This blog post has several methods you can use to insert or make the ae Symbol or ae Sign (Æ or æ) anywhere like Microsoft Word or Excel, whether you are using the Windows or the Mac keyboard. You’ll learn all the easy methods including the Alt code shortcut.
Without wasting much time, let’s get started.
Quick Guide for typing the ae symbol (æ or Æ)
To type the ae Symbol anywhere on your PC or Laptop keyboard (like in MS Word or Excel), press [Option] + [ ‘ ] shortcut for Mac, and if you are using Windows, simply press down the Alt key and type 0198 (for uppercase Æ)or 0230 (for lowercase æ) using the numeric keypad of your keyboard.
However, to type the ae sign or symbol in Microsoft Word, press Ctrl + & , A. You may need to press the shift key in addition before you can get the & to function. So, the final keystrokes will rather be Ctrl + Shift + &, A. Alternatively, just type 00C6 and then press Alt + X to get the symbol.
The table below contains everything you need to know to be able to type this symbol on both Windows and Mac.
| Symbol Name | ae |
| Symbol | æ or Æ |
| Alt Code | 0198 (for Æ) or 0230 (for æ) |
| Windows Shortcut | Alt + 0198 (for Æ) or 0230 (for æ) |
| Shortcut for Mac | [Option] + [ ‘ ] |
| 1st Shortcut in Word | Ctrl + & , A |
| 2nd Shortcut in Word | 00C6, Alt X |
Whether you are using Windows or Mac, the above information is enough for you to write the ae sign into your Word/Excel document.
However, if you are not satisfied with this quick help, keep reading below as I will explain in detail, how to get the ae symbol or any other symbol anywhere on your Mac or Windows PC like in MS Word/Excel/PowerPoint.
As you may already know, there are several dual-purpose keys on the Windows or Mac keyboard. That is to say that there are symbols readily available as second keys on the keyboard. Just by pressing two or more keys simultaneously, you can easily insert such symbols into your work. For instance, pressing Shift + 4 keys give you the dollar ($) sign.
However, other symbols aren’t printed on the keyboard as second keys. This makes it difficult to type. One of these symbols is the ae symbol (æ or Æ).
Typing becomes very difficult for you if you need to add some of these symbols regularly into your work.
But it doesn’t have to be difficult. Especially now that you are reading this step-by-step guide.
How to Insert ae symbol in Word/Excel
In the following sections, I will show you all the easy ways to type or insert this symbol (æ or Æ) anywhere on your Windows or Mac PC (such as Word or Excel or PowerPoint).
In a couple of minutes, I’ll explain several methods you can use to get this (æ or Æ) and any other symbol as and when the need arises.
As a quick guide, press Ctrl + & , A on your keyboard to type the Æ or ae symbol in Microsoft Word. This shortcut works in MS Word only. For Windows users outside MS Word, press down the Alt key and type 0198 (for uppercase Æ) or 0230 (for lowercase æ) on your numeric keypad. You can also press [Option] + [ ‘ ] on Mac.
However, without any further ado, below are the methods explained into details.
Method 1: ae Symbol Shortcuts (Windows and Mac)
The ae Symbol Shortcut for Mac is [Option] + [ ‘ ].
Windows has several shortcuts, some of which works only in Microsoft Word.
However, there’s a Windows shortcut for the ae Sign that works across all applications. It is the alt code shortcut which is Alt+0198 (for Æ) or 0230 (for æ) (will be discussed in the next section).
The ae Symbol shortcut for Microsoft Word is Ctrl + & , A or 00C6, Alt X.
These shortcuts work in Microsoft Word Only.
To use the ae symbol shortcut on Windows (for Word), obey the following instructions:
- Place the insertion pointer in the right place.
- Press Ctrl + & simultaneously and then press the A key. This shortcut will insert the ae Symbol for you. To press Ctrl + &, you need to press down the Shift key as well to be able to access the ‘&’ part of the shortcut. Thus, the final shortcut should be Ctrl + Shift + &, then A.
- Alternatively, type 00C6 on your keyboard, then press Alt + X. This will convert the numbers into the ae symbol at where you place the insertion pointer.
Below is a breakdown on how to use the ae symbol shortcut for Mac:
- First of all, place the insertion pointer where you need to insert the symbol.
- Now, using the Mac keyboard, Press [Option] + [ ‘ ] simultaneously.
This shortcut should insert the symbol for you on your Mac PC.
In the next section, I’ll show you how to use the ae Symbol Alt Code to type the symbol on your keyboard.
Method 2: ae Symbol Alt Code (Windows)
The ae Symbol Alt Code is 0198 (for Æ) or 0230 (for æ).
