U+00A7 · Latin-1 Supplement

Section Sign §

The section sign points to a numbered section of a legal code, statute, contract, or regulation, so readers can cite a specific provision precisely. Lawyers double it (§§) to mean 'sections'. It is also common in German-speaking countries for statutes and in academic or technical documents that cross-reference numbered subsections.

WindowsAlt 21 / 0167

MacOption + 6

UnicodeU+00A7

HTML§

§U+00A7

Character codes

Unicode code point	`U+00A7`
Decimal	`167`
HTML named entity	`§`
HTML (hex)	`§`
HTML (decimal)	`§`
CSS	`\00A7`
JavaScript	`\u00A7`
Python	`\u00A7`
UTF-8 bytes	`C2 A7`
UTF-16	`00A7`
URL-encoded	`%C2%A7`

Character details

Official name	SECTION SIGN
Unicode block	Latin-1 Supplement
General category	Other Punctuation (Po)
SymbolHero category	Punctuation
Emoji	No

How to type §

Windows

Hold Alt and type 21 on the numeric keypad (Num Lock on), then release Alt. Alt 21 uses the code page 437.
Hold Alt and type 0167 on the numeric keypad (Num Lock on), then release Alt. Alt 0167 uses the Windows-1252 code page.
In Microsoft Word or Outlook: type 00A7 then press Alt + X.
Open Character Map (search “Character Map” in Start), tick “Advanced view”, search for “section sign”, then Select and Copy.

Mac

Press Option + 6 (US English keyboard layout).
Press Control + Command + Space to open the Character Viewer, search “section sign”, and double-click the result.
With the Unicode Hex Input keyboard enabled (System Settings → Keyboard → Input Sources), hold Option and type 00A7.

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 “section sign” or enter U+00A7.
HTML: § or §
Excel / Google Sheets: =UNICHAR(167)

Examples

See 17 U.S.C. § 107
As set out in §§ 4–6
Terms & Conditions §4.2
§ 823 BGB

Good to know

Don’t mix it up: Often confused with the pilcrow ¶ (U+00B6), which marks paragraphs rather than sections.

Tip: US legal style puts a space between the sign and the number (§ 107), and most style guides avoid starting a sentence with it; write 'Section 107' instead.

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.