Pound Sign
U+00A3Latin-1 Supplement
Also known as pound sterling signBritish poundGBP signpound
Copy and paste £. The Pound Sign character has Unicode code point U+00A3 and decimal HTML code £.
Symbol codes
- Unicode
U+00A3- Alt Code
Alt+0163- HTML Code
£- CSS Code
\A3- HTML Entity
£- HEX Code
£
Technical properties
Unicode 18.0.0
- Code point
- U+00A3
- Decimal
- 163
- Unicode name
- POUND SIGN
- Block
- Latin-1 Supplement · U+0080–U+00FF
- General category
- Currency Symbol (Sc)
- Script
- Common
- Introduced
- Unicode 1.1
- JavaScript
- "\u00A3"
Appears in
About Pound Sign
£ is encoded in Unicode as code point U+00A3 (decimal 163). Its official Unicode name is POUND SIGN.
It belongs to the Latin-1 Supplement block (U+0080–U+00FF), its General Category is Currency Symbol (Sc), and it was added in Unicode 1.1, released in 1993. Its script value is Common: it is shared across writing systems rather than belonging to one.
Sources: Unicode Character Database 18.0.0, the HTML Standard’s list of named character references, and Unicode’s code page mappings.
How to type or insert Pound Sign
- Any device
- Select Copy symbol, then paste with Ctrl+V, or ⌘+V on a Mac.
- Windows Alt code
- With Num Lock on, hold Alt, type 0163 on the numeric keypad, then release Alt.
- Microsoft Word
- Type
00A3, then press Alt+X. - Mac keyboard
- Option+3 on the U.S. keyboard layout.
- macOS Character Viewer
- Press Control+⌘+Space and search for “pound sign”.
- iPhone keyboard
- On the numbers and symbols keyboard, touch and hold $, then slide to £.
- Linux (GTK and IBus)
- Press Ctrl+Shift+U, type
00a3, then press Space. - HTML
£or£. In a UTF-8 page you can also paste the character itself.- CSS
content: "\A3";in a::beforeor::afterrule.- JavaScript
"\u00A3"
Common questions about Pound Sign
What is the Pound Sign?
£ (Pound Sign) is a currency symbol in Unicode’s Latin-1 Supplement block. Its code point is U+00A3, and it has been part of the standard since Unicode 1.1 (1993). It is also known as pound sterling sign, British pound, GBP sign, and pound.
How do I copy and paste the Pound Sign?
Select Copy symbol at the top of this page, then paste with Ctrl+V on Windows and Linux or ⌘+V on a Mac. On a phone, tap Copy symbol, then touch and hold where you want it and choose Paste. £ pastes as ordinary text, so it works in documents, messages, and code.
How do I type the Pound Sign on Windows?
Turn on Num Lock, hold Alt, type 0163 on the numeric keypad, then release Alt. In Microsoft Word, type 00A3 and press Alt+X to turn the code into £. In any app, open Character Map from the Start menu, search for “pound sign”, then select and copy the character.
How do I type the Pound Sign on a Mac?
Press Option+3 (U.S. keyboard layout). Press Control+⌘+Space to open the Character Viewer, search for “pound sign”, and double-click the result to insert it.
How do I type the Pound Sign on an iPhone or Android phone?
On an iPhone, open the numbers and symbols keyboard, touch and hold $, then slide to £. The simplest way is to copy it from this page and paste it where you need it. If you use it often, save it as a text shortcut: on iPhone, go to Settings > General > Keyboard > Text Replacement; with Gboard on Android, go to Gboard settings > Dictionary > Personal dictionary.
Can I use the Pound Sign in Word, Google Docs, and social media?
Yes. £ is a standard Unicode character, so you can paste it into Microsoft Word, Google Docs, emails, and posts or bios on Instagram, X, Facebook, and TikTok. In Google Docs you can also choose Insert > Special characters and search for “pound sign”. In Word, choose Insert > Symbol > More Symbols, set from to Unicode (hex), and enter 00A3 as the character code.
Is the Pound Sign an emoji?
No. £ is a text symbol, not an emoji. It takes the color and size of the surrounding text, and its exact shape depends on the font.
Why does the Pound Sign show as a box or question mark?
An empty box or a question mark means the font on that device has no glyph for £. The character is still there: it appears correctly wherever a font covers Unicode’s Latin-1 Supplement block, and free font families such as Google Noto cover nearly all of Unicode.
What are the HTML and CSS codes for the Pound Sign?
In HTML, write £ (decimal) or £ (hexadecimal), or the named entity £. In CSS, use content: "\A3"; in a ::before or ::after rule, and in JavaScript "\u00A3". See all HTML codes.