How to Type Special Characters: @, #, Brackets and More
Where are @, #, %, brackets, backslash and tilde on the US keyboard? The sheet shows key, modifier and finger for 22 characters. Printable PDF.
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Contents
On the US QWERTY keyboard the @ sign is Shift + 2, the hash Shift + 3, curly brackets Shift + [ and Shift + ]. Whoever doesn't know that searches at every email address and every code block. The special characters sheet lists 22 characters that come up most at work, with the key combination and the responsible finger. Plus three empty lines for the characters only you need.
What is on the sheet
- 22 special characters in two columns: @, #, $, %, ^, &, *, round, square and curly brackets, underscore, plus, pipe, colon, double quote, angle brackets, question mark, tilde, exclamation mark, euro sign
- For each character the keys as chips: Shift plus key, or the Alt code for the euro sign
- The responsible finger with a color dot, matching the finger keyboard map
- Three lines "my own" for characters from your field
Three rules for special characters
Shift with the other hand. The percent sign is Shift + 5, the 5 is typed by the left index finger, so the right pinky holds Shift. Pressing Shift and the character with the same hand leaves the home position and you have to reset afterwards.
Punctuation belongs to the right pinky. Semicolon, quote, brackets, backslash and slash all sit at the right edge, and the pinky types them from the home row without the hand moving. Once you trust the pinky with them, the whole right hand stays put.
Learn the character, not the position. The US layout is the same on every QWERTY keyboard in the office. Learned once, it works on the laptop, the external keyboard and your colleague's machine. If you switch between layouts, the keyboard layout tool shows what moves.
How to use the sheet
- Mark the five characters you need daily. For most people that is @, slash, brackets, percent and the hash.
- Practice exactly those five for a week with the right finger on purpose, even if it is slower at first.
- Write in "my own" what your job demands: programmers curly brackets and pipe, accountants percent and plus, writers quotes and the em dash.
- If the letter rows don't sit yet, go there first: the finger keyboard map shows the base layout.
Pro tip
For characters without their own key, such as the euro sign or an em dash, Windows has the emoji and symbol panel on Win + period, and the Mac has Option combinations. How that works is in the article on typing emojis and symbols from the keyboard.
Next step
Special characters are the last stage, not the first. Anyone still searching for letters starts with the guide to learning touch typing or directly in the course. Anyone hitting the letters blind checks with the free typing speed test how much the symbols slow them down. And anyone typing a lot of numbers adds the numpad map.
Sources
- QWERTY (Wikipedia) - the US layout and its shifted characters.
- Keyboard shortcuts in Windows - Microsoft Support, including Windows logo key + period for the symbol panel.
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