How to type pound sign(£) using US keyboard, in Windows, Linux and Mac?

Question

I have dual boot configuration with Fedora and Windows XP. Keyboard is normal US standard keyboard. Now that I am working for a UK based client, I need to use pound sign quite often. Currently I am copy pasting it, and it is a bit annoying. If it is possible to type pound sign using US keyboard, then that will be great. Please post any method you know other than copy pasting.

score 61 · Accepted Answer · edited Oct 11 '13 at 23:14

61

For US Keyboard:

Windows:
1. Alt+0163 (on numpad with Num Lock on)
2. Alt++ (numpad)a3
Mac: ⌥ Option+3
Linux:
1. Compose L - / Compose - L
2. Control-Shift(hold down) then ua3

To enable Windows 2., set the registry keyHKCU\Control Panel\Input Method\EnableHexNumpad to 1 (REG_SZ) and reboot.

edited Oct 11 '13 at 23:14

Flimzy

4,404

answered Jun 05 '11 at 08:56

I have tested Windows and Linux (fedora) and it works fine. But I couldn't test this in Mac. Please test and post comment below. Thanks – WarFox Jun 05 '11 at 11:00
1

I'm on a Mac. It works – Jun 05 '11 at 11:15
1

On Linux you could enable a compose key and then: + L + = should give you £. – muffinresearch May 02 '12 at 11:01
@Dennis, the hex version for Windows doesn't work for me; just gives a ♥ (as though Num+ and a did nothing) – Nick T May 24 '12 at 04:18
@NickT: Forgot a minor detail. – Dennis May 24 '12 at 11:32
1

@muffinresearch: I'm pretty sure you mean + L + -. + L + = creates the Lira sign (₤), not the pound sign (£). – Flimzy Oct 11 '13 at 23:17
On Ubuntu, I had to do CTRL-SHIFT u0a3 – olafure Nov 01 '16 at 17:11
Is there an option to use Alt+ codes on Windows when you don't have a Numpad (e.g. on a Bootcamp MacBook)? – Dai Dec 31 '16 at 14:53
I'm on a laptop which does not have a number keypad. What can I do? Using the normal numbers does not work. – CaptainCodeman Feb 14 '18 at 19:04
@Flimzy for pound instead of Lira you should use lowercase L: AltGr+l= gives same result as AltGr+L-. – Ruslan Apr 22 '18 at 07:19
what if my keyboard doesn't have a numpad? – Laurence Jun 22 '18 at 13:48
The second solution for Linux didn't work for me. The first did once I realised that in GNOME the apparent default for Compose is Shift+RightAlt and you have to let them go before typing the L and -. – realh Nov 26 '19 at 17:33

Daniel Beck · Answer 2 · 2011-06-05T08:54:39.473

25

On Windows and Linux, use the "U.S. International" keyboard layout, which is US with additional modifiers and characters used abroad. The £ is on RightAlt+Shift+4.

You can also get £ on Windows by entering Alt+0163 or Alt+156.

On Mac OS X, simply press Option-3 for £, or use the British layout, where £ and # are exchanged (Option-3 and Shift-3). Otherwise, they're very similar (check with Keyboard Viewer).

edited Jun 05 '11 at 08:54

answered Jun 05 '11 at 08:49

Daniel Beck

110,419

RightAlt+Shift+4 is not helping me. Alt+0163 is working in windows. I haven't checked in Linux. – WarFox Jun 05 '11 at 10:42
It is not working in my Fedora installation – WarFox Jun 05 '11 at 10:59
1

AltGr+Shift+4 is indeed the correct combination for the U.S. International layout, and I can confirm that it works: £££££££££££ – JdeBP Jun 05 '11 at 14:03
@JdeBP On Linux? – Daniel Beck Jun 05 '11 at 14:17
I typed that on Windows NT 5.0. Linux is harder to test this on, let alone access the WWW from, where I am right at the moment. But you can always ask Diederik Willemsen to confirm the same instead. – JdeBP Jun 05 '11 at 14:47
@JdeBP Thanks. I knew the Windows behavior, but had to search for how Linux behaves. Your link confirms my sources. I'd have to guess it's somehow dependent on the window manager or something else WarFox doesn't have. – Daniel Beck Jun 05 '11 at 14:50
WarFox said that xe hadn't checked in Linux. So presumably it is on Windows NT that AltGr+Shift+4 was "not helping". – JdeBP Jun 05 '11 at 15:19
@JdeBP The second comment. Fedora is the former RedHat Linux. – Daniel Beck Jun 05 '11 at 15:23
On Ubuntu for the RightAlt+Shift+4 sequence to work select ¨English (US, International with dead keys)¨ in Settings -> Keyboard Layout – muffinresearch May 02 '12 at 10:14
Further to my previous comment using a compose key is probably easier than using a dead key enabled keyboard layout. Especially for programmers. Having to press space after hitting ' to get a single quote would need quite some getting used to. – muffinresearch May 02 '12 at 11:03
2

That US Intenational keyboard is annoying as when you type a quote character it waits for another key before typing anything. This allows you to compose weirder characters but if you're just looking for the odd pound it's a steep price to pay. – Rory May 12 '15 at 13:01
3

BEWARE! Even though it works on Windows £, this is going to screw up your quote ' ", tilde ~ and some other keys because United States-International layout has modified characters enabled and waits for a second character after aforementioned key press to produce characters like á é í ó ú etc. So to get single or double quote you need to press it twice. Really annoying. – igor Jul 31 '17 at 10:07
on my keyboard "RightAlt+Shift+4" worked for me to get the £ – robbie70 Aug 27 '20 at 18:35

score 3 · Answer 3 · answered Nov 17 '12 at 12:54

3

On a European keyboard on Linux type AltGr + Shift + 3.

You can always find it out by greping the keyboard layout config files under /usr/share/X11/xkb/symbols/* for sterling.

answered Nov 17 '12 at 12:54

crenate

295

Works on Polish layout. – Waldemar Wosiński Jan 06 '17 at 21:19

score 0 · Answer 4 · answered Feb 18 '23 at 09:41

For Windows 11/10 on a US laptop keyboard, you have the following options:

Press Windows+. to show the emoji panel, then find the £ symbol in there (may be on a different tab if you haven't used it recently)
Switch your keyboard setting to ENG UK (using Windows+Space) and type Shift+3
Switch your keyboard setting to ENG INTL (using Windows+Space) and type Shift+Alt Gr+4

If you have a keyboard with a separate numeric keypad (I don't), you can supposedly use the following:

Alt+(keypad)0+1+6+3
Alt+(keypad)1+6+5

(Mac and Linux have been well answered by the answer above.)

Rodrigo Duarte · Answer 5 · 2015-02-10T14:09:53.763

I can't manage to have my sterling sign associated with my keyboard command. It's a Portuguese Brazil ABNT2 layout (set to Portuguese (Brazil) language). In Windows, it works easily by using CTRL + ALT + 4, but tried all combinations for Ubuntu (14.04 LTS) and just can't make it work.

Difficult situation for a Brazilian accountant in the UK haha

-----> SOLVED (by trial and error lol)

altGr + shift + 4 = ¼ altGt + Tab + 4 = ££££

yaaaay (the bad thing is that everytime I press tab it moves to the next cell)

How to type pound sign(£) using US keyboard, in Windows, Linux and Mac?

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