 
Alt codes to produce accented letters and unusual symbols A standard British keyboard on desktop computers cannot easily produce accented letters and unusual symbols. This can make life difficult when cataloguing books for email lists. The simplest way of getting round this problem (short of getting hold of a program to do it for you) is to use the Alt key on the keyboard in conjunction with the numbers on your number pad (NOT the numbers along the top of your keyboard). Holding down the Alt key and typing the number shown in the list below should produce the required character or symbol. This works with conventional keyboards with the Num Lock key switched on. Laptops without a separate numeric keyboard have a somewhat different arrangement for typing Alt characters - your laptop manual will tell you how to do it. The Pound sign in emails In particular, Alt-0163 produces the pound sign . This should always whenever possible be used in emails as the conventional pound sign on your keyboard can sometimes become mistranslated on the recipient's screen as =A3. Using Alt-0163 in your emails in place of the key should prevent this problem. ALT-0128 © 1890-2009 : The Clique | 119 years of UK trade information and services | 01904 631752 | |