How to generate obelus (aka division symbol) in Windows?
In Windows how do you generate '÷' ?
In Obelus Wiki, it is written:
In Microsoft Windows, the obelus is produced with Alt+0247 on the number pad or by pressing Alt Gr+⇧ Shift++ when an appropriate keyboard layout is in use
But I tried and it did not work (Windows 8.1). My keyboard layout is US QWERTY .
So, how do you generate this symbol ?
72 Answers
The basic US keyboard layout does not contain this key mapping:
There is, however, the so-called “United States-International” layout, which includes a tremendous amount of helpful additions:
(Both images are from Wikipedia’s QWERTY page.)
The characters marked red in the image above are changed to combining characters. This means they will not show up immediately, because they’re waiting for the next keystroke and combine with the entered character, if possible. This means ~o will produce õ. "o will produce ö. If you use Space or any other character that cannot be combined, they will show up like before.
To change to this layout, go to Control Panel → Clock, Language, and Region → Language → “English (United States)” Options → Add an input method → Search (upper right) for “International” → (Optionally remove the regular US layout) → Save
Seeing how the aforementioned behavior with combining characters is a relatively radical change, you might want to keep your regular layout, though.
You can switch between layouts (and languages) with WinSpace (Keep holding Win and press Space multiple times, like AltTab).
You can also switch backwards (in case you have many entries) with WinShiftSpace
The “Alt+0247” method works with normal US querty keyboard, too, but you need to use it the intended way: press down the Alt key and keep it pressed down, then press 0247 using the numeric keypad and release the Alt key. When using a portable computer without a numeric keypad, follow the manufacturer’s instructions for simulating them with normal keys.
The AltGr Shift + method mentioned on the Wikipedia page is specific to some unspecified keyboard layout. Using the US International keyboard (shipped with Windows), you can produce “÷” using AltGr Shift = where AltGr means using the Alt key to the right of the space bar.
