The at sign, @, is normally read aloud as “at”; it is also commonly called the at symbol, commercial at, or address sign. @ | How to Type At Symbol On Keyboard (Windows & Mac)It is used as an accounting and invoice abbreviation meaning “at a rate of” (e.g. 7 widgets @ £2 per widget = £14), but it is now seen more widely in email addresses and social media platform handles.
The absence of a single English word for the symbol has prompted some writers to use the French arobase or Spanish and Portuguese arroba, or to coin new words such as ampersat and asperand, or the (visual) onomatopoeia strudel, but none of these have achieved wide use.
Although not included on the keyboard of the earliest commercially successful typewriters, it was on at least one 1889 model and the very successful Underwood models from the “Underwood No. 5” in 1900 onward. It started to be used in email addresses in the 1970s, and is now routinely included on most types of computer keyboards.
| At sign | |
|---|---|
| In Unicode | U+0040 @ COMMERCIAL AT (@) |
| Related | |
| See also | U+FF20 ＠ FULLWIDTH COMMERCIAL AT U+FE6B ﹫ SMALL COMMERCIAL AT |
Using the At Key on the Keyboard
Using the At key is one of the easiest ways you can type this symbol on the keyboard.
This At key is located on the upper far-right side of nearly all computer keyboards, immediately after the One (1) key, before the three (3) key, and directly above the Q and W keys.
The At key is highlighted in yellow in the keyboard image below. The At key is the same on both Windows and Mac keyboards.
Keyboard mappings using a PC keyboard on a Macintosh
Therefore, to type the At symbol on the keyboard, press Shift + 2 simultaneously.
At Symbol Alt Code Shortcut (MS Word for Windows)
The Alt Code shortcut for the At Symbol is Alt + 64. To type with this method, press and hold one of the Alt keys on your keyboard while using the numeric keypad to enter the Alt code, then release the Alt key.
This method works only in Windows, and it requires that your keyboard have a separate numeric keypad with Num Lock enabled.
On Windows, alt codes like this are used to type symbols or characters that are not available on the keyboard.
This method is extremely beneficial because it saves a significant amount of time when trying to type special characters like At.
The following are the detailed steps you can take to type these At symbols on Windows using the Alt Code keyboard shortcut:
- Open your Word document where the symbol is to be typed.
- The cursor should be positioned in the desired location.
- Press and hold on to one of your Alt Keys.
- As you hold down the Alt key, use the numeric keypad on the right to type the At Alt code (64)
- Release the alt key after typing the code.
As soon as you let go of the Alt key, the At symbol will appear.
The following rules must be followed in order for the At Alt Code to work.
- Before typing the code, you must hold down the Alt key.
- To type the alt code, you must use the numeric keypad on the right side of the keyboard.
- The NumLock must be enabled because you are using the 10-key numeric keypad. When you turn off NumLock, the number keys become disabled, and you won’t be able to type any numbers.
- If you’re using a laptop that doesn’t have a numeric keypad, you’ll need to activate the hidden numeric keypad first. On most laptops, you can turn it on by pressing the Fn + NmLk keys at the same time. A hidden numeric keypad isn’t found on every laptop. If it doesn’t appear in yours, you won’t be able to type symbols using the alt code method unless you connect an external keyboard with a numeric keypad or use the on-screen keyboard. Yet still, you can use the other methods discussed in this guide.
- You should also be aware that, depending on the text editor you’re using, not all symbols can be typed with the alt code. Only Microsoft Word recognizes some of the alt codes.
Insert At Symbol on Mac
You can also obtain the At symbol on Mac using either the keyboard or the Character Viewer.
The Character Viewer is a place on Mac where you can add special characters and symbols to text, such as math symbols, Latin characters, and pictographs.
Obey the following steps to insert this (@) and any other symbol on Mac.
- To type the At (@) symbol on Mac, simultaneously press Shift + 2 on your Mac keyboard.
