacement (Settings → General → Keyboard → Text Replacement).
Android
On Gboard, tap ?123, then either long-press the 0 key or tap =< for the second symbols page — the degree sign is on both. On the Samsung keyboard, tap Sym. For º and ª, add the Spanish or Portuguese layout. For ⁰, copy it or add a personal dictionary shortcut.
Chromebook
ChromeOS has no Alt codes. Use the Unicode shortcut:
- Press Ctrl + Shift + U — an underlined u appears.
- Type the hex code: b0 for °, ba for º, aa for ª, 2070 for ⁰.
- Press Enter or Space.
It doesn’t work in every field — notably inside Google Docs, where you should use Insert → Special characters instead. Full guide: type any symbol on a Chromebook. On Linux the same Ctrl + Shift + U sequence works wherever the IBus input method is active, which covers most GNOME apps but not all.
Microsoft Word
| Glyph | Method |
|---|---|
| ° | Ctrl + @, then Space — Word’s built-in degree shortcut. Or type 00b0 and press Alt + X |
| º | Type 00ba → Alt + X |
| ª | Type 00aa → Alt + X |
| ⁰ | Type 2070 → Alt + X |
Alt + X is Windows-only, and only in Word and Outlook — it does nothing in Excel, PowerPoint, Word on the web, or Word for Mac. On a Mac, use the system shortcuts above or the Character Viewer.
Excel & Google Sheets
| Goal | Formula |
|---|---|
| Degree sign | =UNICHAR(176) |
| Masculine ordinal | =UNICHAR(186) |
| Feminine ordinal | =UNICHAR(170) |
| Superscript zero | =UNICHAR(8304) |
Wrap it into text like this: ="25"&UNICHAR(176)&"C" → 25°C
In Excel there’s a better move for temperature columns: give the cells the custom number format 0"°C". The cell stays a real number — so it still sorts, filters and averages — while displaying as 25°C. Storing “25°C” as text is what breaks your pivot tables in the first place.
Google Docs
Insert → Special characters, then search “degree”, “ordinal” or “superscript zero”. For exponents, use real superscript instead: select the character and press Ctrl + . (Cmd + . on Mac).
HTML & CSS
| Glyph | HTML entity | Numeric | CSS escape |
|---|---|---|---|
| ° | ° | ° | \00B0 |
| º | º | º | \00BA |
| ª | ª | ª | \00AA |
| ⁰ | (no named entity) | ⁰ | \2070 |
For exponents in HTML, prefer real markup: 10<sup>0</sup>.
LaTeX
- Degree:
$25^\circ$C, or\textdegree(textcomp) /\degree(gensymb) - Superscript zero:
$10^0$— maths mode handles it; no special character needed
Examples in context
| Correct | Wrong | Why |
|---|---|---|
| 25°C | 25ºC | Temperature needs the degree sign |
| A 45° angle | A 45º angle | Angles need the degree sign |
| 41°N, 2°E | 41ºN, 2ºE | Coordinates need the degree sign |
| 1º premio | 1° premio | Spanish ordinal needs the ordinal indicator |
| nº 12 | n° 12 | Abbreviation of número — ordinal indicator |
| 1ª planta | 1º planta | Feminine ordinal has its own character (ª) |
| 10⁰ = 1 | 10º = 1 | Exponent needs the superscript zero |
Troubleshooting
| Problem | Fix |
|---|---|
| I typed 25ºC across a whole document | Open Find & Replace (Ctrl + H; Cmd + Shift + H on Mac) and search for ºC and ºF specifically, not a bare º. A bare º will also destroy genuine ordinals like 1º and nº. |
| My ⁰ won’t type with an Alt code | It has none. Alt codes only reach the legacy 0–255 range, and ⁰ is U+2070. Use Word’s 2070 → Alt + X, or copy it from the box above. |
| ⁰ shows as an empty box (□ ▯) | The font has no glyph for U+2070. The character is correct — it just can’t be drawn. Switch to a broad-coverage font (Arial, Segoe UI, DejaVu Sans, Noto Sans), or use real superscript formatting. |
| ° and º look identical in my font | Many fonts barely distinguish them. Only the code point tells you the truth — paste it into the Symbol Identifier. |
| My spreadsheet won’t group temperature values | The column almost certainly holds both ° and º. Replace ºC → °C, then re-check. Better still, store the number and use the custom format 0"°C". |
| Autocorrect keeps swapping the character back | Remove the rule. Windows: File → Options → Proofing → AutoCorrect Options. Mac: Word → Preferences → AutoCorrect. On a phone, check Text Replacement / personal dictionary. |
| Alt + X does nothing | You’re not in Word or Outlook on Windows. It doesn’t exist anywhere else. |
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the difference between ° and º?
The degree sign (°) is used for temperatures and angles, such as 25°C or 90°. The masculine ordinal indicator (º) is a small raised letter used in Spanish and Portuguese ordinals and abbreviations, such as 1º and nº.
Which symbol do I use for temperature?
Use the degree sign (°), as in 25°C. Writing 25ºC uses the masculine ordinal indicator, which is technically incorrect for temperatures.
What is º used for?
The masculine ordinal indicator (º) is used in Spanish and Portuguese to indicate masculine ordinal numbers and certain abbreviations, such as 1º (first) and nº (number). The feminine equivalent is ª, as in 1ª.
What is the superscript zero (⁰) for?
The superscript zero (⁰) is a raised digit used primarily in mathematical expressions, such as 10⁰. It belongs to the superscript number set: ⁰ ¹ ² ³.
How do I type the degree sign versus the ordinal?
For the degree sign (°):
Windows: Alt + 0176
Mac: Shift + Option + 8
For the masculine ordinal indicator (º):
Windows: Alt + 0186
Mac: Option + 0
Why did I get º instead of ° when typing 25ºC?
Some Spanish keyboard layouts and autocorrect settings make it easy to insert the masculine ordinal indicator (º). For temperatures and angles, replace it with the degree sign (°), which is the correct symbol.
Recap
| You mean… | Use | Windows | Mac |
|---|---|---|---|
| Temperature, angle, coordinate | ° | Alt + 0176 | Shift + Option + 8 |
| Spanish/Portuguese/Italian ordinal | º | Alt + 0186 | Option + 0 |
| Exponent in plain text | ⁰ | 2070 → Alt + X (Word) | Copy it |
Written by Igor R. Tested on Windows 11, macOS, and in Microsoft 365. Last updated June 2026. Code points follow the Unicode Standard.