How to Type ū (U with macron) on Excel

Published July 17, 2026, 2 min read

ū is u with macron, a letter used in Latvian, Lithuanian, Mandarin Pinyin and Māori. On Excel, the quickest way to get it is =UNICHAR(363). This guide covers every method that works, including the capital Ū and fixes for common problems.

ū on Excel: =UNICHAR(363)

Ū on Excel: =UNICHAR(362)

Or copy it:

Method 1: UNICHAR formula

Type =UNICHAR(363) in a cell to get ū. To check a letter, =UNICODE("ū") returns 363. 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 016B) on Windows or Unicode Hex Input (Option + 016B) on a Mac.

Method 3: Find and replace accented text

Use =SUBSTITUTE(A1,"ū","u") 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 Ū

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

UNICHAR formula

Type =UNICHAR(362) in a cell to get Ū. To check a letter, =UNICODE("Ū") returns 362. 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 016A) on Windows or Unicode Hex Input (Option + 016A) on a Mac.

About the letter ū

ū is Unicode U+016B, named LATIN SMALL LETTER U WITH MACRON. It is used in Latvian, Lithuanian, 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 ū 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 ū on Excel?

=UNICHAR(363).

Can I just copy and paste ū?

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 ū?

U+016B. In HTML it is ū.

Related guides

All accent shortcuts for Excel