How to Access Special Characters in Your Mac Fonts
As a Mac user, you know how important it is to have access to a wide range of special characters. These characters are essential for creating new symbols, adding accents, and incorporating other unique symbols into your documents or graphic designs. In this article, we will guide you on how to access special characters in your Mac Fonts.
1.Use the Character Viewer
The easiest way to access special characters in your Mac Fonts is by using the Character Viewer. This is a built-in feature of your Mac, and it provides easy access to a wide range of characters. To open the Character Viewer, follow these steps:
– Click on the Edit menu in any application where you want to insert a special character.
– Click on the Special Characters option at the bottom of the Edit menu.
– A side window will appear with a list of categories (such as Emoji, Symbols, Arrows, etc.) on the left side, and the corresponding characters on the right side.
– Click on any category to display the characters in that category.
– Double-click on any character to insert it into your document.
2.Use Keyboard Shortcuts
Another way to access special characters on your Mac is by using keyboard shortcuts. However, this method works best if you frequently use a particular character. You can use keyboard shortcuts to enter special characters in two ways:
– Unicode Hex Input: In this method, you enter a unique code combination to access the desired character. To use this method, follow these steps:
– Go to System Preferences > Keyboard > Input Sources.
– Click on the “+” button to add a new input source.
– Search for “Unicode Hex Input” and select it.
– Once added, you can switch to this input source by clicking on the Input Menu (with the flag icon) on the right side of the menu bar and selecting Unicode Hex Input.
– To enter a special character, hold down the Option key and type the Unicode hex code (for example, Option + 2318 for the Command symbol).
– PopChar: PopChar is a third-party app that allows you to access all special characters in your Mac Fonts. It runs in the background and provides easy access to a wide range of characters, including emoji, symbols, and other accents. To use PopChar, follow these steps:
– Visit the PopChar website and download the app.
– Install and launch the app.
– Click on the PopChar icon in the menu bar to open its window.
– Use the search bar to find the desired character or browse through the categories.
– Double-click on any character to insert it into your document.
3.Customize Keyboard Shortcuts
The last method to access special characters in your Mac Fonts is by customizing your keyboard shortcuts. This method is useful if you frequently use a particular character that does not have a built-in keyboard shortcut or if you want to use a different shortcut. To customize keyboard shortcuts, follow these steps:
– Go to System Preferences > Keyboard > Shortcuts.
– Select App Shortcuts from the left menu.
– Click on the “+” button to add a new shortcut.
– In the Application field, select the app where you want to use the shortcut.
– In the Menu Title field, type the name of the special character. For example, if you want to insert the © symbol, type “Copyright” (without quotes).
– In the Keyboard Shortcut field, type the shortcut you want to use. For example, if you want to use Option + C, type “Option-C” (without quotes).
– Click on Add to save the shortcut.