Sometimes you may need to insert numbers or letters with circles in Word document, but you can’t type them directly or copy them from Internet every time. So how to insert circled numbers and letters in Word exactly?
To answer this question, I’ll share the detailed steps in the post. You can have a try following this guide.
Insert Circled Numbers from Symbol
1. One of the most commonly used way to insert circled numbers or letters is using Symbol.
2. Go to Insert tab, click Symbol and choose More Symbols… in the drop-down list.
3. Choose Windings, Windings 2 or Wingdings 3 as the font in Symbols tab, then scroll down to find the circled numbers. Click Insert to add the specified number to your document.
4. Note: you can only insert numbers from 1-10 with circles in this way. So if you want to insert larger numbers or letters with circles, please try the second method.
Insert Circled Number or Letter Using Enclose Characters
There’s a feature called Enclose Characters in Word, you can make use of it to insert circled numbers as well as letters.
1. Switch to Home tab, click the icon of Enclose Characters in Font section.
2. Enter the number or text you want to add circle in the textbox, then make the choice of Style and Enclosure. Click OK to implement it.
3. You can also select the existing letter in advance and click Enclose Characters to circle it. But don’t forget the maximum number of characters you can circle is 2.
4. As for circling 2 characters, like 2 letters or numbers larger than 9, you’ll find the result isn’t very well even if you choose Enlarge symbol in Style.
5. To make it looks better, you can press [Alt+F9] to switch to field mode. The circled number I just entered will be displayed as below:
6. The circle and the number are both in the parentheses, you can select the number to shrink its size.
7. It’s not enough cause the number will still be on the lower part of the circle. To raise its position, you can select the number and click the small arrow at the lower right corner of Font section in Home tab.
8. Switch to Advanced in the popping out Font window, choose Raised in the drop-down list of Position and click OK.
9. Then you can press [Alt+F9] to check the result. If it can still not satisfy you, just keep switching the mode to make adjustments till it finally looks good.
Insert a Circle Shape and Add Text to It
This method is not that frequently used, but it still works under certain circumstance. For example, if you want to circle more than 2 characters, the normal means may not help at all while this one does.
1. Switch to Insert tab, click Shapes and choose the oval shape in the list.
2. Hold your [Shift] key while dragging mouse to draw the shape. It will help you to draw a perfect circle instead of oval.
3. You can drag the vertices of it to move or resize it, but don’t forget holding [Shift] while resizing it, otherwise it will become oval again.
4. And if the color isn’t right, just double click the circle to enable Drawing Tools, you can change the setting in Shape Fill and Shape Outline.
5. Then right click the circle and choose Add Text in the menu.
6. A textbox will be created inside the circle, you can type any text in it and adjust its font and size.
But you can do very little to adjust the text added in this way – you can’t even move it freely.
Instead, you can try changing the text into WordArt in advance.
7. Click WordArt in Insert tab to choose a style and type the text in the textbox.
8. Then you can freely resize and move the new created WordArt to adapt the circle.
9. Circled numbers and letters created in this way allow you to adjust them freely, but you must make corresponding changes to both the circle and the WordArt inside it, since they won’t match with each other automatically.
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In the following article, we will provide you two ways to input circled numbers or characters in Word documents.
Sometimes when you process a Word document, it’s necessary to mark out certain numbers or characters so as to draw attention. In fact, it will make your document easy to read. Also, readers will be more pleasant to look through a document with diversified symbols.
Therefore, we are going to show you two easy and efficient methods to enter circled numbers or characters in your Word document. Just follow these tips step by step.
Tip 1: Circle Number between 1 to 20
- Firstly, open your Word document.
- Input number “2460”.
- Double click the number to select it.
- Then press “Alt+X”. By default, Word will convert the number into “①” automatically.
Naturally, the same tip applies for circling any number between 1 to 20. For example, if you key in number “2461”, and stick to the exact steps above, you will rightly get “②”. However, when the number amounts to “2473”, you are able to get “⑳” but no more larger number.
