αβγ Greek Letter Symbols

How to Type Greek Letters on Any Keyboard

Every way to type α, β, Σ, Ω and the rest — on Windows, Mac, Microsoft Word, Google Docs, phones, Linux, LaTeX and in code. If you only need a character once, it is quicker to copy and paste it.

Windows

1. The emoji and symbol panel (any app)

Press Win + . or Win + ;, click the Ω Symbols tab, then pick the Greek category. Works in Windows 10 and 11, in every app.

2. The Greek keyboard (best for frequent typing)

Settings → Time & language → Language & region → Add a language → Greek, then switch layouts with Win + Space. Keys map as in the layout table below.

3. Character Map

Run charmap, tick “Advanced view”, set “Group by” to Unicode Subrange → Greek, select a letter and press Copy.

Greek Alt codes (and the traps)

Hold Alt and type the number on the numeric keypad with Num Lock on (the number row above the letters does not work). Only these characters have classic Alt codes — and three of them are look-alikes, not Greek letters:

Alt codeCharacterWhat it really is
Alt + 224 Small Alpha (U+03B1)
Alt + 225 or Alt + 0223 German sharp s — not β (U+00DF)
Alt + 226 Capital Gamma (U+0393)
Alt + 227 Small Pi (U+03C0)
Alt + 228 Capital Sigma (U+03A3)
Alt + 229 Small Sigma (U+03C3)
Alt + 230 or Alt + 0181 Micro sign — not the letter μ (U+00B5)
Alt + 231 Small Tau (U+03C4)
Alt + 232 Capital Phi (U+03A6)
Alt + 233 Capital Theta (U+0398)
Alt + 234 Capital Omega (U+03A9)
Alt + 235 Small Delta (U+03B4)
Alt + 237 Small Phi (U+03C6)
Alt + 238 Small Epsilon (U+03B5)

The Alt-code traps: Alt + 225 is often listed as “beta” but types the German ß; Alt + 230 and Alt + 0181 type the micro sign µ, not the letter μ. Large “Unicode Alt codes” such as Alt + 945 only work in a few programs (WordPad and some rich-text editors); in most apps they produce a different character entirely.

Microsoft Word, Google Docs and Office

Word: Alt + X

Type the hex code, then press Alt + X — Word replaces the code with the character. It also works in reverse: put the cursor after a Greek letter and press Alt + X to see its code.

LetterLowercaseWord codeUppercaseWord code
Alpha α 03B1 Α 0391
Beta β 03B2 Β 0392
Gamma γ 03B3 Γ 0393
Delta δ 03B4 Δ 0394
Epsilon ε 03B5 Ε 0395
Zeta ζ 03B6 Ζ 0396
Eta η 03B7 Η 0397
Theta θ 03B8 Θ 0398
Iota ι 03B9 Ι 0399
Kappa κ 03BA Κ 039A
Lambda λ 03BB Λ 039B
Mu μ 03BC Μ 039C
Nu ν 03BD Ν 039D
Xi ξ 03BE Ξ 039E
Omicron ο 03BF Ο 039F
Pi π 03C0 Π 03A0
Rho ρ 03C1 Ρ 03A1
Sigma σ 03C3 Σ 03A3
Tau τ 03C4 Τ 03A4
Upsilon υ 03C5 Υ 03A5
Phi φ 03C6 Φ 03A6
Chi χ 03C7 Χ 03A7
Psi ψ 03C8 Ψ 03A8
Omega ω 03C9 Ω 03A9
Final sigmaς03C2——

Word and PowerPoint equations

Press Alt + = to insert an equation, then type the LaTeX-style name followed by a space: \alpha → α, \Delta → Δ, \sum → ∑. The same “Math AutoCorrect” names work in OneNote.

Insert → Symbol

In any Office app: Insert → Symbol → More Symbols, choose font “(normal text)” and subset Greek and Coptic.

Google Docs and Slides

Insert → Special characters, then search “alpha”, “sigma” and so on, or draw the letter in the box. In an equation (Insert → Equation), type \alpha and a space.

Mac

Option-key shortcuts (no setup needed)

The standard US/ABC layout has a handful of Greek-looking characters built in. Watch out — most of them are math symbols, not letters:

ShortcutCharacterWhat it really is
Option + M µ Micro sign — not the letter μ (U+00B5)
Option + S ß German sharp s — not β (U+00DF)
Option + Z Ω Capital Omega (U+03A9)
Option + P π Small Pi (U+03C0)
Option + D ∂ Partial derivative (U+2202)
Option + J ∆ Increment sign — not the letter Δ (U+2206)
Option + Shift + P ∏ Product sign — not the letter Π (U+220F)
Option + W ∑ Summation sign — not the letter Σ (U+2211)

The Greek keyboard

System Settings → Keyboard → Text Input → Edit → + → Greek. Switch with Ctrl + Space or the globe key, then type using the layout below. Turn on “Show Input menu in menu bar” to see which layout is active.

Character Viewer

Press Ctrl + Cmd + Space (or fn + E), search for the letter’s name, and double-click it.

