How to insert alpha, beta, gamma, delta, and other Greek symbols in Word (2023)

There are four quick methods to enter alpha, beta, gamma, delta, and other Greek lettersinto the Word document: switch to Symbol font and press the corresponding letteron the keyboard; insert an equation and use Latex-like macros; add AutoCorrectrules; assign a shortcut to alpha, beta, gamma, delta or another symbol for quick typing.

To insert the alpha, beta, gamma and deltalettersin a Word document, you have different ways:

I.Using the Symbol font:

This method is very useful when you need to insert symbols rarely andit works only for Latin or Greek letters.

Anytime, when you type the text in the Word document, you can switch to the Symbolfont and use the corresponding Latin letters to enter Greek letters:

1. Click Ctrl+Shift+Q to switch your currentfont to the Symbol font.

2. Use symbols like normal font (e.g. in Symbolfont keyboard button "a" equals Greek letter "α", keyboard button "b"equals Greece letter "β",..., "l" -> "λ",..., "w" -> "ω", etc.):

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Note: This method works for inserting only one letter. Thus, if you want toinsert several symbols, you need to repeat these steps for each insertion.

After entering one letter using the Symbol font, the next character is entered usingthe previous font.

If you click Ctrl+Shift+Q twice, Word does not switch to the previous font, and theSymbol font doesn't stop to work after the first entered symbol. Thus, you will needto change the current font and style later.

(Video) How to make alpha beta gamma symbol through shortcut keys in Microsoft word

II.Using the Equation:

This way is perfect if you don't need to care about the format and compatibilitywith previous versions of Microsoft Office (a recommended approach for physicalscience and mathematics, which require a lot of math in the text with consistentfonts for all equations and symbols):

1. In the paragraph where you want to insert thesymbol, click Alt+= to insert the equitation block:

How to insert alpha, beta, gamma, delta, and other Greek symbols in Word (5)

2. In the equitation block without any additionalefforts, you can enter any letter that you need just by typing\+Name of the letter:

How to insert alpha, beta, gamma, delta, and other Greek symbols in Word (6),How to insert alpha, beta, gamma, delta, and other Greek symbols in Word (7),How to insert alpha, beta, gamma, delta, and other Greek symbols in Word (8),How to insert alpha, beta, gamma, delta, and other Greek symbols in Word (9)

Note: You can create a shorter name, see the point III.2.

III.Using auto-replace:

When you work with many documents and often need to paste one specialsymbol, you may not want to insert an equation each time. Microsoft Word offers ahelpful feature named AutoCorrect. The AutoCorrect options in MicrosoftWord propose two different ways to quickly add any special character, such as analpha, beta, gamma and deltaletter from the Greek alphabet, or evenlarge pieces of text:

  • Using the Math AutoCorrect options,
  • Using the Replace text as you type function of the AutoCorrectoptions.

III.1.Using AutoCorrect for Math:

Using this method, you can benefit the Math AutoCorrect options without inserting anequation. To turn on or turn off the AutoCorrect of the Math symbols, do thefollowing:

1. On the File tab, click Options:

How to insert alpha, beta, gamma, delta, and other Greek symbols in Word (10)

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2. In the Word Options dialog box, on theProofing tab, click the AutoCorrect Options... button:

How to insert alpha, beta, gamma, delta, and other Greek symbols in Word (11)

3. In the AutoCorrect dialog box, on theMath AutoCorrect tab, select the Use Math AutoCorrect rules outside of the math regionsoption:

How to insert alpha, beta, gamma, delta, and other Greek symbols in Word (12)

After clicking OK, you can use any of the listed Names of symbols andMicrosoft Word will replace them to the appropriate symbols:

How to insert alpha, beta, gamma, delta, and other Greek symbols in Word (13)

Note: If you don't need the last replacement, click Ctrl+Z to cancel it.

III.2.Using Replace text:

Using this method, you can come up with some sequence to use for replacing it to theLatin or Greek letter. For example, to replace some Greek letter with not short names,it is possible to use:

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To define the new, short names to some Greek letters, do the following:

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1. Insert the symbol for which you want to definethe short name, using the Symbol font and select it.

2. On the File tab, click Options.

3. In the Word Options dialog box, on theProofing tab, click the AutoCorrect Options... button.

4. In the AutoCorrect dialog box, on theAutoCorrect tab:

  • Ensure that the Replace text as you type option is selected,
  • The selected symbol has been inserted in the With field. If you use theFormatted text, select this radio button:

    How to insert alpha, beta, gamma, delta, and other Greek symbols in Word (18)

  • In the Replace field, type the sequence that should be replaced to thesymbol,
  • If such sequence doesn't used yet, click Add.

