How to Type ī (I with macron) on Excel

Published July 12, 2026, 2 min read

The letter ī does not have its own key on an English keyboard, but Excel still makes it easy to type. Use =UNICHAR(299), or pick one of the other methods in this guide. ī appears in Latvian, Mandarin Pinyin, Māori and Hawaiian.

ī on Excel: =UNICHAR(299)

Ī on Excel: =UNICHAR(298)

Or copy it:

Method 1: UNICHAR formula

Type =UNICHAR(299) in a cell to get ī. To check a letter, =UNICODE("ī") returns 299. Both work in Excel 2013 and later and in Google Sheets.

Method 2: Keyboard methods inside a cell

Double-click the cell, then use Insert → Symbol (Unicode hex 012B) on Windows or Unicode Hex Input (Option + 012B) on a Mac.

Method 3: Find and replace accented text

Use =SUBSTITUTE(A1,"ī","i") 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 Ī

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

UNICHAR formula

Type =UNICHAR(298) in a cell to get Ī. To check a letter, =UNICODE("Ī") returns 298. Both work in Excel 2013 and later and in Google Sheets.

Keyboard methods inside a cell

Double-click the cell, then use Insert → Symbol (Unicode hex 012A) on Windows or Unicode Hex Input (Option + 012A) on a Mac.

About the letter ī

ī is Unicode U+012B, named LATIN SMALL LETTER I WITH MACRON. It is used in Latvian, Mandarin Pinyin, Māori and Hawaiian. A flat bar above a vowel, used for long vowels in Latvian, Lithuanian, Māori, Hawaiian and Latin textbooks, and for the first tone in Pinyin. See the ī 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 ī on Excel?

=UNICHAR(299).

Can I just copy and paste ī?

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 ī?

U+012B. In HTML it is ī.

Related guides

All accent shortcuts for Excel