Greek keyboard layout: which key types which letter

The standard Greek layout on Windows, Mac, iOS and Android puts each letter on its closest Latin key. The surprising ones are θ on U, ξ on J, ψ on C, ω on V and final ς on W.

KeyTypesShift + keyLetter
A α Α Alpha
B β Β Beta
C ψ Ψ Psi
D δ Δ Delta
E ε Ε Epsilon
F φ Φ Phi
G γ Γ Gamma
H η Η Eta
I ι Ι Iota
J ξ Ξ Xi
K κ Κ Kappa
L λ Λ Lambda
M μ Μ Mu
N ν Ν Nu
O ο Ο Omicron
P π Π Pi
R ρ Ρ Rho
S σ Σ Sigma
T τ Τ Tau
U θ Θ Theta
V ω Ω Omega
X χ Χ Chi
Y υ Υ Upsilon
Z ζ Ζ Zeta
Wς—Final sigma

For accented vowels, press ; (the accent dead key) and then the vowel: ; A → ά.

iPhone, iPad and Android

  • iPhone / iPad: Settings → General → Keyboard → Keyboards → Add New Keyboard → Greek. Tap the globe key to switch. Long-press a vowel for accented forms.
  • Android (Gboard): Gboard settings → Languages → Add keyboard → Greek. Long-press the space bar or tap the globe to switch.
  • Samsung Keyboard: Settings → General management → Samsung Keyboard settings → Languages and types → Manage input languages → Greek.

Linux and ChromeOS

  • Unicode entry: press Ctrl + Shift + U, type the hex code (e.g. 3b1) and press Space or Enter. Works in GTK and IBus apps on GNOME, and on ChromeOS.
  • Greek layout: add “Greek” in Settings → Keyboard → Input Sources, or run setxkbmap -layout us,gr -option grp:alt_shift_toggle to switch with Alt + Shift.

LaTeX

All lowercase letters have a command (except omicron, which is just o). Only 11 capitals do; the other capitals are typed as Latin letters.

LetterLowercaseUppercase
Alpha Α α \alpha A (no command)
Beta Β β \beta B (no command)
Gamma Γ γ \gamma \Gamma
Delta Δ δ \delta \Delta
Epsilon Ε ε \varepsilon E (no command)
Zeta Ζ ζ \zeta Z (no command)
Eta Η η \eta H (no command)
Theta Θ θ \theta \Theta
Iota Ι ι \iota I (no command)
Kappa Κ κ \kappa K (no command)
Lambda Λ λ \lambda \Lambda
Mu Μ μ \mu M (no command)
Nu Ν ν \nu N (no command)
Xi Ξ ξ \xi \Xi
Omicron Ο ο o O (no command)
Pi Π π \pi \Pi
Rho Ρ ρ \rho P (no command)
Sigma Σ σ \sigma \Sigma
Tau Τ τ \tau T (no command)
Upsilon Υ υ \upsilon \Upsilon
Phi Φ φ \varphi \Phi
Chi Χ χ \chi X (no command)
Psi Ψ ψ \psi \Psi
Omega Ω ω \omega \Omega

Variant forms: \varepsilon ε vs \epsilon ϵ, \vartheta ϑ, \varpi ϖ, \varrho ϱ, \varsigma ς, \varphi φ vs \phi ϕ, and (amsmath) italic capitals such as \varGamma. For upright lowercase letters, load the upgreek package: \upmu, \uppi.

HTML, CSS, JavaScript and Python

  • HTML named entities: α … ω and Α … Ω exist for all 24 letters, plus ς for ς.
  • HTML numeric: α or α for α.
  • CSS: content: "\03B1";
  • JavaScript / JSON / Java / C#: "α"
  • Python: "α" or "\N{GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA}"

Every letter page lists all of these codes — for example the mu symbol, the omega symbol and the sigma symbol.

Frequently asked questions

How do I type Greek letters on Windows?

Press Win + . (Windows key and period), click the Symbols tab (Ω), then choose Greek. For frequent use, add the Greek keyboard in Settings → Time & language → Language & region and switch with Win + Space.

Is there an Alt code for every Greek letter?

No. Classic Alt codes come from the old DOS code page, which only had α Γ π Σ σ τ Φ Θ Ω δ φ ε — plus µ and ß, which look Greek but are not. For the rest, use Win + ., the Greek keyboard, or Word’s Alt + X.

How do I type Greek letters on a Mac?

Add the Greek keyboard (System Settings → Keyboard → Input Sources → +), switch with Ctrl + Space or the globe key, and type: A → α, B → β, G → γ and so on. Without it, Option + P types π and Option + Z types Ω, and the Character Viewer (Ctrl + Cmd + Space) has every letter.

How do I insert Greek letters in Microsoft Word?

Type the letter’s hex code and press Alt + X — for example 03B1 then Alt + X gives α. In an equation (Alt + =), type \alpha followed by a space. Or use Insert → Symbol → subset “Greek and Coptic”.

How do I type Greek letters in Google Docs?

Use Insert → Special characters and search for the letter name, or in an equation (Insert → Equation) type \alpha followed by a space.