Tip 2: Circle Number Larger than 20 or Other Characters
- Firstly, input a number larger than 20 or other characters, such as number “22”.
- Click “Insert” on the “Toolbar” options.
- Choose “Picture” on the drop-down list.
- Next click “AutoShape”.
- Click “Flowchart” option.
- Then continue to click the “Connector” icon. Now you mouse pointer will change into a crosshairs so you can drag it to draw a circle around the number.
- You may find that the number is covered and you cannot see it. So right click the circle to choose “Format AutoShape”.
- In the Property window shown, choose “No Fill” on the drop-down list for “Color” below the “Fill” area.
- In the following “Line” area, choose black for the color.
- Set the number in “Weight” as 0.25.
- Next, click “OK”.
- Now you can adjust the circle size according to your need.
- In case you have to circle another number or character, just click the circle and meanwhile press “Ctrl”. You will see a small crosshairs beside the mouse pointer.
- Then you are able to duplicate the circle by dragging the circle to other place and change its size accordingly.
Certainly, the two tips described above will meet your requirement to circle numbers or characters in a Word document. Still, there is another trick to achieve the same effect. But it can only work in Word when at least one East Asian language is enabled. So let’s skip it for now.
Handle Word File Corruptions
It seems that Word is capable of everything. Thus, we can only imagine that if the Word shuts down abnormally, your documents will get corrupted. In order to tackle this problem, we can make good use of the built-in repair function in Word. Besides, there are other excellent third-party word recovery tools.
Author Introduction:
Vera Chen is a data recovery expert in DataNumen, Inc., which is the world leader in data recovery technologies, including excel recovery and pdf repair software products. For more information visit www.datanumen.com
HTTA is reader supported. When you buy through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission at no extra cost to you. Learn more.
In today’s article, you’ll learn how to use some keyboard shortcuts plus other methods to type the Circle Symbol (text – ◯) in MS Word using either Windows or Mac.
Just before we begin, I’ll like to tell you that you can also use the button below to copy and paste the Circle sign into your work for free.
However, if you just want to type this symbol on your keyboard, the actionable steps below will show you everything you need to know.
Quick Guide for Typing Circle Symbol Text [◯]
To type the Circle Symbol on Mac, press Option + 25EF shortcut on your keyboard. For Windows users, simply press down one of the Alt keys and type 9 (on Windows) or 9711 (in Word) using the numeric keypad, then let go of the Alt key.
Note: These shortcuts can work only on MS Word.
The below table contains all the information you need to type this Symbol on the keyboard for both the Mac and the Windows PC.
| Symbol Name | Circle |
| Symbol Text | ◯ |
| Alt Code | 9 or 9711 (Word) |
| Windows Shortcut | Alt+9 or Alt+9711 |
| Mac Shortcut | Option + 25EF |
| Word Shortcut | 25EF, Alt+X |
The quick guide above provides some useful shortcuts and alt codes on how to type the Circle symbol in Word on both Windows and Mac.
Below are some more different variations of the Circle Symbols with their respective alt code that can be used to type them in Word for both Windows and Mac.
