1

My OS is Windows 7 (a localized version of this OS). I want to be able to enter any character in the applications mentioned in the title. I've tried some methods described on Stack Exchange sites, including:

To be able to input characters using Unicode, run C:\Windows\regedit.exe, inside the application navigate to Computer → HKEY_CURRENT_USER → Control Panel → Input Method and right-click* → New → *Key and name the key(/folder) EnableHexNumpad. On the right-hand side of the application, the type, which is set to REG_SZ, is OK, but you need to set the value to 1: double-click under Name and enter the value 1 in the popup window that shows up. Then close the regedit.exe application and reboot the system for the changes to take effect.

But this does not work for me: Word 2007 intercepts Alt + keyboard plus and thinks I want to insert an equation. Notepad thinks that I want to pull down a menu from the top when I press Alt. And I've even tried inserting the + key with Shift + = after keeping the Alt key pressed by no luck. And it doesn’t seem to work in Chrome and Firefox either.

Peter Mortensen
  • 12,326
John Sonderson
  • 3,746

2 Answers2

1

The method referred to in the question, the Alt+ method, described on the Fileformat.info page about typing characters, requires that you keep the Alt key pressed down until you have typed + using the numeric keypad and the Unicode number in hexadecimal (using normal or numeric keypad keys).

This method works in Notepad and in web browsers. In Microsoft Word, it fails. However, in it you can use a different method: type the Unicode number, using normal keys, and press AltX to change the number to the corresponding character. However, If the preceding character is a hexadecimal digit (0–9 or a–f or A–F) or the letter x or X, the number must be preceded by the two characters u+.

(In WordPad, both methods work, but the first one only when normal keyboard keys are used to enter the number.)

Jukka K. Korpela
  • 5,265
0

Actually, in Word, go with the HTML symbol numbers, not the Unicode ones.

Indeed, using the Alt + invokes the formula window. Hold the Alt key, and then put in the number from the number key pad, then hit Enter.

So, the question now is (for me), how to do this on small keyboards without the number keypad. The "Cross of Lorraine" symbol appears in Unicode as U+2628 ☨ CROSS OF LORRAINE (HTML ☨). So, hold the Alt key while you type 9768 on the numeric keypad and hit Enter.

Here is a great list I found: HTML Currency Symbols, Currency Entities and ASCII Currency Character Code Reference

Peter Mortensen
  • 12,326
Florence
  • 1