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Unicode Characters for Text Shortcuts

Find out how to insert combinations of scientific and math symbols fast with an iOS Shortcut – read my blog post about it

Further to my blog post about typing scientific notation and other symbols natively on the iOS keyboard below are some common Unicode characters for you to copy into your device\'s text replacement fields. I have compiled a lot of characters that would be useful to scientists and mathematicians, for example Unicode superscript and subscript characters (of note superscript plus, superscript minus, superscript divide or slash) and a range of useful Unicode mathematical operators.

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Symbols below are followed by an example iOS text replacement shortcut (where I’ve made one).

(Scroll down further for lists of symbols without example shortcuts.)
If you have a Mac I highly recommend aText which harnesses the text shortcuts you set up on any device on your iCloud account and makes them much more reliable on macOS.

Useful Superscript Unicode Characters
UnicodeShortcutUnicodeShortcut
^0^5
¹^1^6
²^2^7
³^3^8
^4^9
Superscript Unicode Numerals
UnicodeShortcut
^+
^-
^/
ˢᵗ or ˢᵀ^st
ⁿᵈ or ᴺᴰ^nd
ʳᵈ or ᴿᴰ^rd
ᵗʰ or ᵀᴴ^th
Superscript Unicode Modifiers and Combinations

(I prefer the capitalised versions of number suffixes in which only the "s" and "t" are of different sizes in some apps)

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Useful Subscript Unicode Characters
UnicodeShortcutUnicodeShortcut
,0,5
,1,6
,2,7
,3,8
,4,9
Subscript Unicode Numerals
UnicodeShortcut
ₘₐₓ[max]
,/
,+
,-
,=
,(
,)
Subscript Unicode Characters and Combinations
Numbers & Fractions
UnicodeShortcutUnicodeShortcut
¼1/4(1)
½1/2(2)
¾3/4(3)
1/3(4)
2/3(5)
Unicode Numbers and Fractions
Math Symbols and Arrows
UnicodeShortcutUnicodeShortcut
×x or xx#infinite
÷#/#approx
±+_^…
#prop->
#sqrt<-
!=|^
θtheta|v
=>↕︎^|v
integral<=>
̅#baṙ#dot
¯#macron
Unicode Math Symbols and Arrows

The macron, overline (or bar) and dot directly above are combining symbols, so if you type it after a character (no space, like this V#dot or x#bar) it will insert a macron or dot over the character (e.g. V̇ and x̄).

Miscellanous Useful and Awesome Unicodes for you
UnicodeShortcutUnicodeShortcut
#tick or ///#eject
#cross#cmd
#nuke#esc
#degC#option
#degF#ctrl
aapl#ret
#btc
#scissors
#back<=>
#del
Miscellaneous Unicode Characters

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Greek
α alpha or greeka
β beta or greekb
γ gamma or greekg
θ theta
λ lambda
μ mu
π pi
ρ rho
τ tau
σ sigma
δ delta
φ phi
ω omega
Ω Omega
Δ Delta

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Just the Unicode symbols without suggested "shortcuts"

Superscripts
⁺ ⁻ ᐟ
⁰ ¹ ² ³ ⁴ ⁵ ⁶ ⁷ ⁸ ⁹ ⁽ ⁾

ᵃ ᵇ ᶜ ᵈ ᵉ ᶠ ᵍ ʰ ⁱ ʲ ᵏ ˡ ᵐ ⁿ ᵒ ᵖ ʳ ˢ ᵗ ᵘ ᵛ ʷ ˣ ʸ ᶻ
ᴬ ᴮ ᴰ ᴱ ᴳ ᴴ ᴵ ᴶ ᴷ ᴸ ᴹ ᴺ ᴼ ᴾ ᴿ ˢ ᵀ ᵁ ⱽ ᵂ
Subscripts
₀ ₁ ₂ ₃ ₄ ₅ ₆ ₇ ₈ ₉ ₊ ₋ ⸝

ₘₐₓ ₖ ₚ ₗ ₛ ₜ ₕ ₑ ₒ

Numbers
¼ ½ ¾ ⅓
① ② ③ ④ ⑤

Math Symbols
× ÷ ± ∞ ∝ √≠ ≈ ∼ ⇒ ∴ ∫

Arrows
➝ ← ↑ ↓ ⇔ ↕︎

Miscellaneous
✓ ✘ ☢ ℃ ℉  ₿✂ ⌫ ⌦ ⏏ ⌘ ⎋ ⏎ ⌥ ⌃ ␛ ␡ ̄ ̇

Greek
α β γ θ λ μ π ρ τ σ δ φ ω Ω Δ