| Circle Symbol Text | Circle Symbol Name | Alt Code |
| 〇 | Ideographic Number Zero | Alt + 12295 |
| ⭕ | Heavy Large Circle | Alt + 11093 |
| ⨸ | Circled Division Sign | Alt + 10808 |
| ⨷ | Cross Sign In Double Circle | Alt + 10807 |
| ⧳ | Error-Barred Black Circle | Alt + 10739 |
| ⧲ | Error-Barred White Circle | Alt + 10738 |
| ⧭ | Black Circle With Down Arrow | Alt + 10733 |
| ⧬ | White Circle With Down Arrow | Alt + 10732 |
| ⧃ | Circle With Two Horizontal Strokes To The Right | Alt + 10691 |
| ⧂ | Circle With Small Circle To The Right | Alt + 10690 |
| ⧁ | Circled Greater-Than | Alt + 10689 |
| ⧀ | Circled Less-Than | Alt + 10688 |
| ⦿ | Circled Bullet | Alt + 10687 |
| ⦾ | Circled White Bullet | Alt + 10686 |
| ⦽ | Up Arrow Through Circle | Alt + 10685 |
| ⦼ | Circled Anticlockwise-Rotated Division Sign | Alt + 10684 |
| ⦻ | Circle With Superimposed X | Alt + 10683 |
| ⦺ | Circle Divided By Horizontal Bar And Top Half Divided By Vertical Bar | Alt + 10682 |
| ⦹ | Circled Perpendicular | Alt + 10681 |
| ⦸ | Circled Reverse Solidus | Alt + 10680 |
| ⦷ | Circled Parallel | Alt + 10679 |
| ⦶ | Circled Vertical Bar | Alt + 10678 |
| ⦵ | Circle With Horizontal Bar | Alt + 10677 |
| ❍ | Shadowed White Circle | Alt + 10061 |
| ✆ | Telephone In Circle | Alt + 9990 |
| ⛔ | No Entry | Alt + 9940 |
| ⚾ | Baseball | Alt + 9918 |
| ⚯ | Unmarried Partnership Symbol | Alt + 9903 |
| ⚮ | Divorce Symbol | Alt + 9902 |
| ⚭ | Marriage Symbol | Alt + 9901 |
| ⚬ | Medium Small White Circle | Alt + 9900 |
| ⚫ | Medium Black Circle | Alt + 9899 |
| ⚪ | Medium White Circle | Alt + 9898 |
| ⚉ | Black Circle With Two White Dots | Alt + 9865 |
| ⚈ | Black Circle With White Dot Right | Alt + 9864 |
| ⚇ | White Circle With Two Dots | Alt + 9863 |
| ⚆ | White Circle With Dot Right | Alt + 9862 |
| ♾ | Permanent Paper Sign | Alt + 9854 |
| ♽ | Partially-Recycled Paper Symbol | Alt + 9853 |
| ♼ | Recycled Paper Symbol | Alt + 9852 |
| ☯ | Yin Yang | Alt + 9775 |
| ⃠ | Combining Enclosing Circle Backslash | Alt + 8416 |
| ⇴ | Right Arrow With Small Circle | Alt + 8692 |
| ⊕ | Circled Plus | Alt + 8853 |
| ⊖ | Circled Minus | Alt + 8854 |
| ⊗ | Circled Times | Alt + 8855 |
| ⊘ | Circled Division Slash | Alt + 8856 |
| ⊙ | Circled Dot Operator | Alt + 8857 |
| ⊚ | Circled Ring Operator | Alt + 8858 |
| ⊛ | Circled Asterisk Operator | Alt + 8859 |
| ⊜ | Circled Equals | Alt + 8860 |
| ⊝ | Circled Dash | Alt + 8861 |
| ⍟ | Apl Functional Symbol Circle Star | Alt + 9055 |
| ⎉ | Circled Horizontal Bar With Notch | Alt + 9097 |
| ⎊ | Circled Triangle Down | Alt + 9098 |
| ⎋ | Broken Circle With Northwest Arrow | Alt + 9099 |
| ⏀ | Dentistry Symbol Light Vertical With Circle | Alt + 9152 |
| ⏁ | Dentistry Symbol Light Down And Horizontal With Circle | Alt + 9153 |
| ⏂ | Dentistry Symbol Light Up And Horizontal With Circle | Alt + 9154 |
| ⏣ | Benzene Ring With Circle | Alt + 9187 |
| ⏺ | Black Circle For Record | Alt + 9210 |
