How to Type ß (Sharp s (eszett)) on HTML

Published July 29, 2026, 2 min read

The letter ß does not have its own key on an English keyboard, but HTML still makes it easy to type. Use ß, or pick one of the other methods in this guide. ß appears in German.

ß on HTML: ß

Or copy it:

Method 1: Codes for web pages

Format	Code for ß
Named entity	`ß`
Decimal entity	`ß`
Hex entity	`ß`
CSS content	`content: "\00DF";`
JavaScript	`"\u00DF"`
URL encoded	`%C3%9F`
UTF-8 bytes	`C3 9F`

Method 2: Type it directly with UTF-8

If your page starts with <meta charset="utf-8"> and the file is saved as UTF-8, you can paste ß straight into the HTML. Entities are only needed when your editor or database cannot store the character.

Method 3: Watch for normalization

ß can also be written as s plus a combining mark. Both look the same but compare as different strings. In JavaScript, call str.normalize("NFC") before comparing or searching.

About the letter ß

ß is Unicode U+00DF, named LATIN SMALL LETTER SHARP S. It is used in German. See the ß character page for every code and shortcut.

Troubleshooting

If you see Ã and other symbols, the file is UTF-8 but the browser reads it as Windows-1252. Add the meta charset tag.
Named entities are case sensitive: É and é are different letters.
In XML and XHTML only five named entities exist, so use numeric codes there.

Frequently asked questions

What is the shortcut for ß on HTML?

ß.

Can I just copy and paste ß?

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 ß?

U+00DF. In HTML it is ß.

Related guides

All accent shortcuts for HTML