How do I type the Micro symbol µ?

On Windows hold Alt and type 181. In HTML use µ. Or copy it from this page in one tap.

µ Micro Symbol — Copy and Paste, Alt Code

01 — Origin

Where the Micro symbol comes from

Micro is the Greek letter mu, chosen as the SI prefix for one millionth because m was already taken by milli. Unicode carries two nearly identical characters for it: the micro sign inherited from Latin-1 and the Greek letter itself, kept separate purely for round-trip compatibility with older encodings.

µm, µs, µF — micrometres, microseconds, microfarads. Also µC in chemistry and, informally, as a stand-in for “micro” in product names.

Worth knowing

Search engines and databases treat µ and μ as different characters, so a search for one will sometimes miss the other. When it matters, use the Greek letter.

02 — Codes

Micro symbol codes

Tap any value to copy it. All of them produce the same character — they just belong to different places.

03 — How to type

How to type µ on any keyboard

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

Windows

Hold Alt and type 181 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 “micro”. 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 µ or µ. In CSS content: "\00B5". Make sure the page is served as UTF-8 and the raw character works too.

04 — Font support

Will µ 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.

95% 140 of 147 fonts

Safe everywhere. This one is in almost every font ever installed, including the defaults on Windows, Mac and Android.

05 — Similar

Symbols people confuse with µ

These look alike but are different characters — different codes, different fonts, sometimes different meaning.

° Degree SignU+B0 · has its own page

06 — Related

Other mathematical symbols

Symbols from the same family, each with its own page: where it came from, how to type it and how well fonts support it.

° Degree symbolIn 97% of system fonts ∞ Infinity symbolIn 89% of system fonts √ Square root symbolIn 89% of system fonts ∫ Integral symbolIn 89% of system fonts ≠ Not equal symbolIn 89% of system fonts ≈ Approximately equal symbolIn 89% of system fonts

07 — Same block

Punctuation

Dashes, quotes, bullets, daggers and the marks between them.

All punctuation →

08 — FAQ

Micro symbol — questions

How do I type the Micro symbol?

On Windows hold Alt and type 181 on the numeric keypad. On Mac open the character viewer with Control + Command + Space and search “Micro”. Or just tap the symbol on this page — it goes straight to your clipboard.

What is the HTML code for µ?

Write it as µ or µ in HTML, \00B5 in CSS content, and \u00B5 in JavaScript. All four produce the same character.

Is µ an emoji?

No. µ 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 µ 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 140 of them include it. The character itself is always correct; only the drawing is missing.

µMicro symbol