Hands typing trademark symbol on keyboard

TM Alt Code: Fast Ways to Type ™ Anywhere You Type

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The fastest way to get a ™ symbol on the page is Alt + 0153 on Windows (Num Lock on, numeric keypad required), Option + 2 on Mac, or typing 2122 then hitting Alt+X in Word. If none of that applies to your setup, just copy this and paste it: ™. Every method below solves the same problem for a different keyboard, app, or operating system, so pick the row that matches what’s in front of you.

Here’s the quick reference before you dig into the details:

Method Platform Best for
Alt + 0153 Windows, full keyboard Desktop with numeric keypad
2122 then Alt+X Windows, Word/WordPad Unicode-aware apps
Option + 2 macOS Pages, TextEdit, Notes, browsers
™ AutoCorrect Microsoft Word/Office High-volume document editing
Copy and paste ™ Any device, any app Laptops, phones, web forms

A few notes before you jump in: Alt codes are strictly a Windows thing, they need a numeric keypad, and they don’t work in every application. Mac users have a completely different shortcut. And if you’re on a phone, Chromebook, or a laptop with no numpad, copy-paste is often your most reliable option. The sections below walk through each one, plus what to do when a shortcut just refuses to cooperate.

Key Takeaways

The fastest reliable method for typing ™ depends entirely on your device: Alt + 0153 for Windows desktops, Option + 2 for Mac, and copy-paste as the universal fallback everywhere else.

Point Details
Windows desktop Use Alt + 0153 with Num Lock on and a true numeric keypad.
Windows without numpad Try 2122 then Alt+X, or use the On-Screen Keyboard.
Mac Option + 2 works almost everywhere; use Shift + Option + 2 on some European layouts.
Microsoft Word Type ™ and let AutoCorrect convert it, or use Ctrl+Alt+T.
Universal fallback Copy and paste ™ directly, which works on any device or app.
Need more symbol tools Copyrighttoolkit’s full symbol library covers ™, ®, and © with the same copy-paste approach.

Table of Contents

Windows Alt Code: How to Type ™ With Alt + 0153

The classic Windows method for the trademark ascii character is a four-digit sequence typed while holding the Alt key. It’s been the same since the early Windows era, and it still works in most desktop applications today.

Here’s the exact sequence:

  1. Turn on Num Lock. This is the single most common point of failure, so check it first.
  2. Place your cursor exactly where you want the symbol to appear.
  3. Press and hold the Alt key.
  4. Using the numeric keypad (not the number row above your letters), type 0153.
  5. Release Alt. The ™ symbol should appear instantly.

The PSU Symbol Codes reference confirms this Alt + 0153 sequence is the standard trademark alt code for Windows, and it flags the same requirement everyone runs into: you need Num Lock enabled and a dedicated numeric keypad, not the row of number keys above the letters.

That numeric keypad requirement trips up more people than anything else on this list. Most laptops don’t have a separate 10-key pad at all. Some hide one inside the regular letter keys, activated with Fn + NumLk, usually on keys like U, I, O, J, K, L. If yours does this, turning it on temporarily converts part of your keyboard into a numeric pad, types the code, and then you switch it back off. If your laptop has no hidden keypad, plug in a cheap external numeric keypad over USB, or use the on-screen keyboard built into Windows (search “On-Screen Keyboard” in the Start menu).

Pro Tip: If you’re typing multiple trademark or copyright symbols in one document, leave Num Lock on the whole time instead of toggling it for each symbol. It saves a surprising number of failed attempts.

A quick troubleshooting checklist if Alt + 0153 does nothing:

  • Num Lock is off, or your keyboard doesn’t show a clear indicator for it.
  • You typed the digits on the top number row instead of the numeric keypad.
  • You’re working inside a remote desktop session or virtual machine, which sometimes intercepts Alt codes before they reach the app.
  • The application itself doesn’t support Alt code input (some browser fields and web-based tools block it entirely).

Unicode on Windows: Type 2122, Then Press Alt+X

If Alt + 0153 isn’t cooperating, there’s a second Windows method that works through Unicode conversion instead of the classic Alt code system. Type 2122, then press Alt+X, and the digits transform into ™.

This works because 2122 is the hexadecimal Unicode value for the trademark character, and wikiHow’s guide on typing the trademark symbol confirms this conversion method as a standard alternative to the numeric-keypad Alt code. Try it in Microsoft Word or WordPad: type “2122” as plain text, then hit Alt+X immediately after, and watch the numbers snap into a ™.

The catch is compatibility. This trick relies on the app recognizing Unicode hex input, which Word and WordPad do well but plenty of other programs don’t. Alt + 0153 is more universal across older desktop software, while Alt+X is more reliable in modern, Unicode-aware apps. If one fails, try the other before assuming your keyboard is broken.

macOS Shortcuts for ™: Option + 2 and the European Layout Exception

Mac users skip Alt codes entirely. The standard shortcut is Option + 2, and it works instantly in Pages, TextEdit, Notes, Safari, and most other text fields across macOS.

