The ASCII decimal code for this same symbol is Alt+ 106, but that code and both the Unicode and ASCII Hex codes (006A plus Alt+ X displays the Latin lowercase letter “j.” This means some symbols (especially the downloaded ones) may only be available through the Insert > Symbol commands on the Ribbon menus. But notice that some of the new symbols also have letters in the codes such as the Hex ASCII code (aka Unicode) 006A, which is supposed to display a decorative heart from a downloaded symbol font called “KR All About the Heart.” Notice that all of the Alt codes in the charts above are represented by numbers for example, the White Queen is Alt+ 9813. Notice that many of the 9,000-level symbols are repeats of the original set (1 thru 255).

Start with 1,000 and try some random numbers through 10,078. The Alt+ codes extend out five digits, so if you can’t find the symbol you’re looking for, play around with the numbers and see what you get. That’s why so many users get discouraged when looking for the British pound symbol £ (Alt+ 0163) and end up with the lowercase Latin letter acute accent ú (Alt+ 163)-which is also found at Alt+ 0250. In fact, Alt+ 1 through Alt+ 31 (without the preceding zeroes) are icon symbols (such as happy faces, card suits, astrology icons, etc.) and 176 through 223 are graphic lines and polygons. But the coolest of all are the graphics and icon symbols. In addition to the keyboard characters, you’ll find decimal codes for Greek and Latin letters, accent letters, pronunciation symbols over the alphabet, and mathematical symbols, such as the division and square root operators, the accent grave and circumflex symbols, plus worldwide currency symbols, and more.

For example, Alt+ 0251 = û (the Latin small letter u with circumflex symbol above it) while Alt+ 251 = √ (the square root sign)-and so forth until you reach 256, which is the same as 0256 (both produce the pronunciation symbol for an uppercase ‘long’ A that is, Ā). You can test this yourself by entering both versions of these numbers. Somewhere around the decimal code 256, the preceding zero is no longer necessary.

Microsoft word symbol list not complete