How to type an asterisk on a Mac

If Shift + 8 types something else

Your Mac is using a non-US keyboard layout. To see where the asterisk is on it:

1. Open System Settings → Keyboard → Text Input, click Edit, and turn on Show Input menu in menu bar.
2. Click the input menu in the menu bar and choose Show Keyboard Viewer.
3. Hold Shift and look for * on the on-screen keyboard.

Fancy asterisks with Character Viewer

Press Control + Command + Space (or fn + E on newer Macs) to open the emoji and symbols picker. Type asterisk in the search box and you'll see the asterisk family, including ✱ ✳ ✻ ❋. Click one to insert it.

If the picker only shows emoji, click the expand icon in its corner to open the full Character Viewer, which includes every symbol.

Type any asterisk by its code

1. In System Settings → Keyboard → Text Input → Edit, click + and add Unicode Hex Input (it's under "Others").
2. Switch to it from the input menu.
3. Hold Option and type the four-character code. Option + 2731 types ✱. Option + 2042 types ⁂.

You'll find each symbol's code on its page in our asterisk list. Switch back to your normal keyboard when you're done, because Unicode Hex Input changes what some Option shortcuts do.

Make a shortcut you'll actually use

If you type a particular asterisk often, set up a text replacement:

1. Open System Settings → Keyboard → Text Replacements.
2. Click +. Under Replace, type a short code like ;ast. Under With, paste ✱.
3. Now typing ;ast followed by a space turns into ✱ in most apps.

Text replacements sync through iCloud, so the same shortcut works on your iPhone and iPad too.