With the correct key combination, any user can write special symbols and characters, but there will always be an occasion when the desired symbol doesn't appear anywhere. The Windows Character Map should be enough to solve that problem, however, today we have an excellent alternative: Extra Keys Pro. This application works as a foreground keyboard, and all we need to inject symbols is just a click.
Text editors are supposed to be smart enough to generate special characters automatically. For example, if I want to reproduce the "fraction - one quarter", the exact process in Google Docs asks me to type 1-/-4 (without the hyphens), and the result is ¼. Office's autocorrect system behaves similarly, but the story gets complicated if we need stranger symbols.
Two fairly common examples are the "Spanish quotation marks" (Alt+174 and Alt+175) and the pound sterling £ (Alt+156), which are notably absent from Spanish and Latin keyboards. Fortunately, we have a solid alternative to configuration changes and the Windows Character Map. It's called Extra Keys Pro, it's a freeware application, and it has a portable version.
Write symbols that aren't on the keyboard with Extra Keys Pro
The zip file contains two versions, 32 and 64 bits. The "normal" edition of Extra Keys is easier to use, however, Extra Keys Pro has additional character maps and persistence support, so we can save its configuration. The default map is "Latin - Western Europe", more than adequate for accessing advanced symbols. Other options worth exploring are the phonetic alphabet, emoticons, and the "Other symbols" section to reproduce arrows and mathematical symbols.
In the Extra Keys Pro settings we can force its execution in the foreground, activate multiple processes, and use dark mode on the keyboard. The Key Sets tab presents the complete list of available maps (21 in total), and Output allows you to modify the output type, from individual characters to hexadecimal code.
I insist: if you really need to write symbols that aren't on the keyboard, Extra Keys Pro is an excellent ally. The program has no limitations or ads, and works on any Windows version from XP onwards.
Official site and download: Click here
