Greek letters · U+03B2

βBeta symbol

β is the Beta character. It is text, not a picture — it takes the colour of the type around it and pastes into anything.

How to type it
Unicode
U+03B2
Alt code
Alt+946
HTML
β
Unicode name
Greek Small Letter Beta
U+03B2Your font
β

01 — Origin

Where the Beta symbol comes from

Beta is the second Greek letter, and nearly all of its uses descend from that one fact: the second thing, the one after alpha. Software borrowed it from IBM’s 1950s testing terminology, where the A test was internal and the B test went to customers.

Beta coefficient in finance, beta particles in physics, beta blockers in medicine, and beta releases everywhere. In statistics it names the probability of a type II error, opposite to alpha.

Worth knowing
The German ß is a different character with a different sound and different sorting, despite looking near-identical in many fonts. Substituting one for the other breaks search.

02 — Codes

Beta symbol codes

Copy whichever form your tool expects. The character behind them does not change.

03 — How to type

How to type β on any keyboard

Pick the route that matches the program in front of you.

Windows
Hold Alt and type 946 on the numeric keypad, then release. Without a keypad, use the Character Map app (search “charmap”).
Mac
Press Control + Command + Space to open the character viewer, then search “beta”. Double-click to insert.
Phone
There is no shortcut on a phone keyboard. Tap the symbol at the top of this page, then long-press in any text field and choose Paste.
Web and code
In HTML write β or β. In CSS content: "\03B2". Make sure the page is served as UTF-8 and the raw character works too.

04 — Font support

Will β actually show up?

We checked 147 fonts installed on a normal machine and counted how many of them contain this character. A symbol missing from a font is drawn as an empty box — the text is still correct, it just cannot be drawn.

86% 126 of 147 fonts

Safe in most places. Common fonts have it. Older or decorative fonts sometimes do not, so a fallback font will kick in.

05 — Similar

Symbols people confuse with β

Close enough to be mistaken for it, and still a different code point every time.

α Greek Small Letter AlphaU+3B1 · has its own page

06 — Related

Other Greek letters used as symbols

Relatives of this character. Each has its own page with origin, typing and font coverage.

Δ Delta symbolIn 86% of system fonts λ Lambda symbolIn 86% of system fonts Σ Sigma symbolIn 86% of system fonts Ω Omega symbolIn 86% of system fonts α Alpha symbolIn 86% of system fonts

07 — Same block

Greek letters

Alpha to omega, the alphabet science borrowed.

All greek letters →

08 — FAQ

Beta symbol — questions

How do I type the Beta symbol?
On Windows hold Alt and type 946 on the numeric keypad. On Mac open the character viewer with Control + Command + Space and search “Beta”. Or just tap the symbol on this page — it goes straight to your clipboard.
What is the HTML code for β?
Write it as β or β in HTML, \03B2 in CSS content, and \u03B2 in JavaScript. All four produce the same character.
Is β an emoji?
No. β is a text character — it takes the colour of the text around it and works in usernames, filenames and documents. An emoji is replaced by a colour picture and is sometimes stripped by forms and systems.
Why does β show as a box on some devices?
Because that font has no drawing for this character. We checked 147 fonts on a normal machine and 126 of them include it. The character itself is always correct; only the drawing is missing.