How to insert symbols in Google Docs and Word

O Google Docs and Word have a very complete and easily accessible symbol map. But did you know that you can even draw to find a symbol you want to insert or that you can create a shortcut for that character that doesn't come out of your texts?

Read also AutoDraw, old technologies e carrier code.

Learn how to identify Google Docs and Word symbols and see how to go further with the special characters and symbols input screen in your favorite text editing tool.

Google Docs Symbols

The Special Characters window

To insert a special character in the Google Docs, first, in an already open document, click Insert > Special Characters.

The board Insert Characters specials is open. It is divided into three areas. In a counterclockwise direction, the first one concentrates categories of Symbols e special characters and its subcategories (in the image, the symbol category and the arrows subcategory are selected, for example), from where we can choose the specific item we want.

Just below, on the left, the second is the symbol and special characters visualization area, where we can visualize what we are looking for from the search results in the tool. To the side, on the right, the third space has two boxes, allowing us to search for the symbol we are looking for in two ways: above, by typing in the search bar, or below, by drawing in the large blank space that appears there.

Inserting a symbol with drawings

Step 1: Draw whatever character you want on this white square. Note that the results are filtered on the left, showing from most similar to least similar to what was drawn. Now just click on the symbol for it to be inserted into your document.

Step 2: Close the window and you will see that your symbol has been inserted.

Inserting a symbol per keyword

Another way to find the symbol you want is by searching by name, typing keywords that match the symbol.

Note that it is also possible to find the desired symbol by typing its Unicode code in the search field. In the Unicode standard – which is adopted worldwide to make it possible for all characters of all languages ​​to be represented on computers, ranging from English, Portuguese, Spanish, French to Russian, Japanese, Chinese, Hebrew and so on – each letter or symbol is represented by a code formed by the letter U + its number in hexadecimal.

In the Google Docs Insert Special Characters window, the code for each symbol appears written in gray, just below the graphic representation and the symbol name. For example, for the Green Apple symbol, its code in the Unicode standard is U+1F34F. When typing this code in the search box, the corresponding symbol appears.

Inserting a symbol by looking in categories like in Word

Step 1: Or, by pressing symbol at the top of the Insert Special Characters frame, you can choose from the various categories of special characters, ranging from Symbol to Han characters, from the Chinese writing system, and even emojis.

Step 2: When you select a category, its subcategories next to it can help you make a new symbol filter, always helping to refine the search for a more specific item. For example, in emojis, we can choose from people and emotions to symbols.

Microsoft Word Symbols

Inserting a Symbol

Step 1: With Microsoft word open, go to Insert > Symbol.

Note that a small window appears with the most used symbols. Below, the more symbols option can bring up other possibilities.

Step 2: The Symbols window opens. On the Symbols tab, there is a selection box for us to choose the font from which we want to extract the special character.

On the right, in the subset selection box, you can choose a specific item, ranging from currency symbols to mathematical operators, for example, depending on the font chosen in the first selection box.

Step 3: To insert the desired item, simply click on it to select it and click Insert.

Step 4: Ready! The symbol is inserted at the point where the cursor is in your document. Note that the window is not closed after adding the item, which can be useful in a situation where you need to enter more than one special character, for example.

Also in this window, at the bottom, the recently used symbols are shown, facilitating the search and access.

Note that the character code in the Unicode standard appears at the bottom. For example, for the Trade Mark™ symbol, its code is U+2122 and its number 2122 appears at the bottom when selected in the upper area, as the image shows. On the side, it is possible to switch between the different possible code patterns.

It is also very common to find ASCII code in this list, another that emerged to standardize that computers from different manufacturers could understand codes for alphanumeric characters (letters, signs, numbers and accents), because before 1960, each computer used a different rule to represent characters.

Creating your own shortcut

Each symbol has a keyboard shortcut that makes it easy to insert.

If you want, you can also change the default key combination and create your own shortcut for that symbol you use a lot.

Step 1: Click shortcut key

Step 2: Click the Press new shortcut key box. Think about what your shortcut will look like: what key combination would you like to use? Then press the keys you thought of. For example, the Trademark symbol has the shortcut Alt + Ctrl + R by default. To simplify and leave only the Alt + R keys, for example, just click on the box below Press the new shortcut key and type the commands.

Step 3: Click Assign.

Special Characters

The Symbols window has a tab called Special Characters. In it, you can find several special characters that are commonly used. Symbols are sorted in a list on this tab. To insert any of them, the procedure is the same: click on the desired symbol and press insert.

Special characters also have shortcuts and to assign a new sequence of shortcut keys, the procedure is the same: just click on Shortcut key and repeat the same steps above to change the shortcut.

What did you think of the tips for managing the symbols of the GoogleDocs and Word? Will you apply them? Share with us in the comments.

sources: ecosystem e Addictive Tips.