This post is a step by step guide for adding special character formatting or symbols to your PowerPoint presentation.

What is superscript vs subscript?

Superscript is a font formatting to offset characters slightly above a line of font. Superscript is often used in:

• Mathematics
• To denote a footnote / reference - eg Smith et al indicated¹
• To refer to a designation such as a trademark or licensed term - eg Coca-Cola^TM
• For dates - eg June 10^th

Subscript is a font formatting to offset characters slightly below a line of font. Subscript is typically used in:

• Mathematics
• Science, writing chemical compounds, for example H₂O or N₂.

How to add superscript to PowerPoint?

There are a couple of different ways to make font Superscript in PowerPoint:

Option 1: Add Superscript in PowerPoint via Mouse or Tab

Step 1

In standard PowerPoint, you need to enter the text to convert to Superscript, then select the text.

Step 2

From the Home tab on the PowerPoint ribbon, select the flyout menu from the Font feature group. You will see an option for Superscript under the Font Effects grouping.

Step 3

Check the checkbox to convert selected characters to superscript. Note that by default the superscript will be offset 30%, but you can change the offset % (which will move the superscript characters higher or lower relative to the rest of the line of text).

Option 2: Add Superscript via PowerPoint Keyboard Shortcut

You can convert text to superscript in PowerPoint via a keyboard shortcut to set superscript in PowerPoint. Select the text you want to convert to superscript format and then select: Ctrl, Shift, Plus sign (+) at the same time.

Option 3: Add Superscript via PPT Productivity Superscript Feature Button

If you are a PPT Productivity Power Tools user, you can quickly convert text to superscript or add new text in superscript format, using the PPT Productivity superscript feature button which is on the PPT Productivity ribbon.

How to add subscript to PowerPoint?

There are a couple of different ways to make font Subscript in PowerPoint:

Option 1: Add Subscript in PowerPoint via Mouse or Tab

Step 1

In standard PowerPoint, you need to enter the text to convert to Subscript, then select the text.

Step 2

Next from the Home tab on the PowerPoint ribbon, select the flyout menu from the Font feature group. You will see an option for Subscript under the Font Effects grouping.

Step 3

Check the checkbox to convert selected characters to subscript. Note that by default the subscript will be offset -25%, but you can change the offset % (which will move the subscript characters lower or higher relative to the rest of the line of text).

Option 2: Add Subscript in PowerPoint via Keyboard shortcut

You can apply subscript formatting to text in PowerPoint via the PowerPoint superscript shortcut.

Step 1

Select the text you want to convert to subscript format

Step 2

Select the following shortcut key combination: Ctrl and the Equal sign (=) at the same time: Ctrl + =

How to add symbols to PowerPoint?

Option 1: Add symbols using the Insert Symbols option (the older set of PowerPoint symbols)

Step 1

To add symbols to your PowerPoint slide, go to the Insert tab on the Ribbon, then Symbols and then select Symbol. The Symbol popup box will appear.

Step 2

Selecting symbols requires you to first select a Font from the Font dropdown. The main Font options with symbols in PowerPoint are Webdings, Wingdings, Wingdings2, Wingdings3 and ZDingbats

Step 3

Select a subset of symbols from the Subset dropdown, and press Insert to add them to your presentation.

Option 2: Add symbols using the PowerPoint Icons Collection

If you have traditionally used PowerPoint symbols for things like wingdings, we recommend you also have a look at the PowerPoint icons collection - there is a much larger range, they are editable and best of all you can search by symbol name, category or descriptor. Here are the steps for adding symbols via the Icons collection:

Step 1

Go to the Insert tab on the PowerPoint Ribbon, then select Icons. A popup box will appear - note that the popup has multiple 'tabs' with different types of objects to add to your slides, but by default the Icons tab will be selected.

Step 2

Use the search bar on the Icons tab in the popup box to search for a specific type of symbol; key symbol in the search to see what PowerPoint has defined as a symbol collection, or you can also use the category tiles and scroll through the options if you are unsure of the specific symbol you need. For example the Commerce category has the various world currency symbols as well as other icons related to commerce which might be useful.

How to add special characters to PowerPoint?

Many of the special characters are alternate keys on your keyboard and can be accessed via the shift key. Special characters include things like ; ~ ` But for other special characters not available on your keyboard, you can follow the same approach as symbols to add special characters to your PowerPoint slide.

Step 1

Go to the Insert tab on the Ribbon, then Symbols and then select Symbol. The Symbol popup box will appear.

Step 2

Selecting symbols requires you to first select a Font from the Font dropdown.

Step 3

Select a subset of symbols from the Subset dropdown, and press Insert to add them to your presentation.

Is there a shortcut key to insert symbols in PowerPoint?

If you have PPT Productivity add-in for PowerPoint, you can use the custom shortcut key feature to add a shortcut for inserting symbols to your slide.

Step 1

From the PPT Productivity Ribbon, click Shortcut Keys then Manage Custom Shortcut Keys.

Step 2

Type symbol into the Command Name field, then click Symbol...[SymbolInsert] which will display in the search results.

Step 3

Choose a shortcut key combination for Insert symbol, enter it into the Assign new shortcut > Press shortcut keys field and then click close.

Step 4

Once you have set up this shortcut key, you can use it to open the Insert Symbol popup menu.

How to add emojis to PowerPoint?

There are a couple of ways to add emojis to your PowerPoint presentation

Option 1: Adding Emojis to PowerPoint via the Windows Emoji Picker

The Windows Emoji picker is available across Office apps. To use it:

Step 1

Place your cursor in the position on the slide where you want to insert the emoji.

Step 2

Hold down the Windows key on your keyboard along with the period / full stop key (.). This will display the Emoji Picker popup. From here you can scroll to find your preferred emoji.

Step 3

Click the emoji(s) to add to your PowerPoint slide, and close the popup box when you are finished

Option 2: Adding Emojis to PowerPoint via the PowerPoint Insert Icons Popup

Microsoft has included emojis as Faces in the PowerPoint Icons Popup. To add emojis to your PowerPoint slide:

Step 1

Go to the Insert tab on the Ribbon, then Icons. The Icons popup box will appear.

Step 2

Select Icons from the Ribbon menu on the popup and then select Faces from the Ribbon menu beneath the search bar. You can then scroll down the results to select the relevant emoji. You can alternatively type Emoji in the Icons search bar, however this search only returns a subset of the emojis available in the Faces menu.

Step 3

Select the emojis/ faces to add to your presentation and then click Insert to add them to your PowerPoint slide. Note that emojis added from this option are in black and white only.

Note: The emojis shown in the image below are available when using Microsoft 365 subscription Office. Microsoft Office 2019 and earlier versions may only have a subset of Icons available.