| ○ | White Circle | Alt + 9675 |
| ◌ | Dotted Circle | Alt + 9676 |
| ◍ | Circle With Vertical Fill | Alt + 9677 |
| ● | Black Circle | Alt + 9679 |
| ◐ | Circle With Left Half Black | Alt + 9680 |
| ◑ | Circle With Right Half Black | Alt + 9681 |
| ◒ | Circle With Lower Half Black | Alt + 9682 |
| ◓ | Circle With Upper Half Black | Alt + 9683 |
| ◔ | Circle With Upper Right Quadrant Black | Alt + 9684 |
| ◕ | Circle With All But Upper Left Quadrant Black | Alt + 9685 |
| ◖ | Left Half Black Circle | Alt + 9686 |
| ◗ | Right Half Black Circle | Alt + 9687 |
| ◙ | Inverse White Circle | Alt + 9689 |
| ◚ | Upper Half Inverse White Circle | Alt + 9690 |
| ◛ | Lower Half Inverse White Circle | Alt + 9691 |
| ◠ | Upper Half Circle | Alt + 9696 |
| ◡ | Lower Half Circle | Alt + 9697 |
| ◯ | Large Circle | Alt + 9711 |
| ◴ | White Circle With Upper Left Quadrant | Alt + 9716 |
| ◵ | White Circle With Lower Left Quadrant | Alt + 9717 |
| ◶ | White Circle With Lower Right Quadrant | Alt + 9718 |
| ◷ | White Circle With Upper Right Quadrant | Alt + 9719 |
| ✪ | Circled White Star | Alt + 10026 |
| ❂ | Circled Open Centre Eight Pointed Star | Alt + 10050 |
| ➲ | Circled Heavy White Rightwards Arrow | Alt + 10162 |
| ⟲ | Anticlockwise Gapped Circle Arrow | Alt + 10226 |
| ⟳ | Clockwise Gapped Circle Arrow | Alt + 10227 |
| ⟴ | Right Arrow With Circled Plus | Alt + 10228 |
| ⥀ | Anticlockwise Closed Circle Arrow | Alt + 10560 |
| ⥁ | Clockwise Closed Circle Arrow | Alt + 10561 |
| ⥈ | Left Right Arrow Through Small Circle | Alt + 10568 |
| ⥉ | Upwards Two-Headed Arrow From Small Circle | Alt + 10569 |
| ⦲ | Empty Set With Small Circle Above | Alt + 10674 |
| ⧇ | Squared Small Circle | Alt + 10695 |
| ⨀ | N-Ary Circled Dot Operator | Alt + 10752 |
| ⨁ | N-Ary Circled Plus Operator | Alt + 10753 |
| ⨂ | N-Ary Circled Times Operator | Alt + 10754 |
| ⨢ | Plus Sign With Small Circle Above | Alt + 10786 |
| ⨭ | Plus Sign In Left Half Circle | Alt + 10797 |
| ⨮ | Plus Sign In Right Half Circle | Alt + 10798 |
| ⨴ | Multiplication Sign In Left Half Circle | Alt + 10804 |
| ⨵ | Multiplication Sign In Right Half Circle | Alt + 10805 |
| ⨶ | Circled Multiplication Sign With Circumflex Accent | Alt + 10806 |
| ⬤ | Black Large Circle | Alt + 11044 |
| ⬰ | Left Arrow With Small Circle | Alt + 11056 |
| ⬲ | Left Arrow With Circled Plus | Alt + 11058 |
| 〶 | Circled Postal Mark | Alt + 12342 |
| ￮ | Halfwidth White Circle | Alt + 65518 |
To type any of the above Circle Symbols in your Word document, press down one of the Alt keys on your keyboard and type the alt numbers using the numeric keypad. For example, press Alt + 9711 to type the Big Circle Symbol text into your Word document.
For more details, below are some other methods you can also use to insert this symbol into your work such as MS Word document.
Microsoft Office provides several methods for typing Circle Symbols or inserting symbols that do not have dedicated keys on the keyboard.