There’s one exception worth knowing before you assume your keyboard is broken. On some European keyboard layouts, Option + 2 produces a different character entirely, so the correct combination becomes Shift + Option + 2 instead. This detail comes from wikiHow’s trademark symbol guide, which notes the layout-dependent shift as a known quirk rather than a bug.

A few other Mac shortcuts worth keeping in your back pocket:

  • Option + R types the registered trademark symbol (®), the Mac equivalent of the Windows Alt + 0174 code.
  • Option + 8 produces the bullet character, unrelated but frequently confused with symbol shortcuts by new Mac users.
  • Both shortcuts work the same way in browser-based apps like Google Docs when you’re logged in through Safari or Chrome on macOS.

Microsoft Word and Office: AutoCorrect, Shortcuts, and Insert Symbol

Word doesn’t just accept a keyboard shortcut for ™. It actively converts plain text into the symbol for you. Type ™ and Word’s AutoCorrect swaps it for ™ the moment you hit space or continue typing. Many Office desktop apps also support Ctrl+Alt+T as a direct shortcut, according to wikiHow’s documentation of Office trademark shortcuts.

If AutoCorrect isn’t firing, or you want to build your own version of it, here’s how to set it up manually in Word:

  1. Go to File → Options → Proofing → AutoCorrect Options.
  2. In the “Replace” field, type the text you want to trigger the swap (commonly “™”).
  3. In the “With” field, paste or insert the ™ symbol itself.
  4. Click Add, then OK.

Once that’s saved, typing your trigger text anywhere in Office automatically produces the symbol, every time.

For a one-off insert without touching AutoCorrect settings, use Insert → Symbol → More Symbols, then look under the Special Characters tab (or search by character code 2122 in the regular Symbols grid). This is slower than a shortcut but useful if you’ve forgotten every other method.

One thing worth flagging: Office Online (the browser version) doesn’t always mirror desktop AutoCorrect behavior exactly. If a shortcut works in desktop Word but not in the browser version, that’s the likely reason, not a broken keyboard.

HTML and Unicode Codes for Web and Code Use

If you’re writing HTML, CSS, or working in a code editor, none of the keyboard shortcuts above matter. What you need are the raw codes. The trademark character sits at Unicode code point U+2122, and it has two equivalent HTML entities you can drop straight into markup, confirmed by Symbol Hippo’s trademark reference.

Label Unicode Decimal Entity Named Entity
Trademark U+2122 ™ ™

In raw HTML, either entity renders identically:

<p>Brand Name&trade;</p> or <p>Brand Name™</p>

If you’re generating the symbol through CSS instead of typing it directly into markup, the content property accepts the Unicode escape:

content: "2122";

Both approaches produce the exact same glyph in the browser. Named entities like ™ tend to be easier to read in raw source code, while numeric entities like ™ are more portable across older or stricter parsers that don’t recognize named entities.

Typing ™ on Phones, Chromebooks, and Linux

None of the desktop shortcuts translate directly to mobile keyboards, but every phone has a workaround.

On both iOS and Android, long-press the punctuation or symbol key on your keyboard (usually the key showing “123” or “.,?!”) and hold it briefly. A small popup menu of extra characters appears, and ™ is commonly included alongside currency symbols and other marks. If it’s not there, switch to your keyboard’s dedicated symbol or emoji panel and search “trademark.”

Chromebooks don’t support classic Alt codes the way Windows does. Your best options are typing ™ inside Google Docs, which autocorrects it the same way Word does, or using the Unicode input method if your Chrome OS version supports it. Copy-paste remains the fastest universal fallback here.

On Linux, most desktop environments support a Compose key sequence for special characters, though the exact combination varies by distribution and keyboard layout. Character map utilities (like GNOME Characters) also let you search “trademark” and insert it directly. When in doubt, copy-paste from a browser tab wins every time.

Copy This ™ Symbol and Paste It Wherever You Need It

Here’s the symbol on its own, ready to copy: ™

Select it, copy it, and paste it directly into your document, email, spreadsheet, or web form. It’s a standard Unicode character, so it displays correctly in virtually every modern font on every platform. In the rare case a font doesn’t include the glyph, plain text “TM” in superscript or regular case is the universal fallback that never fails to render.

Why Alt Codes Fail and How to Fix It Fast

When Alt + 0153 produces nothing, or the wrong character, or just a beep, it’s almost always one of these five things:

  • Num Lock is off, which is the single most common cause by far.
  • You’re typing the digits on the top row of your keyboard instead of a true numeric keypad.
  • Your laptop has a hidden numeric keypad that isn’t activated (check for Fn + NumLk).
  • You’re inside a remote desktop session, SSH terminal, or virtual machine that intercepts the keystroke combination before it reaches the app.
  • The specific application or web field blocks Alt code input entirely, which happens more often in browser-based forms than in desktop software.