IV.Using a shortcut key:

Microsoft Word provides a way to define the shortcut key for the most often usedfunctions. Thus, you can assign a shortcut for inserting the alpha,beta, gamma or delta letter:

1. On the Insert tab, in the Symbols group,click the Symbol button:

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Note: If you use the character very often, you will find it in the Symboldropdown list:

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2. Click More Symbols....

3. On the Symbol dialog box:

  • To insert the alpha, beta, gamma ordelta from the current font (if exist), from theSubset dropdown list, select the Greek and Coptic:

    How to insert alpha, beta, gamma, delta, and other Greek symbols in Word (21)

  • To insert the alpha, beta, gamma or delta from the Symbol font, from theFont dropdown list, choose the Symbol font:

    How to insert alpha, beta, gamma, delta, and other Greek symbols in Word (22)

4. Choose the symbol and click the Shortcut Key...button to open the Customize Keyboard dialog box:

How to insert alpha, beta, gamma, delta, and other Greek symbols in Word (23)

5. In the Press new shortcut key field, type the keycombination that you want to use for the symbol or character (e.g., for symbol δused Alt+D) and click Assign.

Note: Be careful, you can reassign the assigned already shortcuts in Word. Besure, that after Current assign to: there are no active Word functions. In any case,you can reassign any existing function in Word to a different key.

See also this tip in French:Comment insérer alpha, bêta, gamma, delta et autres symboles grecs dans Word.

FAQs

How do I insert Greek symbols in Word? ›

Click the Equation tab in the Ribbon. Click the More arrow on the bottom right of the Symbols gallery. At the top of the Symbols gallery, select the drop-down menu (typically, this displays Basic Math). Select Greek Letters from the drop-down menu.

How do you type the Greek letter gamma in Word? ›

Type 03b3 or 03B3 (does not matter, uppercase or lowercase) and press Alt+X to insert the gamma symbol: γ Type 03b4 or 03B4 (does not matter, uppercase or lowercase) and press Alt+X to insert the delta symbol: δ

How do you type the Greek letter delta in Word? ›

Press Alt + 235 to enter lower case Delta (δ). Press Alt + 916 to enter upper case or capital letter Delta (Δ).

Is there a way to type Greek letters? ›

On the “Keyboards and Languages” tab, click on “Change Keyboards” > “Add” > “Greek.” 4. Expand the option of “Greek” and then expand the option “Keyboard.” Select the keyboard layout marked as “Greek.” You can ignore other keyboard layouts. Click “OK” and then “Apply.”

How do you write Alpha beta and gamma on a keyboard? ›

For example, to create the Greek letter Alpha (α), press the "Alt" key and type 224 using the keypad at the right side of your keyboard.
...
Alt Codes for Greek Letters.
CharacterDisplayedAlt Code
AlphaαAlt 224
BetaβAlt 225
GammaΓAlt 226
DeltaδAlt 235
10 more rows
May 4, 2019

How do you type Greek accents? ›

To type characters with accents, you first type the key for the accent, then the key for the letter. For example, the q gives an acute accent, so typing q a will give ά.
...
Accents and Breathing.
AccentKeyResult
smooth breathing'
smooth+acute/
smooth+grave\
smooth+circumflex=
Apr 13, 2021

How do I make Greek letters Alpha in Word? ›

Using an Alt keyboard shortcut to insert the Alpha symbol

Press Alt + 224 to enter lower case Alpha (α). Press Alt + 913 to enter upper case or capital letter Alpha (Α)

How do I insert Greek symbols in Word for Mac? ›

If you want the occasional Greek character, use Insert > Symbol > Advanced Symbol and select the Symbol font in the dropdown menu before clicking on a character. For some Greek characters, you can also type some text, select it and apply the Symbol font to the text, to obtain the Greek equivalents.

How do you make Greek symbols? ›

Alt Codes for Greek Letters

To create any of these Greek letters using the Alt codes, simply press the "Alt" key while simultaneously typing the listed number. For example, to create the Greek letter Alpha (α), press the "Alt" key and type 224 using the keypad at the right side of your keyboard.

How do I type Greek characters in Windows? ›

To start typing in Greek, click the letters ENG next to the clock in the lower right corner of the screen. Choose “Greek Polytonic keyboard” to start typing in greek, and click “US keyboard” again to go back to English.

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