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How to Type the Delta Symbol (Δ) in Word/Excel

Use the button below to copy and paste the delta symbol into your work:




Related Article: How to Insert Delta Symbol in Google Sheets

However, if you want to type this symbol on your keyboard, keep reading.

And if you prefer a video, we have one for you.

Quick Help to Insert Delta sign in Word

The table below contains the Delta symbol you can copy and paste into your Word or Excel document. It also has the Alt code as well as the keyboard shortcut.

NameDelta
Uppercase Delta SymbolΔ
Lowercase Delta Symbolδ
Uppercase Delta Alt Code30
Lowercase Delta Alt Code235
Shortcut (Word)0394, Alt+X
Shortcut (Mac)Option+J

To type the Delta symbol (Δ) in Word using the keyboard shortcut, first, type the Alt code (0394), select this code and then press Alt+X to convert the code into a Delta symbol.


The above table contains all you need to insert this symbol into your Word document.

However, if you are not satisfied with this quick help, below is a detailed guide on how to type the Delta symbol or any other symbol in Word, Excel, and PowerPoint.

Delta is the fourth letter of the Greek alphabet. The uppercase symbol for Delta is Δ and the lowercase symbol is δ.

There are some symbols readily available as second keys on the keyboard. By pressing some keys simultaneously, you can easily insert such symbols into your work.

Other symbols, however, aren’t that easy to type using the keyboard. One of these symbols is the Delta symbol (Δ).

Typing becomes cumbersome for the typist if he or she needs to insert some of these symbols regularly into his work.

But it doesn’t have to be that difficult. Especially now that you are reading this guide.


Typing Delta symbol in Word/Excel

In this section, I have shown you all the easy ways to insert the Delta symbol (Δ) into Word.

NOTE: I demonstrate using the uppercase Delta symbol (Δ). However, the same method can be used to insert any other symbol including the lowercase Delta symbol (δ).

Below are the various ways to insert the Delta symbol into Word.


Delta symbol Alt code (Windows Only)

Every symbol in Word has a unique code which you can use to insert the symbol into your document. This code is popularly known as Alt code.

The Delta Symbol Alt code is 235 for lowercase delta and 30 for uppercase delta. To type this symbol using the alt code, hold down the Alt key whilst you type the alt code using the numeric keypad, then release the Alt key.

Aside using the alt code, you can also use the delta symbol unicode to insert it into Microsoft Word. The unicode method works only for Word.

The delta symbol unicode is 0394.

Below are the steps to type the Delta symbol on your keyboard (using the unicode):

  • Place the insertion pointer at where you want to insert the symbol.
  • Type the Alt code (0394)
  • Then press Alt+X to convert the code into a Delta symbol.

It is as simple as that.

Delta symbol Alt Code

As soon as you press Alt+X after typing the code, Word will convert those numbers into a Delta symbol.

Delta symbol Shortcut for Mac

For Mac users, the easiest way to insert the Delta symbol into MS Word is to use the keyboard shortcut.

The Delta Symbol shortcut for Mac is Option+J. To use this shortcut, press and hold the Option key whilst you press the letter J key once on your keyboard.

Copy and paste the Delta symbol

Inserting symbols into your document can be a simple copy and paste.

You can copy and paste it again if you have already inserted it into your document. Or you can copy it from elsewhere like a webpage. This works everywhere including Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint or even on the browser like Google Docs.

Below is the Delta symbol if you want to copy and paste it into your work:


Δ

To copy and paste the delta sign, click on the button above. Alternatively, select the symbol printed above, then press Ctrl+C to copy. Switch over to where you need it and press Ctrl+V to paste.


Using Insert Symbol Dialog

This approach isn’t as straight forward as the previous 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.

Below are the steps to insert a Delta symbol in Word using the insert symbol dialog. The same process can be used for Excel and PowerPoint.

  • On the Insert tab, click the Symbol button and choose More Symbols…
Go to Symbols>Insert

These few clicks will display the Symbol dialog box. Now it’s time to look for the symbol you want to insert.

  • Locate the Symbol

To easily find the Delta symbol in the dialog box, look at the bottom right area of the Symbol dialog box and select Unicode (hex) in the from: drop-down. Then look again at the top right area of the dialog and select Greek and Coptic in the Subset: drop-down.

This will filter out all the Greek symbols including the Delta symbol you want to insert.

Search for the symbol form the Symbols Dialog
  • Select the symbol, and then click Insert.
Select the symbol and click Insert

Alternatively, you can just double-click on the symbol to insert it into your document.

  • After inserting, close the Symbol dialog box.

This is how you may insert a Delta symbol in Word using the insert symbol dialog.


Using Word AutoCorrect to type Delta symbol

Another way to obtain the Delta symbol is through the AutoCorrect feature in Word.

It is a facility designed for correcting spelling mistakes like thsi to this.

Using this feature, you can assign a short code to the Delta symbol (such as DELTASYM).

This way, whenever you type the text DELTASYM, Word will think that you actually wanted to type Δ and will convert it into the Delta symbol automatically.

Delta symbol AutoCorrect

What makes this approach interesting is that you can assign any code you want to the symbol and Word will be more than glad to give it to you whenever you type the code.

Without further ado, below are the steps you can use to type Delta symbol in Word using AutoCorrect.

  • On the Insert tab, click Symbol and then click More Symbols…

The Symbol dialog appears.

delta symbol in Word
  • Locate the Delta symbol, then click to select it.
  • Click on the AutoCorrect… button to display the AutoCorrect dialog.

In the AutoCorrect dialog box, enter the following:

  • Replace: DELTASYM
  • With: Δ
Delta symbol in Word
  • Click Add, then click OK.

Word will automatically insert the Delta symbol into your document whenever you type DELTASYM.

However, below are some few things to note when you are using the AutoCorrect Method to insert the Delta sign.

  • AutoCorrect is case sensitive. Meaning if you type deltasym (in lowercase), Word will not convert it into the Delta symbol unless you type DELTASYM (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 Delta symbol. For example, XDELTASYM will not get converted, but X DELTASYM    will get converted to X Δ.

Using the symbol typeface

There’s a typeface in Microsoft’s list of fonts called symbol.

This typeface is made up of a complete unaccented Greek alphabet and a selection of commonly used math symbols.

With this font, when you are typing in English Alphabet, they get converted to the Greek alphabet.

Since the Delta symbol is the fourth letter of the Greek alphabet, typing the fourth letter (D) of the English alphabet will give you the Delta symbol.

D (in English) = Delta (Δ) (in Greek)

This means that if you highlight and apply the symbol typeface to the letter D, it’ll get converted to a delta symbol.

Delta symbol in Word

NOTE: Using the symbol typeface approach to insert Delta symbol should be considered only if you are preparing your document for print. Don’t use this method if it is for publishing online or to copy and paste into another document or software. Where you want to paste it may not recognize the symbol font and may paste the letter D instead of the Δ (Delta symbol)

Karli

Thursday 13th of February 2020

Quite Helpful, Does it work on PowerPoint though?

Abarika Abdulai

Thursday 13th of February 2020

Yeah. Most of the methods here can be applied in any of the Microsoft Office apps including PowerPoint.

Abdul

Tuesday 3rd of September 2019

Thanks for this wonderful guide. Very clear and to the point.