How to type an asterisk in Microsoft Word

Alt + X: Word's best-kept shortcut

Type a character's hex code and press Alt + X right after it. Word swaps the code for the character. Press Alt + X again with the cursor after a character to turn it back into its code.

Type	Then press	You get
2731	Alt + X	✱ heavy asterisk
2733	Alt + X	✳ eight-spoked asterisk
2042	Alt + X	⁂ asterism
2217	Alt + X	∗ asterisk operator

Alt + X works in Word for Windows. On a Mac, use the Mac methods instead.

Insert → Symbol

1. Go to Insert → Symbol → More Symbols.
2. Choose the font Segoe UI Symbol and the subset Dingbats to see the decorative asterisks.
3. Select one and click Insert. Word adds it to the Recently used list for next time.

Why does Word make my text bold?

With the default settings, typing *hello* turns into hello in bold and the asterisks disappear. To keep the asterisks:

• Press Ctrl + Z immediately after Word changes it, to undo just the formatting.
• Or turn it off: File → Options → Proofing → AutoCorrect Options → AutoFormat As You Type, then untick *Bold* and _italic_ with real formatting.

Asterisk footnotes

Word can number footnotes with symbols instead of numbers:

1. Go to References and open the Footnotes dialog (the small arrow in the corner of the Footnotes group).
2. Under Number format, choose *, †, ‡, §.
3. Click Insert.

That's the traditional order for symbol footnotes. Our footnote symbols guide explains when to use it.

Finding a literal asterisk

In Find and Replace, a plain * search finds asterisks normally. But if Use wildcards is ticked, * means "any text". To find a real asterisk with wildcards on, search for \*.