# - How to Type Hash or Number Sign on Keyboard

In today’s article, you’ll learn about all the available methods and shortcuts you can use to type the Hash or Number Sign on your keyboard, whether you are using Windows or Mac, and whether you are working with Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint or in your browser.

Without any further ado, let’s get started.

But before we begin, you can also use the button below to easily copy and paste the Number Sign for free.

Below is an image of a keyboard showing where the Number Sign key is located.

Indicating where the number sign is located on the keyboard

However, if copy and paste aren’t what you are looking for, and you cannot also find or type the Hash symbol key on your keyboard, continue reading below on how you can type the Number Sign using some shortcuts.

Table of Contents

Number Sign [#] Quick Help

To type the Number Sign on your keyboard, press and hold the Alt key and type the Number Sign alt code which is 35 on the numeric keypad, then release the alt key. Alternatively, press on your keyboard, Shift + 3 for both Mac and Windows.

Symbol Name	Number Sign
Symbol	#
Alt Code	35
Windows/Mac shortcut	Shift + 3
Windows Alt Code Shortcut	Alt + 35

The above quick guide provides some useful information about the Number Symbol including shortcuts and alt codes you can use on both Windows and Mac. However, below are some other methods you can also leverage to insert this symbol into your Word document.

5 ways to type the Hash (or Number Symbol) on Keyboard

Microsoft Office provides several methods for typing or inserting symbols that do not have dedicated keys on the keyboard.

In this section, I will make available for you five different methods you can utilise to type or insert the Number Symbol in Word, Excel, PowerPoint, or any text editor for both Mac and Windows users.

Without any further ado, let’s get started.

1. Using the Number Sign key on the keyboard

Where is the Hash or Number Symbol key on the Keyboard?

On most keyboards, the Number Symbol key is located on the same key as the 3 key. Pressing this key gives you 3. Thus, in order to type this symbol, press down the shift key before you press on the 3 key.

2. Using the Hash Symbol Alt Code (Windows Only)

The Hash or Number Symbol alt code is 35.

Even though this symbol has a dedicated key on most English keyboards, you can also use the Alt Numpad Input Method (AKA Alt Code Method) to type this symbol. This can be done by pressing and holding the Alt key whilst typing the Number Symbol Alt code (35) using the numeric keypad.

This method is for Windows only. And your keyboard must also have a numeric keypad.

If you don’t still get it, just obey the following instructions to type the Number Symbol using the alt code method:

Place your insertion pointer where you need the symbol.
Press and hold the Alt key on your keyboard.
Whilst holding on to the Alt key, press the symbol’s alt code (35). You must use the numeric keypad to type the alt code. If you are using a laptop without the numeric keypad, this method may not work for you. On some laptops, there’s a hidden numeric keypad which you can enable by pressing Fn+NmLk keystrokes on the keyboard.
Release the Alt key after typing the Alt code to insert the Symbol into your document.

This is how you may type this symbol in anywhere on your Windows PC using the Alt Code method.

3. Using the Number Sign Shortcut (Mac and Windows)

The keyboard shortcut for the Number Symbol for Mac is Shift + 3. This same shortcut also works for Windows users, or use the Alt Code method by pressing down the alt key and typing the alt code of 35 on the numeric keypad.

To type the Hash symbol with a shortcut, obey the instructions below:

First of all, place the insertion pointer where you need to type the Number Symbol.
For both Windows and Mac, press and hold the Shift key and hit once on the [3] (Three) key.
For windows users, press and hold the alt key and type 35 on the number pad.

These are the steps you may use to type this symbol in Word, Excel or PowerPoint.

4. Copy and Paste the Hash symbol

Another easy way to get the Number Symbol on any PC is to use my favorite method: copy and paste.

All you have to do is to copy the symbol from somewhere like a web page or the character map for windows users, and head over to where you need the symbol (say in Word or Excel), then hit Ctrl+V to paste.

Below is the symbol for you to copy and paste into your document. Just select it and press Ctrl+C to copy, switch over to your text editor, place your insertion pointer at the desired location and press Ctrl+V to paste.

For windows users, you may also obey the following instructions to copy and paste this [#] and any other symbol using the character map dialog box.

Click on the Start button and search for Character Map. The Character Map app will appear in the search results, click on it to open.

The Character Map dialog will appear. Click on the Advanced view checkbox to expand the dialog box for more options.

Check the Advanced view checkbox to expand the dialog

On the advanced view, type Number Sign in the Search box. This is the official name for the Hash Symbol.
You should now see only the Hash symbol on the character map dialog. Double click on the symbol to select it. Alternatively, click on the Select button.
After you select the symbol by double-clicking on it, it should appear in the Character to copy: field, then click on the Copy button to copy the symbol.

Switch to your Microsoft Word document, place the insertion pointer at the desired location, and press Ctrl+V to paste.

This is how you may use the Character Map dialog to copy and paste any symbol on Windows PC.

5. Using insert Symbol dialog box

The insert symbol dialog box is a library of symbols from where you can insert any symbol into your Word document with just a couple of mouse clicks.

Obey the following steps to insert the Number Symbol in Word using the insert symbol dialog box.

Open your Word docum#ent.
Click to place the insertion pointer where you wish to insert the symbol.
Go to the Insert tab.

In the Symbols category, click on the Symbol drop-down and select the More Symbols button.

The Symbol dialog box will appear. In the Subset drop-down list, select Basic Latin to display symbols in that category which includes the Number Symbol.
Select the symbol and click on the Insert button. Alternatively, double click on the symbol to insert it into your Word document.

Close the dialog.

The symbol will then be inserted exactly where you place the insertion pointer in the beginning.

These are the steps you may use to insert the Number Symbol in Word or Excel or PowerPoint using the Symbol library.

Conclusion

As you can see, there are several different methods you can use to type the Hash or Number Symbol on keyboard.

Using the shortcuts for both Windows and Mac make the fastest option for this task. Shortcuts are always fast and save time.

Thank you very much for reading this blog.

If you have any suggestion or question to ask about this article, please drop it in the comments below.

# – How to Type Hash or Number Sign on Keyboard