google sheets is a free web application that has made creating and sharing papers online much easier for students and office staff.
While it offers so many amazing features to make work fun and less stressful, sometimes people get stuck with simple tasks like inserting a degree symbol in google sheets.
Although there is no direct and easy way to insert a degree symbol in google sheets, it can be done easily.
In this step-by-step guide, I’ll show you some easy ways to insert a degree symbol in Google Spreadsheets.
let’s dive in!
use the keyboard shortcut: alt + 0176
Although there is no key on the keyboard to directly insert the degree symbol, there is a simple keyboard shortcut to do so.
These are the steps to insert a degree symbol in google sheets using a keyboard shortcut:
- First, select the cell where you want to insert the degree symbol.
- Press f2 or double-click the cell to activate edit mode.
- hold down the alt key and then press 0176 from the number pad.
pro tip: once you’ve used this keyboard shortcut to insert a degree symbol in your google spreadsheet, you won’t have to repeat the steps every time you need to add the symbol. you can simply copy the symbol and paste it into a specific cell(s).
copy and paste the degree symbol
Perhaps the easiest way to insert a degree symbol into a google spreadsheet is to copy and paste it.
These are the steps you need to follow:
- Copy the degree symbol which is already available in your google sheet or just copy it from a web page on the internet.
- Double click on the specific cell where you want to insert it.
- paste the symbol.
below is the degree symbol that you can copy and paste into a google sheets cell:
insert degree symbol using char formula
google sheets has a char function that can be used to quickly get a symbol by providing its ascii code.
and in the case of a degree symbol, that code is 176.
so you can use the following formula to get the degree symbol in a cell in google sheets:
Below are the steps to use this formula to get degree symbol in google sheets:
- simply double-click the cell where you want to insert the symbol.
- type =char(176) and then press the enter key. the formula will automatically be converted to a degree symbol.
The best thing about this trick is that you can use the char formula with other formulas or text strings to add the degree symbol to it.
for example, if you want to type 15° into a cell, you can simply use the following formula:
In addition to this, you can combine the char formula with a cell reference.
for example, if you have typed 15 in cell a1 and you want to convert it to 15°, you can simply use this formula:
you will get 15° in the cell as a result.
use character map
unlike microsoft excel, google spreadsheets do not allow you to insert symbols directly from within the document.
the only way to insert special characters in your google sheets document is by copying the degree symbol from your operating system’s character map,
for windows operating system
Below are the steps to insert degree symbol in google sheets using charmmap when using windows operating system:
- Double-click on the cell where you want to insert the degree symbol.
- To open the character map, simply go to Start > All programs > Accessories > System Tools > Character Map
- Click on the ‘Advanced view’ checkbox.
- Choose the font style of your choice. You can also change this later in the Google Sheets
- Find the degree symbol and then double-click on it. You can easily spot it in the sixth row of the character map window.
- Press ‘copy’ at the bottom right of the window to copy the symbol to the clipboard.
- Return to your Google sheet and paste the symbol by pressing CTRL + V or right-click then paste into the specific cell.
for mac or linux operating system
Below are the steps to insert a degree symbol in google sheets using charmmap when using a mac or linux operating system:
- find a list of special characters online.
- find the degree symbol in the list and copy it to the clipboard.
- open your google spreadsheet and double-click the cell where you want to insert the symbol.
- paste the symbol into the cell.
These are four easy ways to insert a degree symbol into a google spreadsheet and make your job easier!
I hope you found this step-by-step guide helpful.
If you know of any other way to insert a degree symbol in google sheets, please let me know in the comments section below.
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