What each punctuation key is called, and the symbols Mac menus use for modifier keys.
52 symbols - click any symbol to copy
Last reviewed on October 31, 2026
The 32 printable ASCII symbols each have an official Unicode name and several nicknames. # is the number sign, but people also call it hash, pound or octothorpe. | is the vertical line, usually called pipe. ` is the grave accent and gets called a backtick in code. Knowing both names helps when you search, read documentation or give someone instructions.
Mac menus and shortcut lists use small symbols instead of key names. ⌘ is Command, ⌥ is Option, ⇧ is Shift and ⌃ is Control, so ⌘⇧4 means Command, Shift and 4 together. ⎋ stands for Escape, ⌫ for the delete key and ⇥ for Tab. The Command glyph itself is Unicode's place of interest sign.
The ASCII symbols are on every standard keyboard, though some layouts need Shift or AltGr for characters like \ and |. Windows labels keys with words rather than glyphs, so the Mac symbols are mainly seen in documentation. If you need a character your layout lacks, copy it from this page.
Some keys are easy to confuse. The hyphen-minus - is not an en dash or a minus sign, and the apostrophe ' differs from the curly right quote. The tilde ~ and the caret ^ are often mistaken for each other in diagrams. Knowing the exact names makes searching and troubleshooting faster.
Unicode names it number sign. It is also called hash, pound sign (in the US) and octothorpe, and it is the symbol in hashtags.
They stand for the Command, Option, Shift and Control keys. Shortcuts such as ⌘C list them together with a letter.
/ is the forward slash used in web addresses and Unix paths. \ is the backslash, used in Windows paths and as an escape character in code.