Every symbol in Word has a unique code that you can use to insert the symbol into your document. This code is well known as “Alt code”.
Below are the steps to type this symbol on your keyboard (using the Alt code provided above:
- Press the Num Lock key to enable the numeric keypad. Use Fn + NumLk keys to turn on Num Lock on laptops without the numeric keypad.
- Press and hold the Alt key and type 0198 (for Æ) or 0230 (for æ) using the numeric keypad.
- After typing the Alt code (i.e. 0198 – for Æ or 0230 – for æ), release the [Alt] key you pressed down.
As soon as you release the Alt Key, the ae (æ or Æ) symbol should appear in your document.
Method 3: Copy and paste ae symbol
Use the button below to copy and paste the ae symbol for your work.
My favorite method for inserting symbols I can’t easily type is copy and paste.
With this method, all you need to do is google the symbol you need to type, then copy it from one of the search results provided. Once you get the symbol into your document, you can always recopy and paste it as and when the need arises.
Use the button above to get this symbol on your clipboard.
There is another way to copy this and any other symbol on Windows. It involved using the Windows Character Map.
Obey the steps below to copy and paste any symbol using the character map.
- Search for the Character map app by clicking on the Start button.
- The Character map app will show up in the search results. Click on it to launch.
- After the Character Map window opens up, click to check the Advance View checkbox to expand the window for more advanced options.
- On the Advanced View section, type ae in the search box.
- The symbol you searched for (i.e. the ae symbols) will now appear on the Character map. Double click on it to select it. You’ll see that the symbol appears in the Characters to copy text box. This allows you to select and copy several symbols at the same time.
- After selecting the symbol, you wish to copy, click on the Copy button.
- Switch over to wherever you need the symbol, whether in MS Word, Excel, or PowerPoint and press Ctrl + V to paste.
This is how you may copy and paste the ae sign using the Character Map on Windows.
Method 4: Using Insert Symbol Dialog
This approach isn’t as straight forward as the shortcut methods. But it’s fairly simple.
And once you get the symbol into your document, you can always copy and paste it again as and when you need it in your work.
Below are the steps to insert the ae Sign in Word using the insert symbol dialog.
- Go to the Insert tab.
- On the Insert tab, click the Symbol button and choose More Symbols…
These few clicks will bring up the Symbol dialog box.
- Locate the Symbol you want to insert.
To easily find the ae symbol on the Symbols window, look at the top right area of the dialog and select Latin-1 Supplement in the Subset: drop-down list. The ae symbol you want to insert is in this category and should appear.
- Select the symbol, and then click on the Insert button.
Alternatively, double-clicking on the symbol will also insert the symbol into your document.
- Click the Close button.
This is how you may insert a ae symbol in Word using the insert symbol dialog.
Method 5: Word’s AutoCorrect for the ae Sign
You can also type the ae Symbol using the AutoCorrect feature in Word.
It is a feature in MS Word designed for correcting spelling mistakes like thsi to this.
Using this AutoCorrect Feature, you can assign a short code to the ae symbol (such as AES).
This way, whenever you type the text AES, Word will think that you actually wanted to type æ or Æ and will convert it into the ae symbol for you automatically.
See illustration below:
What makes this method interesting is that you can assign your own custom shortcut or shortcode to the symbol and Word will automatically insert the symbol whenever you type the code.
Without further ado, below are the steps you can use to type ae symbol in Word using AutoCorrect.
- Go to the Insert tab.
- On the Insert tab, go to Symbol and then click More Symbols… The Symbol windows will appear.
- Locate the ae symbol, then click to select it.
- Click on the AutoCorrect… button to display the AutoCorrect window.
- In the AutoCorrect dialog box, enter the following:
Replace: AES
With: æ or Æ
- Click Add, and hit the OK button.
Now, word will automatically insert the ae symbol into your document whenever you type AES.
However, below are some few things to note when you are using the AutoCorrect Method to insert the ae sign.
- AutoCorrect is case sensitive. Meaning if you type aes (in lowercase), Word will not convert it into the ae sign unless you type AES (in uppercase).
- If there is any text before or after the AutoCorrect text, Word will consider the AutoCorrect text as part of the text and hence will not convert it to the ae symbol. For example, XAES will not get converted, but X AES will get converted to X æ.
Conclusion
As you can see, these are the various ways you may insert or type the ae symbol in Word/Excel with or without using the keyboard.
My favorite method is using the copy and paste method followed by the ae symbol shortcut in Word for both Windows and Mac. The Alt Code method also comes simple.
For any comments or questions about this ae sign guide, please let me know in the comments section below.
Thanks for stepping by.