U+00DF · Latin-1 Supplement
Eszett / Sharp S (ß)
The eszett, or sharp S, is a German letter pronounced like 'ss'. It is used after long vowels and diphthongs, so 'Straße' has ß while 'Fluss' has ss. Switzerland and Liechtenstein have dropped it entirely and write ss instead. A capital form (ẞ) was added to Unicode and is now officially allowed in German all-caps text.
Character codes
| Unicode code point | U+00DF | |
|---|---|---|
| Decimal | 223 | |
| HTML named entity | ß | |
| HTML (hex) | ß | |
| HTML (decimal) | ß | |
| CSS | \00DF | |
| JavaScript | \u00DF | |
| Python | \u00DF | |
| UTF-8 bytes | C3 9F | |
| UTF-16 | 00DF | |
| URL-encoded | %C3%9F |
Character details
| Official name | LATIN SMALL LETTER SHARP S |
|---|---|
| Unicode block | Latin-1 Supplement |
| General category | Lowercase Letter (Ll) |
| SymbolHero category | Accented Letters |
| Emoji | No |
How to type ß
Windows
- Hold Alt and type 225 on the numeric keypad (Num Lock on), then release Alt. Alt 225 uses the code page 437.
- Hold Alt and type 0223 on the numeric keypad (Num Lock on), then release Alt. Alt 0223 uses the Windows-1252 code page.
- In Microsoft Word or Outlook: type
00DFthen press Alt + X. - Open Character Map (search “Character Map” in Start), tick “Advanced view”, search for “latin small letter sharp s”, then Select and Copy.
Mac
- Press Option + S (US English keyboard layout).
- Press Control + Command + Space to open the Character Viewer, search “latin small letter sharp s”, and double-click the result.
- With the Unicode Hex Input keyboard enabled (System Settings → Keyboard → Input Sources), hold Option and type
00DF.
iPhone & Android
- Tap Copy at the top of this page, then long-press where you want it and choose Paste.
Docs & web
- Google Docs: Insert → Special characters, then search “latin small letter sharp s” or enter
U+00DF. - HTML:
ßorß - Excel / Google Sheets:
=UNICHAR(223)
Examples
- Straße
- Grüße aus Berlin
- groß
- Fußball
Good to know
Don’t mix it up: Often confused with the Greek small beta β (U+03B2), which looks similar but is a different letter; never use β in German words.
Tip: If you cannot type ß, write 'ss' (Strasse), which is correct in Swiss German and an accepted fallback elsewhere.
Display: the character itself is always the same code point, but its shape comes from the font on the device showing it. If you see an empty box, the font lacks this glyph—the text is still correct.
Similar accented letters
Questions
What is the Unicode for ß?
It is U+00DF (LATIN SMALL LETTER SHARP S), decimal 223.
Is there a Windows Alt code for it?
Yes: Alt 225 or Alt 0223 on the numeric keypad.
How do I type it on a Mac?
Option + S on a US English keyboard, or use the Character Viewer (Control + Command + Space).
What is the HTML code?
Use the named entity ß or the numeric reference ß.