The Character Palette is a Mac OS X tool for inserting symbols into any application. Now when you type × into a Word document it will automatically be replaced with ×. Click the thumbnail below for a screenshot. Press the Add button and then the OK button. click in the field and press Command ⌘ and v at the same time).

In the “With:” field paste the multiplication symbol you copied earlier (i.e. I use ×, because it’s very similar to how you insert symbols in HTML (the language for writing web pages) which I am familiar with. In the “Replace:” field type an uncommon phrase that will be replaced with the multiplication symbol. Make sure “Replace text as you type” is selected. First, you will need to use the previous method to insert a multiplication symbol into a new document. I’ll use the multiplication symbol as an example. Have you noticed how Word automagically corrects common spelling mistakes? That’s called AutoCorrect, and I think this might be the best way to insert commonly used symbols that don’t have a keyboard shortcut. This is the quickest way I can find to insert a multiplication symbol without using more complex methods described below. Clicking a symbol here will insert it into your documents. Then, select the copyright symbol (©) which takes you to a palette of symbols.

The second one is the Object Palette (click thumbnail below for a larger view). At the top there are tabs for various parts of the Toolbox. In Word 2008 for Mac (I think the previous version has this as well) open the Toolbox. See the download below for a cheat sheet with more shortcuts. Or a combination of the Option/Alt key and the Shift key (⇧).įor example, the division symbol (÷) is ⌥ and /. On the Mac, there are a few keyboard shortcuts by pressing and holding the Option/Alt key (⌥) whilst pressing another character on the keyboard. The multiplication symbol, for one, is not accessible by a keyboard shortcut. Unfortunately the Mac is not as nice as a Windows machine for inserting symbols using the keyboard (rather than the mouse) which I prefer as it’s quicker.

As I’ve been a Mac user for a year, it’s time to make a similar post for Mac users. In that post, I gave shortcuts for inserting mathematical symbols into Word – the post was specific to the Windows version of Word. My previous post, Maths symbols in Word is one of the most popular on this site. Please see the updated post Mathematical Symbols in Word for Mac for a screencast describing the current best method (in my opinion).Ĭreating a maths worksheet in Microsoft Word without using the proper symbols does not present well – I’m sure you’ve seen 2 * 2 = 4 or 2 × 2 = 4 rather than 2 × 2 = 4. Some of the methods in this article do not work in Microsot Word for Mac 2011.

Alt mac shortcuts symbols