Method 1: Alt+X hex codes (fastest)
Type 20AC, press Alt + X → . Press Alt+X again to flip it back to the code — handy for identifying pasted characters. Every page on this site lists the Word code; no number pad needed, unlike Alt codes. See our guide comparing Character Map vs Alt codes vs Unicode hex input.
Method 2: Insert → Symbol
Insert → Symbol → More Symbols. Set “from: Unicode (hex)”, pick a Subset (Currency Symbols, Arrows) to browse blocks. The dialog shows the shortcut key if one exists — and the Shortcut Key button (method 4) lives right there.
Method 3: AutoCorrect (already working)
(c)→©, (r)→®, (tm)→™, --→– all happen automatically. Add your own: File → Options → Proofing → AutoCorrect Options → e.g. replace “(e)” with é. When it misfires, Ctrl + Z undoes just that replacement.
Method 4: assign your own shortcut keys
In the Symbol dialog, select the character → Shortcut Key → press your combo (e.g. Alt + E for é) → Assign. Stored in Normal.dotm, so it follows your Word profile to every document.
Method 5: equation AutoCorrect for maths
Inside equations (Alt+=), Word speaks LaTeX-ish: \alpha+Space → α, \pm → ±, \sqrt → √, \infty → ∞. File → Options → Proofing → AutoCorrect Options → Math AutoCorrect lists all 200+.
Copying from Word to the Web
If you paste text from Word into a website, WordPress, or CMS, smart quotes and accented letters can mangle into mojibake like ’ or café due to Windows-1252 vs UTF-8 encoding conflicts. Read our comprehensive guide on why Word breaks accented characters when pasted to websites.