How do I type superscripts and subscripts using keyboard shortcuts?

I don't think there are any keyboard shortcuts that can help you, but there are some unicode characters that can be used in place of changing the point size and doing a baseline shift.

10²
10₂

Depends if the font you're using contains them too, I think. Anyway they can be found in the character pallet under "Digits".

You can do it in Pages. Select the character you want to change and press

ctrl--plus for superscript
ctrl--minus for subscript

Subscript and Superscript

I figured out to type subscripts and superscripts if you're using Microsoft Word on your Mac

Subscript: + (=/+) then type what you want

Superscript: shift + + (=/+) then type what you want


it keeps you in either subscript or supercript mode when you use these shortcuts.

I hope I helped

for mac, e.g. pages:

Subscript = (cmd)+(ctrl)+(-)

Superscript = (cmd) + (ctrl) + (shift) + (=)


As (shift) + (=) = (+)

do not work

Those shortcuts do not work for me

I am on an MacBook Aluminum 13" with MacOS X Tiger.
Are those only for Microsoft word?

I realy need the ²²²²²

Cheers..

I know this is a super old thread, but just wanted to say thanks for the tip. Helped me out alot.

Shortcut for Subscript and Superscript Text

I just wanted to clarify that these are the correct shortcuts and fully function is Microsoft Office for Mac 2008.

Luciapalooza said:

I figured out to type subscripts and superscripts if you're using Microsoft Word on your Mac

Subscript: + (=/+) then type what you want

Superscript: shift + + (=/+) then type what you want


it keeps you in either subscript or supercript mode when you use these shortcuts.

I hope I helped

Click to expand...

Subscript: command + (=)

Superscript: command + (+)

this also works in safari

It's just available in some programs and not others, not system-wide.

It just sucks because you can do it in both Adobe InDesign and Photoshop using Command + Shift + (+) ...but not Illustrator. The day Photoshop has superior type editing functionality than Illustrator, well, maybe the Adobe Illustrator team is just slacking. It's not like it's some unusual request. I'm 100 percent positive you used to be able to do it in older Illustrator versions.

Currently the only way to do it is manually in the character palette options menu. ...really blows.

UtahRugbyGuy said:

It's just available in some programs and not others, not system-wide.

It just sucks because you can do it in both Adobe InDesign and Photoshop using Command + Shift + (+) ...but not Illustrator. The day Photoshop has superior type editing functionality than Illustrator, well, maybe the Adobe Illustrator team is just slacking. It's not like it's some unusual request. I'm 100 percent positive you used to be able to do it in older Illustrator versions.

Currently the only way to do it is manually in the character palette options menu. ...really blows.

Click to expand...

The type engine in illustrator has always sucked. Why Adobe can't have a consistent approach to type across all their apps is beyond me.

Superscript in Mac Word

For superscript in Word for Mac:
Highlight the number
Go to Format / Font / click superscript / OK
That's it; you're done.

Office for Mac 2011 Shortcuts

Word 2011---
Superscript:  + Shift + (=)
Subscript:  + (=)

Powerpoint 2011 ---
Superscript:  + Shift + (=)
Subscript:  + Shift + (-)

I cannot get these shortcuts working in pages. Any ideas?

edit: forgot to shift. That a really cumbersome combination. Is there a way to change it?

MacBook Pro Retina - OS X 10.8.4

You need to hold the cmd and the +

subscript: shift + cmd + -
superscript: shift + cmd + =

Superscripts

owlcourt said:

For superscript in Word for Mac:
Highlight the number
Go to Format / Font / click superscript / OK
That's it; you're done.

Click to expand...

Thank you. Such a simple solution. Saved me hours of experimenting.

Sorry for waking up an old thread but really, hasn't anybody found a system-wide way to use subscripts? I would be really useful to me as I have a lot of chemical formulas to type!

Thanks.

There are really several aspects to this and therefore several possible solutions.

Areas of concern:

• Typing in applications- document composition applications like Pages, Word. Spreadsheets and other specific apps like Excel, the various Adobe suites, and others. You probably guessed that each app or suite will have potentially it's unique way of handling super (and sub-) scripting, which is what you are referring to.
• Typing in text apps, note-taking apps.
• Typing in specific others like Terminal, Messaging, Email that are more closely associated with the OS and tied to specific OS character settings.
• System wide setting of specific character combinations like 1st, 2nd, etc. These might also affect Web browser apps like the one I'm using now.