In this section, I will make available for you five different methods you can use to type or insert this and any other symbol on your PC, like in MS Office (ie. Word, Excel, or PowerPoint) for both Mac and Windows users.
Without any further ado, let’s get started.
Using the Circle Symbol Alt Code (Windows Only)
The Circle Symbol alt code is 9711.
Even though this Symbol has no dedicated key on the keyboard, you can still type it on the keyboard with the Alt code method. To do this, press and hold the Alt key whilst pressing the Circle Alt code (i.e. 9711) using the numeric keypad.
This method works on Windows only. And your keyboard must also have a numeric keypad.
Below is a break-down of the steps you can take to type the Circle Sign on your Windows PC:
- Place your insertion pointer where you need the Circle Symbol text.
- Press and hold one of the Alt keys on your keyboard.
- Whilst holding on to the Alt key, press the Circle Symbol’s alt code (9711). You must use the numeric keypad to type the alt code. If you are using a laptop without the numeric keypad, this method may not work for you. On some laptops, there’s a hidden numeric keypad which you can enable by pressing Fn+NmLk on the keyboard.
- Release the Alt key after typing the Alt code to insert the Symbol into your document.
This is how you may type this symbol in Word using the Alt Code method.
Using the Circle Symbol Shortcut (Mac and Windows)
For Mac users, the keyboard shortcut for the Circle Symbol is Option + 25EF. For Windows users, use the Alt Code Shortcut method by pressing down one of the [Alt] keys whilst typing the symbol’s alt code which is 9711. You must use the numeric keypad to type the alt code. Also, ensure that your Num Lock key is turned on.
Below is a breakdown of the Circle Symbol shortcut for Mac:
- First of all, place the insertion pointer where you need to type the symbol (◯).
- Now, press Option + 25EF simultaneously on your keyboard to insert the symbol.
Below is a breakdown of the Circle Symbol shortcut for Windows (In MS Word):
- Place the insertion pointer at the desired location.
- Press and hold down the Alt key
- While pressing down the Alt key, type 9711 using the numeric keypad to insert the symbol.
Below is a breakdown of the Circle Symbol shortcut for Windows (In MS Word Only):
- Click to place the insertion pointer where you want the Circle Symbol to be inserted.
- Type this code – 25EF.
- After typing the code and whilst the insertion pointer is still next to the last digit in the code, press Alt + X to convert the code to the symbol.
These are the shortcuts you may use to type the Circle sign in Word .
Copy and Paste Circle Symbol ◯ (text)
Another easy way to get the Circle sign on any PC is to use my favorite method: copy and paste.
All you have to do is to copy the symbol sign from somewhere like a web page, or the character map for windows users, and head over to where you need the symbol (say in Word ), then hit Ctrl+V to paste.
Below is the symbol for you to copy and paste into your Word document. Just select it and press Ctrl+C to copy, switch over to Microsoft Word, place your insertion pointer at the desired location, and press Ctrl+V to paste.
◯
Alternatively, just use the copy button at the beginning of this post.
For windows users, obey the following instructions to copy and paste the Circle Symbol using the character map dialog box.
- Click on the Start button and search for Character Map. The Character Map app will appear in the search results, click to open.
- The Character Map dialog will appear. Click to check the Advanced view check-box to expand the dialog box for more advanced options.
- On the advanced view, type Circle in the Search box and press the Enter key.
- You should now see the Circle (◯) Symbol on the character map dialog. If you can’t see it, then you should look through the library of symbols to spot it. When found, double click it to select. Alternatively, click on the Select button.
- After you select the symbol by double-clicking it, it should appear in the Character to copy: field, then click on the Copy button to copy the symbol.
- Switch to your Microsoft Word document, place the insertion pointer at the desired location, and press Ctrl+V to paste.
This is how you may use the Character Map dialog to copy and paste any symbol on Windows PC.
