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U+00FF · Latin-1 Supplement

Latin Small Letter Y with Diaeresis ÿ

The letter ÿ is y with two dots. It is rare in modern languages: French uses it in a few place names such as L’Haÿ-les-Roses and Aÿ, where the dots show the vowels are pronounced separately. Older Dutch typography sometimes used ÿ as a stand-in for the ij digraph, and it also appears in some names and historical texts.

WindowsAlt 152 / 0255
MacOption + U, then Y
UnicodeU+00FF
HTMLÿ
ÿU+00FF

Character codes

Unicode code pointU+00FF
Decimal255
HTML named entityÿ
HTML (hex)ÿ
HTML (decimal)ÿ
CSS\00FF
JavaScript\u00FF
Python\u00FF
UTF-8 bytesC3 BF
UTF-1600FF
URL-encoded%C3%BF

Character details

Official nameLATIN SMALL LETTER Y WITH DIAERESIS
Unicode blockLatin-1 Supplement
General categoryLowercase Letter (Ll)
SymbolHero categoryAccented Letters
DecompositionU+0079 U+0308
UppercaseŸ Latin Capital Letter Y with Diaeresis
EmojiNo

How to type ÿ

Windows

  • Hold Alt and type 152 on the numeric keypad (Num Lock on), then release Alt. Alt 152 uses the code page 437.
  • Hold Alt and type 0255 on the numeric keypad (Num Lock on), then release Alt. Alt 0255 uses the Windows-1252 code page.
  • In Microsoft Word or Outlook: type 00FF then press Alt + X.
  • Open Character Map (search “Character Map” in Start), tick “Advanced view”, search for “latin small letter y with diaeresis”, then Select and Copy.

Mac

  • Press Option + U, then Y (US English keyboard layout).
  • Press Control + Command + Space to open the Character Viewer, search “latin small letter y with diaeresis”, and double-click the result.
  • With the Unicode Hex Input keyboard enabled (System Settings → Keyboard → Input Sources), hold Option and type 00FF.

iPhone & Android

  • On iPhone and most Android keyboards, press and hold the y key and slide to ÿ. On a Mac, holding the key down works the same way.
  • 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 y with diaeresis” or enter U+00FF.
  • HTML: ÿ or ÿ
  • Excel / Google Sheets: =UNICHAR(255)

Examples

  • L’Haÿ-les-Roses, near Paris
  • Aÿ-Champagne, France
  • Pierre Louÿs, French poet

Good to know

Don’t mix it up: It is easily confused with ý (U+00FD), which has a single acute accent instead of two dots.

Tip: Its uppercase form Ÿ (U+0178) was left out of the Latin-1 character set, which is why some older systems cannot capitalize it correctly.

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.

Questions

What is the Unicode for ÿ?

It is U+00FF (LATIN SMALL LETTER Y WITH DIAERESIS), decimal 255.

Is there a Windows Alt code for it?

Yes: Alt 152 or Alt 0255 on the numeric keypad.

How do I type it on a Mac?

Option + U, then Y on a US English keyboard, or use the Character Viewer (Control + Command + Space).

What is the HTML code?

Use the named entity ÿ or the numeric reference ÿ.