Alternatively, obey the below instructions
- Place your cursor in the text area where you need to insert the symbol.
- Press Control + Command + Space bar to bring up the Character Viewer. Alternatively, choose Edit > Emoji & Symbols.
- Type (Commercial At) in the search field at the top and press Enter.
- The symbol should appear. Kindly click on it to insert it into your text.
These are the steps you may use to insert this and any other symbol on Mac using the Character Viewer.
Shortcut to type At Sign in Microsoft Word
MS Word shortcut to type the At symbol is 0040, Alt + X.
To use this shortcut, open your Microsoft Word document, position the insertion pointer where you want to type the At symbol, and then follow the simple instructions below:
- Simply type 0040.
- Then press Alt plus X simultaneously.
- If it doesn’t work, highlight the code before pressing the Alt and X keys simultaneously.
When you press Alt + X after typing the Unicode, the symbol appears in place of the Unicode.
Insert At Symbol from the Office Symbol Library
If using the keyboard isn’t your thing, there’s also a mouse-based method for getting the At symbol in Office apps like Microsoft Word, Excel, or PowerPoint.
To explain the steps, we’ll use screenshots of Microsoft Word. You can, however, use the same method in Excel and PowerPoint.
Without further ado, here are the steps to take:
- Launch MS Word or Excel or PowerPoint.
- Place your cursor at the desired place.
- Navigate to the Insert tab.
- Click the Symbols button in the Symbols group, then select More Symbols from the drop-down menu.
Copy and Paste At Symbol
This is by far the simplest way to obtain any symbol, including the At sign.
You simply need to copy the symbol somewhere, such as a web page, and then press Ctrl + V after switching to the document where you need it.
If you want to copy the symbol, you can do so below.
@
If you have a Windows PC, the steps below will show you how to copy this symbol from the Character Map.
- Search and Launch the Character Map app.
- Near the button, select the Advance View checkbox to expand more Character map options.
INTRODUCTION
When you use a Windows (PC) keyboard on a Macintosh computer, the keyboard shortcuts that you use map to different keys. In particular, the primary key that is used in keyboard shortcuts in combination with other keys is frequently different. The following are the primary key substitutions on the Windows keyboard, and their Macintosh equivalents.
| Windows | Macintosh |
|---|---|
| CONTROL | COMMAND (for most shortcuts) or CONTROL |
| ALT | OPTION |
| Windows/Start | COMMAND/Apple |
| BACKSPACE | DELETE |
| DELETE | DEL |
| SHIFT | SHIFT |
| ENTER | RETURN |
More Information
The following are typical Windows keyboard shortcuts and their Macintosh equivalents that apply to the operating system.
System Shortcuts
| Action | Windows | Macintosh |
|---|---|---|
| Backward delete | BACKSPACE | DELETE |
| Capture whole screen to Clipboard | PRINT SCREEN | COMMAND+CONTROL+SHIFT+3 |
| Capture front most window | ALT+PRINT SCREEN | COMMAND+SHIFT+3 |
| Close active window | CONTROL+W | COMMAND+W |
| Copy a file/folder | CONTROL+ drag icon | OPTION+ drag icon |
| Copy to Clipboard | CONTROL+C | COMMAND+C |
| Create an alias or shortcut | Mouse right-click, then select Create Shortcut | Select item, then COMMAND+L |
| Delete to Clipboard | CONTROL+X | COMMAND+X |
| Exit a dialog box without changes | ESC | ESC |