Using insert Symbol dialog box (Word, Excel, PowerPoint)
The insert symbol dialog box is a library of symbols from where you can insert any symbol into your Word document with just a couple of mouse clicks.
Obey the following steps to insert this symbol (◯) in Word using the insert symbol dialog box.
- Open your Word document.
- Click to place the insertion pointer where you wish to insert the symbol.
- Go to the Insert tab.
- In the Symbols category, click on the Symbol drop-down and select the More Symbols button.
The Symbol dialog box will appear.
- To easily locate the Circle symbol, select Segoe UI Symbol font type in the Font list at the upper left section of the window. Then type 25EF in the character code field at the bottom area of the window. After typing this character code, the Circle symbol will appear selected.
- Now click on the Insert button to insert the symbol into your document.
- Close the dialog.
The symbol will then be inserted exactly where you placed the insertion pointer.
These are the steps you may use to insert this Symbol in Word.
Conclusion
As you can see, there are several different methods you can use to type the Circle Sign in Microsoft Word.
Using the shortcuts for both Windows and Mac make the fastest option for this task. Shortcuts are always fast.
Thank you very much for reading this blog.
If you have anything thing to say or questions to ask concerning the Circle Symbol, please drop it in the comments.
Unicode has a category of symbols for all encircled alphanumeric with a code range 2460 to 24FF. This includes numbers and letters encircled with any additional parts like circle and parenthesis. In our previous articles, we have explained how to type circled numbers and alt code shortcuts for various types of English letters. If you wonder how to type circled letters, here is a complete list of alt code shortcuts for circled letters.
You can type the encircled letters in the following formats:
- Capital encircled like Ⓐ Ⓝ Ⓦ
- Small encircled like ⓔ ⓢ ⓟ
- Capital encircled with parenthesis like Ⓐ Ⓖ Ⓝ
- Small encircled with parenthesis like ⒢ ⒧ ⒳
- Special characters like © ®
Alt Code Shortcuts for Encircled Letters
Below is the complete list of keyboard shortcuts using alt keys to type capital and small encircled letters in different formats.
Inserting Circled Letters on Windows
You can use one of the alt keys and type the decimal numbers using number pad. For example, alt + 9411 will produce circled capital N like Ⓝ.
If you do not have a keyboard with number pad then try the alt + x method. Type the hexadecimal codes and then press alt + x to convert it into a circled letter. For example, 24D6 + alt + x will produce circled small letter g like ⓖ. This works on Word documents and you can copy / paste the symbols on Excel and PowerPoint.
Inserting Circled Letters on Mac
You can also use the alt code shortcuts in Mac by changing the keyboard input to Unicode Hex Input. For example, press alt + 24A6 will produce parenthesized small k like ⒦. However, this will only work for the 4 digit hexadecimal codes.
You can also use Character Viewer app in order to insert all types of circled numbers on Mac.
- Press “Control + Command + Spacebar” to open Spotlight Search.
- Type “Character Viewer” and open the app.
- On the Character Viewer app, type “circled” in the search box and filter the results.
- You can find all circled letters to choose and insert.
- You can also choose the font variation to insert customized variation of the symbols.
Using in Web Documents
You can change the format of decimal and hexadecimal codes
to use in the web documents like HTML, CSS and JavaScript as escape characters.
- HTML – you can either use decimal code or hexadecimal decimal code in the below format to insert the symbols in HTML.
<span>Ⓗ</span>
<span>Ⓗ</span>- CSS – use hexadecimal code in the format 24C4.
- JavaScript – use hexadecimal code in the format u24C2.
Font Variations
The Character Viewer app on Mac by default allows plenty of font variations for each symbol. However, on Windows you should customize the size and format manually like any other text content.
Typing Circled Characters in Microsoft Office Apps
There is also an in-built option available in Microsoft Word and PowerPoint apps for inserting enclosed characters with circle, square, triangle and diamond shapes.
