Excel: Using Special Characters in Headers and Footers

SUMMARY

To enter special characters in a Microsoft Excel worksheet, hold down the OPTION key or the OPTION+SHIFT keys while pressing a character key on the keyboard.

You can use special characters in Excel headers and footers. However, what appears in the Page Setup header or footer box and what appears in the printout may differ.

The default font for Excel headers and footers is Chicago, which can be changed by typing &"<font name>" in the header/footer box of the Page Setup dialog box. Anything that is typed into the header/footer box in Page Setup appears in the Chicago font but prints in the chosen font.

Since each font has its own set of special characters, choose Key Caps from the Apple menu with the desired font chosen to see how a particular character is displayed in the given font. Key Caps shows the special characters for each font when the OPTION key and when the OPTION+SHIFT keys are held down.

Once the appropriate font and special characters are chosen, type them into the header/footer box. If one of the special characters does not exist in the Chicago font, a box will appear in its place in the header/footer box, but Page Preview and the printout will be correct.