How to type the Japanese yen symbol on keyboard (Mac and PC)?

Need to add the Japanese yen symbol to your document, website, email, or when sending a DM?

Look no further. We’ll walk you through everything you need to know about inserting the Japanese yen sign on your keyboard and smartphone.

And if you need to send pounds to Japanese yen overseas, Revolut can help, with competitive fees and exchange rates.

What's the Japanese yen symbol?

The yen sign looks like this:

¥

The standard Japanese yen symbol ¥ is represented by a Latin letter Y intersected by 2 horizontal parallel lines. This specific mark is used across financial networks to represent the official currency of Japan.

While it's used as the main symbol for the currency in Japan, the same symbol is also used in China to represent its national currency, the Chinese yuan (also known as the renminbi).

To distinguish between the 2 currencies, people often append the country code. This creates the unique prefixes JP¥ and CN¥.

The Latin symbol with 2 bars is common in other countries. In Japan, the symbol with 2 bars is the kanji character.

Does the yen symbol come before or after the number?

When writing transaction values, the yen symbol is placed immediately before the number with no space in between.

For example, if you're documenting a sum of one thousand yen, you should write it as ¥1,000.

Although this prefix style is standard in global business, you might occasionally see the symbol placed after the number in informal contexts or local retail environments in Japan.

What's the abbreviation for the Japanese yen?

On global currency exchange platforms, and in personal travel apps, the Japanese currency is designated by a standardised 3-letter code.

The official abbreviation to look for is JPY. When exchanging currencies or executing international transfers, this code ensures complete accuracy.

When travelling through Japan, you'll also see the kanji symbol 円 widely used on price tags and local receipts. Understanding these variations makes managing your travel expenses significantly easier.

How do you type the yen symbol on keyboard layouts (Mac and PC)?

If you need to input the yen sign on keyboards, the process varies slightly depending on whether you're working on a Windows operating system or a macOS device.

Typing the yen symbol on a Windows PC or laptop

Windows computers provide several direct methods to produce the currency mark without needing to copy and paste.

Using the numeric keypad:

1. If your hardware features a separate number pad, ensure that Num Lock is active
2. Hold down the Alt key and type 0165 on the number pad
3. The character will appear when you release the Alt key

This is known as the yen alt-code PC method.

Using the Character Map:

1. Press the Windows logo key and R together to open the Run box, type 'charmap' with no quotation marks, and press Enter
2. This displays the built-in system table. Locate the Japanese yen sign in the grid, copy it, and paste it where you need it

Using the search panel:

1. Press the Windows logo key and the full stop key simultaneously
2. When the symbols window appears, type 'yen' into the search box to find and insert the character

Inserting the yen sign on a Mac device

Apple keyboards make entering international characters very intuitive. If you're using a standard macOS device, you can type the symbol in a single step.

To execute the shortcut, just hold down the Option key and the Y key at the same time.

This combination inserts the standard double-barred character immediately. If your Mac is configured to a specific regional layout, the shortcut may require pressing Option and the number 3 key.

Top tip: if you struggle with regional settings, you can press Control, Command, and Space together to open the Character Viewer, where you can easily search for the symbol.

How to insert a yen symbol on a mobile device (iOS and Android)

Typing on a smartphone or tablet is even simpler because virtual keyboards hold multiple currency configurations under a single key.

To insert the yen sign on an iOS or Android device, follow these steps:

1. Tap the text field to open your virtual keyboard
2. Switch to the numbers and symbols screen (usually marked by 123 or ?123)
3. