How to Type the Pound Sign (£) on a US Keyboard

The British pound symbol (£) isn’t printed on a US keyboard, but every major device has a built-in way to type it without changing your hardware. Here’s every reliable method.

Quick answer

Windows: Alt code

1. Make sure Num Lock is on.
2. Hold down Alt.
3. On the numeric keypad, type 0163.
4. Release Alt. The £ symbol appears.

This works in most Windows apps, including Word, Notepad, and browsers, because 0163 is the Windows-1252 code page position for £. Leaving off the leading zero (Alt+163) can produce a different character in some older DOS-era apps using the CP437 code page, so always include the zero for £. (The classic code Alt+156 also gives £.)

Windows emoji and symbol panel

Press Windows key + period (.) or Windows key + semicolon (;) to open the emoji panel, then click the Omega (Ω) symbols tab and search or scroll to find £. This works even on laptops without a numeric keypad.

Mac: Option shortcut

Press Option+3 to type £ directly. This works in nearly every Mac app, including Safari, Mail, and Pages.

If that ever fails, open Character Viewer: press Control+Command+Space, type “pound” in the search box, and double-click the £ symbol to insert it.

iPhone and iPad

1. Tap the keyboard to bring it up in any app.
2. Press and hold the $ key.
3. A small popup shows other currency symbols, including £, €, and ¥.
4. Slide your finger to £ and release.

If your keyboard language is already set to English (UK), the $ key may show £ by default. You can add this keyboard in Settings > General > Keyboard > Keyboards > Add New Keyboard.

Android

Most Android keyboards (Gboard, Samsung Keyboard) work the same way as iOS:

1. Open the keyboard.
2. Long-press the $ key or the currency symbol key.
3. Choose £ from the popup row.

If no popup appears, switch your keyboard’s region to United Kingdom in your keyboard app’s language settings, which puts £ on the main row.

Microsoft Word

Word supports several methods:

• Alt+0163 works the same as in Windows generally.
• Type 00A3, then immediately press Alt+X. Word converts the hex code into £. This also works with other Unicode hex values above 255, which plain Alt codes cannot reach outside Word.
• Go to Insert > Symbol > More Symbols, select the (normal text) font, and look for £ in the Latin-1 Supplement block, or type 00A3 in the character code box with “Unicode (hex)” selected.

Google Docs

On Windows, Alt+0163 works in Google Docs too, because Alt codes are handled by Windows rather than by the app. You can also use the menu:

1. Click Insert > Special characters.
2. Type “pound” or “£” in the search box.
3. Click the symbol to insert it at your cursor.

You can also just copy £ from this page and paste it directly into your document.

Excel and Google Sheets

In Excel, use a formula to insert the symbol into a cell:

=CHAR(163)
=UNICHAR(163)

Both return £. CHAR works with the Windows-1252 code page; UNICHAR is more reliable across regional Excel settings since it uses the actual Unicode code point.

In Google Sheets, use:

=CHAR(163)

This returns £ directly, since Sheets uses Unicode code points for CHAR.

HTML, CSS, and JavaScript

For web pages, use one of these HTML entities inside your markup:

£
£
£

All three render as £ in any modern browser.

In CSS, to insert £ as generated content:

content: "\00A3";

In JavaScript, you can build the character from its Unicode code point:

String.fromCharCode(163)

The US “pound sign” is different

In American English, “pound sign” usually refers to the # symbol (also called the hash or number sign), not the currency symbol. If someone asks you to “type the pound sign” on a US phone or keyboard, confirm whether they mean # or £. The # key is printed directly on every US keyboard and phone keypad, while £ requires one of the methods above.

Troubleshooting

Alt+0163 does nothing. Your keyboard may lack a physical numeric keypad. Laptops often have a hidden numpad activated by Fn+NumLk; check your function key row. Alternatively, use the Windows emoji panel (Win+.) instead.

£ shows as a box or question mark. The font you’re using doesn’t include that glyph. Switch to a common system font like Arial, Calibri, or Segoe UI, which all support £.

Alt+163 (no leading zero) gives the wrong symbol. You triggered the CP437 code page instead of Windows-1252. Always use Alt+0163 with the leading zero for the correct currency symbol.

Pasting £ turns into a question mark in old software. This usually means the app or file encoding isn’t Unicode or Windows-1252 compatible. Save or export the file as UTF-8 if the option is available.

Frequently asked questions