| Find/Search | CONTROL+F | COMMAND+F |
| Force exit from unresponsive application | CONTROL+ALT+DELETE | COMMAND+OPTION+ESC |
| Forward delete | DELETE | DEL (Mac notebooks: Function (fn)+DELETE) |
| View item information or properties | ALT+ENTER | COMMAND+I |
| Log off Current User | Windows logo key +L | COMMAND+SHIFT+Q |
| Maximize window | CONTROL+F10 | CONTROL+F3, then UP ARROW or DOWN ARROW to select minimized windows on Dock, then ENTER |
| Minimize windows | Windows logo key +M | COMMAND+M |
| New folder | CONTROL+N | COMMAND+SHIFT+N |
| Open file | CONTROL+O | COMMAND+O |
| Paste Clipboard content | CONTROL+V | COMMAND+V |
| CONTROL+P | COMMAND+P | |
| Exit/quit program | ALT+F4 | COMMAND+Q |
| Rename file/folder | Select item, then F2 | Select item, then ENTER |
| Save file | CONTROL+S | COMMAND+S |
| Select all items | CONTROL+A | COMMAND+A |
| Select more than one item in a list (noncontiguous) | CONTROL, then click each item | COMMAND, then click each item |
| Send items to Recycle Bin/Trash | Select items, then DELETE | Select items, then COMMAND+DELETE |
| Send/receive e-mail | CONTROL+K | COMMAND+K |
| Shut down | Windows logo key +U+U | COMMAND+OPTION+CONTROL+Eject key |
| Switch to next window | CONTROL + F6 | COMMAND+~ (tilde) |
| Switch to previous window | CONTROL+SHIFT+F6 | COMMAND+SHIFT+~ (tilde) |
| Toggle through open applications | ALT+TAB | COMMAND+TAB |
| Type special characters | ALT+ character key | OPTION+ character key |
| Undo | CONTROL+Z | COMMAND+Z |
Microsoft Office / iWork
The following are typical Windows keyboard shortcuts and their Macintosh equivalents that are specific to the Microsoft Office and Apple iWork office suites.
| Action | Windows | Macintosh |
|---|---|---|
| All Caps | CONTROL+SHIFT+A | COMMAND+SHIFT+A |
| Bold | CONTROL+B | COMMAND+B |
| Extend selection word left | CONTROL+SHIFT+LEFT ARROW | OPTION+SHIFT+LEFT ARROW |
| Extend selection word right | CONTROL+SHIFT+RIGHT ARROW | OPTION+SHIFT+RIGHT ARROW |
| Font menu | CONTROL+D | COMMAND+D (Office) or COMMAND+T (iWork) |
| Italic | CONTROL+I | COMMAND+I |
| Move to beginning of current or previous word | CONTROL+LEFT ARROW | OPTION+LEFT ARROW |
| Move to end of current or next word | CONTROL+RIGHT ARROW | OPTION+RIGHT ARROW |
| Move to end of current line | CONTROL+END | OPTION+END |
| New document, new e-mail message, and so on | CONTROL+N | COMMAND+N |
| Underline | CONTROL+U | COMMAND+U |
Windows Internet Explorer / Safari Shortcuts
The following are typical Windows keyboard shortcuts and their Macintosh equivalents that are specific to the Microsoft Internet Explorer and Apple Safari Web browsers.
| Action | Windows | Macintosh |
|---|---|---|
| Back | ALT+LEFT ARROW or BACKSPACE | COMMAND+LEFT ARROW or DELETE |
| Find word/phrase on a page | CTRL+F | COMMAND+F |
| Forward | ALT+RIGHT ARROW or SHIFT+BACKSPACE | COMMAND+RIGHT ARROW or SHIFT+DELETE |
| Browse to home page | ALT+HOME | COMMAND+SHIFT+H |
| Open new browser window | CTRL+N | COMMAND+N |
| Open new tab | CTRL+T | COMMAND+T |
| Print page | CTRL+P | COMMAND+P |
| Refresh Web page | CTRL+R | COMMAND+R |
| Switch to next tab | CTRL+TAB | COMMAND+} (right brace) |
| Switch to previous tab | CTRL+SHIFT+TAB | COMMAND+{ (left brace) |
| Toggle full screen | F11 | None |
| Increase text size | CTRL+PLUS SIGN (+) | COMMAND+PLUS SIGN (+) |
| Reduce text size | CTRL+MINUS SIGN (-) | COMMAND+MINUS SIGN (-) |