- Open Word and go to “Home” tab in the ribbon.
- Click the “Enclose Characters” icon to open a pop-up.
- Select “Enlarge symbol” option, type or select the character and choose circle enclosure.
- Click “OK” button to insert the encircled character.
The advantage of this method is that you can type any character and easily enclose it with a circle.
Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated February 5, 2021)
This tip applies to Word 2007, 2010, 2013, and 2016
When Des writes paper notes, she often puts squares around certain letters or numbers and circles around others. This is her own «code» that allows her to key in on information she needs to pay attention to. Des can relatively easily put squares around letters or numbers in a Word document (using borders), but she hasn’t found a way to add circles.
There are actually a few ways you can go about this. One way, of course, is to use the graphics capabilities built into Word to create a shape (a circle) that can be placed around any letters or numbers you desire. A quick way to do this is to customize the Quick Access Toolbar so it includes the Oval tool. (How you customize the QAT has been covered in other WordTips. The Oval tool is found by listing All Commands during the configuration process.)
Once the Oval tool is in place, click on it and you can then use the mouse pointer to draw the circle. Just hold down the Shift key as you click and drag, and you are guaranteed of a perfect circle. Of course, the circle is filled in with a color, but all you need to do is use the Fill tool (on the Format tab, visible immediately after drawing the circle) to choose No Fill. You can even right-click the circle and choose Set As Default. This assures that the next use of the Oval tool results in a no-fill shape. (You’ll still need to hold down Shift, however, to ensure you create a circle.)
The benefit to this approach is that you can make the circle any size you want and any color you want. The drawback is that it adds graphic shapes to your document—they can sometimes be difficult to position and they increase the size of your document file.
Another approach is to «enclose» your characters. This is achieved through a different command you can add to the Quick Access Toolbar. When configuring, again display All Commands and look for one named Enclose Character. When you’ve added it to the QAT, use it by selecting some text (either one or two characters, no more) and then clicking the tool. You then see the Enclose Character dialog box displayed. (See Figure 1.)
Figure 1. The Enclose Character dialog box.
Here you can select how you want the text affected (shrunk or enlarged) and what type of shape you want to use to enclose the text (circle, square, triangle, etc.). When you click on OK, the text is adjusted through the use of an EQ field. You’ll need to play with this approach a bit to determine if it works just the way you want.
A third way you can tackle this problem is to use a font that already has characters enclosed within circles. This is actually built into Word 2007, Word 2010, and Word 2013. Follow these steps:
- Position the insertion point where you want the circled text.
- Display the Insert tab of the ribbon.
- In the Symbols group, click the Symbol tool and then choose More Symbols. Word displays the Symbol dialog box.
- Using the Font drop-down list, choose Arial Unicode MS.
- Make sure that the From drop-down list is set to Unicode (Hex).
- Using the Subset drop-down list, choose Enclosed Alphanumerics. (You will need to scroll through the drop-down options a ways to find this.) (See Figure 2.)
- Select the symbol you want to use. (If you scroll down a bit you’ll also find circled uppercase letters and circled lowercase letters.)
- Click Insert.
- Close the Symbol dialog box.
Figure 2. The Symbol dialog box.
The drawback to this approach is that it works only for the numbers 1 through 20 and for single letters (uppercase or lowercase). These steps also won’t work in Word 2016 because—for some inexplicable reason—Microsoft removed the Arial Unicode MS font, and it seems that none of the installed fonts has the Enclosed Alphanumerics subset included. You could, of course, search the Web for a downloadable font that would include circled characters.
WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training.
(Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.)
This tip (13436) applies to Microsoft Word 2007, 2010, 2013, and 2016.
Author Bio
With more than 50 non-fiction books and numerous magazine articles to his credit, Allen Wyatt is an internationally recognized author. He is president of Sharon Parq Associates, a computer and publishing services company. Learn more about Allen…
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