Upside down question mark (¿)
U+00BF · INVERTED QUESTION MARK · Unicode 1.1 (1993)
How to type ¿
Windows
Alt code (numeric keypad)
Alt+0191
Turn on Num Lock, hold the Alt key, type 0191 on the numeric keypad and let go of Alt: ¿ appears.
The shorter code Alt+168 works too in most programs.
Word and Outlook: Alt + X
00BF Alt+X
Type 00BF and press Alt+X right after it: Word turns the code into ¿. Press Alt+X again to turn it back into the code.
Emoji and symbols panel (Windows 10 and 11)
Win+.
Press Win + full stop (.) to open the panel, go to the Symbols tab (Ω) and pick ¿.
No numeric keypad on your laptop? See the other ways in our Alt codes guide.
Mac
Keyboard shortcut (U.S. layout)
⌥ Option+⇧ Shift+/
Press ⌥ Option+⇧ Shift+/ to type ¿. This is on the standard U.S. and U.S. English Mac layouts.
Character Viewer
Ctrl+⌘ Cmd+Space
Press Ctrl+⌘+Space (or the Globe key + E), search for “upside down question mark” and click ¿ to insert it.
iPhone
Long press on the keyboard
123 → ?
Tap 123, then press and hold ?. Slide your finger to ¿ in the pop-up and let go.
Checked on the English (US) keyboard. Other keyboard languages may place it elsewhere.
Make a shortcut (Text Replacement)
Turn a short word into ¿ once and type it in any app:
- Copy ¿ from this page.
- Open Settings › General › Keyboard › Text Replacement and tap +.
- Paste ¿ as the Phrase and type a Shortcut, for example ;upside.
- Now type ;upside anywhere: the keyboard suggests ¿.
Android
Make a shortcut (Gboard personal dictionary)
Teach your keyboard a short word that turns into ¿:
- Copy ¿ from this page.
- Open Gboard settings › Dictionary › Personal dictionary, choose your language and tap +.
- Paste ¿ as the word and type a shortcut, for example ;upside.
- Type ;upside in any app and tap ¿ in the suggestions.
Linux
Unicode input
Ctrl+Shift+U 00bf Enter
Press Ctrl+Shift+U, type 00bf and press Enter or Space. Works in GTK apps and with IBus (GNOME, Ubuntu, Fedora).
What ¿ means and how it is used
Upside down question mark (¿) is the Unicode character U+00BF, officially called INVERTED QUESTION MARK. It is in the Latin-1 Supplement block and has been part of Unicode since version 1.1 (1993).
People also call it or search for it as: inverted, mark, question.
On this site it is part of the punctuation and typography symbols (109 symbols), next to © ® ™ § ¶.
Codes for HTML, CSS and JavaScript
Tap Copy next to the code you need.
| HTML entity | ¿ | |
|---|---|---|
| HTML decimal | ¿ | |
| HTML hex | ¿ | |
| CSS | content: "\00BF"; | |
| JavaScript | \u00BF | |
| URL | %C2%BF | |
| UTF-8 bytes | C2 BF | |
| Unicode | U+00BF |
Will it show on my friend's phone?
Very likely yes: ¿ dates from Unicode 1.1 (1993), so every current system has a font for it.
Checking your device…
Names in other languages
What ¿ is called in the 12 languages of this site (Unicode CLDR and our editors). Tap a name to open that language's page.
| Language | Name |
|---|---|
| English | Upside down question mark |
| Português | Ponto de interrogação invertido |
| Español | Signo de interrogación de apertura |
| Italiano | Punto interrogativo capovolto |
| Français | Point d'interrogation inversé |
| Deutsch | Umgedrehtes Fragezeichen |
| Türkçe | Ters soru işareti |
| Bahasa Indonesia | Tanda tanya terbalik |
| Polski | Odwrócony znak zapytania |
| Русский | Перевёрнутый вопросительный знак |
| 日本語 | 逆疑問符 |
| 한국어 | 거꾸로 된 물음표 |
Related symbols
All Punctuation →Questions people ask
How do I type ¿ on a laptop without a numeric keypad?
On Windows press Win + full stop (.) and pick ¿ in the Symbols tab, or in Word type 00BF and press Alt+X. On a Mac press ⌥ Option+⇧ Shift+/.
How do I type ¿ on an iPhone?
On the English keyboard tap 123, then press and hold ? and slide to ¿.
What is the HTML code for the upside down question mark?
Use the entity ¿ or the numeric code ¿ (hex ¿). In CSS write \00BF, in JavaScript \u00BF.
Will ¿ show on every phone?
Very likely yes: ¿ dates from Unicode 1.1 (1993), so every current system has a font for it.