How to use correct, typographic punctuation on Windows

After reading this good article on how to use and type “correct” punctuation on Mac OS, I thought I’d share how to type them on Windows—including on laptops without a dedicated numeric keypad.

Did you know that all characters (including those not visible on the keyboard) are represented by an Alt code, whereby holding the Alt key and typing the relevant 1–4 digit code will produce the required character?

Using the following list or with a quick Google search, we can see that the Alt code for an apostrophe (’) is: Alt + 0146

But how would we type this on a laptop without a num-pad?

Well, when combined with Fn + Alt, the following numbers:

7 8 9

4 5 6

1 2 3

0

can be represented as:

7 8 9

U I O

J K L

M

Using this, we can easily type the following, common symbols:

Single Quote (Left) ‘

Alt + 0145

Fn + Alt + MJUI

Single Quote (Right)/Apostrophe ’

Alt + 0146

Fn + Alt + MJUO

Quote (Left) “

Alt + 0147

Fn + Alt + MJU7

Quote (Right) ”

Alt + 0148

Fn + Alt + MJU8

En dash –

Alt + 0150

Fn + Alt + MJIM

Em dash —

Alt + 0151

Fn + Alt + MJIJ

Ellipsis …

Alt + 0133

Fn + Alt + MJLL

Note: Although not required, it’s better to enable Num Lock (through the On-Screen Keyboard if your keyboard doesn’t have a dedicated Num-Lock button), otherwise some Alt codes will do unexpected things, like go back in your browser, or move to the end of the document.

Happy Alt coding ☺ Alt + 1