Insert special characters in TextEdit on Mac
You can add special characters, symbols, and characters in other languages to TextEdit documents.
Note: When you edit a rich text document, TextEdit automatically replaces straight quotes and double hyphens with curly quotes and em dashes. See New Document options to change these settings.
Add special characters
Add mathematical symbols, arrows, and more using the Character Viewer.
In the TextEdit app
on your Mac, position the insertion point in the document where you want to add a character.Choose Edit > Emoji & Symbols, then choose a character.
For information about the Character Viewer, see Use Emoji and symbols.
If Apple Intelligence* is turned on, you can create custom emoji—called Genmoji. See Create your own emoji with Genmoji.
Enter characters in other languages
In the TextEdit app on your Mac, do any of the following:
Enter characters with accent marks: See Enter characters with accent marks.
Change the language you’re using: See Write in another language.
Mix writing directions: To mix right-to-left text (such as Arabic or Hebrew) with left-to-right text (such as English), see Change the direction of text. Or choose a direction in Format > Text > Writing Direction.
Enter text vertically: For languages that use vertical text, choose Format > Make Layout Vertical. You can also Control-click in a document, then choose Layout Orientation > Vertical. To revert to horizontal text, choose Format > Make Layout Horizontal.