How to Type æ (Ae ligature (ash)) on Excel

Published August 25, 2026, 2 min read

Typing æ (ae ligature (ash)) on Excel takes a few seconds once you know the trick. The short answer is =UNICHAR(230). Read on for step-by-step instructions, the uppercase Æ and what to do when a method does not work.

æ on Excel: =UNICHAR(230)

Æ on Excel: =UNICHAR(198)

Or copy it:

Method 1: UNICHAR formula

Type =UNICHAR(230) in a cell to get æ. To check a letter, =UNICODE("æ") returns 230. Both work in Excel 2013 and later and in Google Sheets.

Method 2: CHAR formula on Windows

=CHAR(230) also returns æ on Windows, because it uses the Windows-1252 code page. On a Mac CHAR uses a different code page, so prefer UNICHAR.

Method 3: Keyboard methods inside a cell

Double-click the cell, then use Alt+0230 on Windows or Option+' on a Mac.

Method 4: Find and replace accented text

Use =SUBSTITUTE(A1,"æ","a") to strip this accent from a column, for example when cleaning names for an email system that does not accept accents.

How to type the capital Æ

The uppercase form works the same way with Shift added where a letter is typed.

UNICHAR formula

Type =UNICHAR(198) in a cell to get Æ. To check a letter, =UNICODE("Æ") returns 198. Both work in Excel 2013 and later and in Google Sheets.

CHAR formula on Windows

=CHAR(198) also returns Æ on Windows, because it uses the Windows-1252 code page. On a Mac CHAR uses a different code page, so prefer UNICHAR.

About the letter æ

æ is Unicode U+00E6, named LATIN SMALL LETTER AE. It is used in French, Norwegian, Danish, Icelandic and Faroese. See the æ character page for every code and shortcut.

Troubleshooting

UNICHAR is not available in Excel 2010 and earlier.
CSV files saved as plain "CSV" may lose accents. Save as "CSV UTF-8".
If accents show as question marks after import, set the file origin to 65001: Unicode (UTF-8) in the import wizard.

Frequently asked questions

What is the shortcut for æ on Excel?

=UNICHAR(230).

Can I just copy and paste æ?

Yes. Click the copy button above, then paste with Ctrl+V on Windows and Chromebook, Cmd+V on a Mac, or touch and hold and choose Paste on a phone.

What is the Unicode code for æ?

U+00E6. In HTML it is æ.

Related guides

All accent shortcuts for Excel