How to Type the Copyright Symbol on Your Computer

The first use of copyright symbols dates back as far as the 1800s. According to the law then, it only used to apply to graphical, pictorial, and sculptural works. Only at the beginning of the 1900s was the copyright symbol or abbreviations were applicable for written intellectual properties.

Well, the symbol still holds its meaning even in 2021. Content creators all around the world use the copyright symbol to add a flair to their intellectual properties. With the use case so wide and the symbol so easily identifiable, the special character still does not have its place on the QWERTY keyboard layout.

If you have been longing for a quick fix to address this issue. You have just been served with what you have been waiting for.

Copying the Symbol from the Web

Alright people, hold your horses. We do know this is the most basic thing to do and most of you might be using it as well, but the keyword here is ‘most of you’. Also, since it is the most basic way to use the copyright symbol. We thought to get it right off the bat.

Search for ‘copyright symbol’ from your preferred choice of browser.

Now, whilst holding the secondary click on your trackpad or mouse, drag the cursor across the copyright symbol to select it. Now, press command+C (if you are on a macOS device) or press ctrl+C (if you are on a Windows Device) and paste it as per your requirement.

The Copyright sign is also available in Unicode as an emoji. You can find it from any good emoji search engine such as Emojipedia or What Emoji and copy/paste the Copyright emoji from there.

A screenshot of the Copyright Emoji page from whatemoji.org

Type the Copyright Symbol on macOS Devices

There are numerous ways to type the copyright symbol in macOS, and we are going to list down each and every way for you. So let’s get started.

Using Character Viewer in Menu Bar

macOS has a built-in character map so that you don’t have to go hunting on the Internet to add a special character to your writing piece.

Open ‘System Preferences’ from the dock or Launchpad on your macOS device.

Next, click on the ‘Keyboard’ preferences from the available options.

Now, click on the checkbox preceding the ‘Show keyboard and emoji viewer in menu bar’ option.

Now, click on the ‘Emoji Viewer’ icon present in the left section of the menu bar and click on the ‘Show Emoji & Symbols’ option

Note: To bring up the Emoji Viewer, you can also press control+command+space on your keyboard.

After that, click on the ‘Letterlike Symbols’ from the toolbar present at the bottom of the ‘Emoji Viewer’ pane. Next, click on the ‘Copyright symbol’ to insert.

click on the copyright symbol to type the copyright symbol

Using a Custom Text Shortcut

macOS allows you to create custom text shortcuts, which use a pre-defined set of letters arranged by the user to easily type in wherever required. Thus, making this option superior to both ways mentioned above as this one doesn’t require you to copy+paste or always search for a symbol from a list.

First, open ‘System Preferences’ from the dock or the Launchpad on your macOS device.

Next, click on the ‘Keyboard’ preferences from the available options.

Now, move to the ‘Text’ tab.

After that, and click on the ‘+’ option from the left bottom corner of the pane. You can copy and paste the copyright symbol from the web in the ‘With’ section of the window, and give an appropriate key combination to trigger the shortcut.

type the copyright symbol by creating a custom keyboard shortcut

Using an In-built Shortcut

You read it right, there is an in-built shortcut to paste the copyright symbol on Mac. The very next thing that pops up in your mind would be on which app this shortcut works? Well, on every app!

To paste the copyright symbol without summoning the Character Viewer or making any keyboard shortcuts. Simply press option+G, and that’s it. The copyright symbol will be at your service right then and there.

type the copyright symbol using the in built shortcut for mac

Type the Copyright Symbol on Windows Devices

There’s not as much going over in Windows as compared to macOS for the copyright symbol. Though, let’s see what Windows has in its bag of tricks.

Using Alt-Code

To insert the copyright symbol using Windows Alt-Codes, press Alt+0169, using the numeric pad present on your keyboard. This will insert the symbol at the current cursor location.

Note: Please remember Alt-codes only work with numbers entered from a numeric pad. If your computer does not have a numeric pad, this might not work for you.

type the copyright symbol using alt code for windows

Using Character Map

Go to search box present in the Windows taskbar and type ‘Character Map’. The search box will be located at the left bottom corner of your screen.

Now, click to open the ‘Character Map’ from the search results.

After that, click on the checkbox preceding the ‘Advance View’ option. Next, type ‘copyright’ in the ‘Search for:’ option and hit the ‘Search’ button to locate the copyright symbol.

search for copyright symbol in the character map

Once located, tap on the ‘Select’ to confirm selection and then click on the ‘Copy’ button to copy your selection. After that, you can paste the symbol as per your requirement.