Fixing most of these takes under a minute. Enable Num Lock, try Fn+NumLk if your laptop has a hidden keypad, or open the On-Screen Keyboard (Windows Start menu search) and click the digits with your mouse instead of your physical keyboard. On Mac, open Character Viewer (Control+Command+Space) and search “trademark” directly. In Word or Excel, Insert → Symbol sidesteps keyboard shortcuts entirely.

Pro Tip: If you regularly work across a desktop, laptop, and phone, don’t rely on memorizing four different shortcuts. Keep the copy-paste version handy in a notes app or clipboard manager so you always have a fallback that works everywhere, instantly.

Technical guidance from PSU’s symbol codes documentation treats Alt codes as a legacy, Windows-specific input method and recommends Unicode or copy-paste tools for consistent results across modern, mixed-device workflows. That matches what most people actually run into: the shortcut that works flawlessly on your office desktop might do nothing on your laptop an hour later.

™ vs ℠ vs ®: Which Symbol Do You Actually Need?

These three marks look similar but mean different things. ™ signals an unregistered trademark claim, something you’re using to identify goods but haven’t formally registered. ℠ is the service mark equivalent, used the same way but for services rather than physical goods. ® is reserved specifically for marks that have completed registration with a national trademark office.

In the U.S., that means registration through the USPTO, and ® should only appear once that registration is actually granted. The Windows Alt code for the registered symbol is Alt + 0174, following the exact same numeric-keypad process as Alt + 0153. If you’re working through the difference in more detail, our guide to the registered trademark symbol covers ® specifically, and our breakdown of ™ vs ℠ is worth a look if you’re deciding between those two.

One quick note: this is practical notation guidance, not legal advice. If you need to confirm registration status or legal requirements for your specific mark, the USPTO’s own resources are the authoritative source, not a keyboard shortcut guide.

When I Use Each Method (and Why It Depends on the Keyboard)

At a full desktop keyboard, Alt + 0153 is second nature at this point, fast enough that I barely think about it. On a laptop without a numeric pad, though, that same shortcut becomes more trouble than it’s worth, so AutoCorrect in Word handles most of the load during heavy document editing, since typing ™ and letting Office do the conversion is faster than hunting for a workaround. Everywhere else, particularly web forms, mobile apps, and anything in a browser, copy-paste is simply the most dependable option, because it doesn’t care what operating system or app you’re using.

Pro Tip: If you find yourself typing ™, ®, or © regularly, save each symbol in a text snippet manager or a browser bookmark so you can grab it in two clicks instead of remembering four different keyboard combinations.

Get Every Symbol You Need Without Memorizing a Single Shortcut

Copyrighttoolkit exists so you never have to memorize an Alt code, hunt for a hidden numeric keypad, or troubleshoot a keyboard shortcut that stopped working the moment you switched devices. Instead of juggling Windows codes, Mac combinations, and Unicode conversions in your head, you get one place with every symbol ready to copy, no numeric keypad required.

Copyrighttoolkit

That matters most for anyone who moves between machines during the day: a desktop at the office, a laptop on the couch, a phone for quick edits on the go. Rather than relearning which shortcut applies where, you paste the same character every time and move on with your work. If you also need the registered mark, the guide on typing the registered trademark symbol covers ® with the same copy-paste simplicity, and if you’re prepping front matter for a published book, the book copyright page guide walks through symbol placement and legal conventions for that specific use case.

Head to Copyrighttoolkit now, grab the symbol you need, and paste it into whatever you’re working on. No numpad, no AutoCorrect setup, no memorized codes.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the Alt code for the trademark symbol?
The Windows Alt code for ™ is Alt + 0153. Hold Alt, type 0153 on a numeric keypad with Num Lock enabled, then release Alt.

Why doesn’t Alt + 0153 work on my laptop?
Most laptops lack a dedicated numeric keypad. Check for a hidden keypad activated with Fn+NumLk, use the On-Screen Keyboard, or switch to copy-paste instead.

How do I type ™ on a Mac?
Press Option + 2. On some European keyboard layouts, use Shift + Option + 2 instead, since Option + 2 alone produces a different character there.

Does Word automatically convert ™ into ™?
Yes. Word’s AutoCorrect feature replaces ™ with ™ automatically, and many Office desktop apps also support Ctrl+Alt+T as a direct shortcut.

What’s the difference between ™, ℠, and ®?
™ marks an unregistered trademark claim on goods, ℠ is the equivalent for services, and ® is reserved for marks officially registered with a national trademark office such as the USPTO.

Is there a Unicode code for the trademark symbol?
Yes. The Unicode code point is U+2122, with HTML entities ™ (decimal) and ™ (named) producing the identical character in web pages.

Frequently Asked Questions — overview diagram

Sources

A few references worth keeping handy if you want to double-check any of the shortcuts above:

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