Possible solutions:

• Set System-wide superscripts. You would have to force superscripts for '1st, 2nd...' or for the last numeric character typed before a space to force those following specific two letters as superscripts WHERE THEY OCCUR. I actually had this working, sorta nicely at one time, but then it stopped. Windows does this rather elegantly somehow. I still seem to have a character substitution in place for 0ᵀᴴ (e.g., 100th is typed as 0ᵀᴴ and put the '10' or other characters before it), as an example. You would also have to do this for common fractions like, '½, ¼, etc.' Mac's error correcting schema seems to occur automatically for specific combinations. Uncommon fractions would require manual intervention. Three (or more) character fractions E.G., '13/16, 5/16, 3/32'. Clearly, the characters exist in the table, somewhere.
• Manually in specific applications. In ADDITION to doing the above apps tend to control the characters' use and do not follow the system settings. You would have to use a specific keystroke for each program for that. The autocorrect or system settings might work sporadically for this or learn it and work great. I have had limited success.

It would be nice to have a common solution that works across ALL apps and scenarios. It doesn't seem possible in Mac OS or at least it's unreliable as it is now or has been in OS X.

henryseiden said:

It would be nice to have a common solution that works across ALL apps and scenarios. It doesn't seem possible in Mac OS or at least it's unreliable as it is now or has been in OS X.

Click to expand...

FYI, there is. Try the $4.99 aText.app by Tran Ky Nam (http://www.trankynam.com). It works as text substitution in any app or limited to specific apps, as you wish. It far exceeds (and replaces) the supplied substitutions in System Preferences>Keyboard>Text.

As example, typing a number '2', the character 'st' followed by a space substitutes 2ᴺᴰ (which are the Unicode superscripted upper case characters). This, as you can see here, is applicable in ALL apps (as it modifies the system settings, unless restricted. Also, common fractions can be typed directly, like ½ and ¾. Also ℅ ™, etc. substitutions. You do have to be careful not to inadvertently use some of them.

Works in Yosemite and earlier OS's back to Mountain Lion that by default support Unicode per an Apple KB article.

In Microsoft Word 2011, you type [Command]+[Shift]+[=] to generate a superscript and [Command]+[=] to generate a subscript of selected text.

In Powerpoint 2011, you type [Command]+[Shift]+[=] to generate a superscript and [Command]+[Shift]+[-] to generat a subscript of selected text.

In Keynote 6.5.2, you type [Command]+[Control]+[Shift]+[=] to generate a superscript and [Command]+[Control]+[-] to generate a subscript of selected text.

Trying to use these shortcuts on an imac running yosemite and windows office 2011, none of these short cuts seem to work (in Excel)

also, do i type the number then the shortcuts, or the shortcuts and number at the same time or.....

Yes, this thread is an oldie, but it shows up top of the list in Google so it might as wel give a real answer: Even in 2018, in 10.11.6 El Capitan Mail there is no keyboard shortcut in OS X Mail for superscript / subscript or – my personal fhateforite – strikethrough.

However, you might want to know you can create a 'Favorite Style' for superscript, subscript or strikethrough in TextEdit and apply that in Mail by selecting the character and choosing it from the right-click options Font > Styles.

henryseiden said:

FYI, there is. Try the $4.99 aText.app by Tran Ky Nam (www.trankynam.com). It works as text substitution in any app or limited to specific apps, as you wish. It far exceeds (and replaces) the supplied substitutions in System Preferences>Keyboard>Text.

Click to expand...

Does one have to disable the Apple-supplied substitutions?

I have downloaded the trial. However, I'm finding it not as intuitive as one I've previously used. But that one has a more expensive initial outlay and has no ongoing upgrade path. And that means that one has to be continually paying for upgrades - which makes the software even more expensive.

henryseiden said:

You do have to be careful not to inadvertently use some of them.

Works in Yosemite and earlier OS's back to Mountain Lion that by default support Unicode per an Apple KB article.

Click to expand...

Do you have any humorous examples of using them inadvertently that you'd like to share?

I set up the superscripts/subscripts a long time ago, specifically for typing fractions and it has served me very well for a LONG time! It has worked once set up and has gone through many Mac OS's all the way through today's Big Sur.

Why? Easy. Because it simply modifies what already pre-baked in to MacOS. Some fractions are there and some aren't, until aTEXT. It uses the Uni-text characters available to generate the fractions and makes them visible as character substitutes in any typing (web, mail, and SOME applications-mostly Apple) that uses System fonts and resources correctly.

You can also force some mistakes by typing the code inadvertently, like ™I (TMI lower case). To have a look at the substitutions yourself, in MacOS go to: System Preferences>Keyboard>Text. Compare... The image should give you a good idea. If you know muni-code or can look it up, you can do it all on your own, however text app helps a lot. Good Luck! Thank me later.