Using Unicode Character Numbers for Umlaute & ß on PCs

Using Unicode Character Numbers for Umlaute & ß on PCs

This information was sent to me by Matthew Curland in June 2017. Vielen Dank Matt!

Use the Unicode Character Numbers (not the same as the (older) ASCII code!) in any app/program on a PC (possible exceptions below) via the “NumLock” key, as follows:

E.g. To type an ß:

• Turn on number lock.
• Press and hold the Alt key.
• Type 0223 on the number pad (This is the Unicode Character Number for ß)
• Release the Alt key
• Your ß will appear.

The Unicode Character Numbers for the Umlaute & ß are as follows.

I’ve included the hexadecimal form of the Unicode Characters above also. In case you wanted to try this on a Mac (just for fun – clearly it would not be efficient 🙂 ), you could follow these directions to enable Unicode input on a Mac, and then use the Hexadecimal codes.

In case you’re curious, lots more Unicode character codes are listed here. Here is a shorter list, easier to use, but you would need to convert the hexadecimal codes to decimals first to use the above method.

[Back to the PC:] Note that some apps don’t need the leading 0. Also, not all apps will support extended Unicode. For example, € is 8364, which works in Word, but not in Notepad or a command prompt. Of course, if you can get the character to display in one app, it is easy enough to copy to another.

Here’s a fun way to “calculate” the Unicode Character Number for a given character on your PC:

• Enter the letter or symbol (e.g. ß) in Word via some other method (e.g. copy-paste).
• Select the single symbol character (e.g. the ß)
• Press alt-x. This will reveal a 4 digit code. For example, ß is 00DF, ö is 00F6, etc. This is the hexadecimal number for the Unicode character (right-hand column in the above table). An additional alt-x will toggle back.
• Use the Calculator app to translate to hex code (Windows-Key-R, calc, Enter)
• Place Calculate in Programmer mode (on the View menu)
• Choose Hex in the base picker (Hex, Dec, Oct, Bin) [default is Dec (for Decimal)]
• Enter the 4-digit code you obtained by pressing alt-x above
• Press the Dec option to translate to decimal. For ß, your DF will become 223. Add a leading 0 to get 0223 for ß, 0246 for ö, etc.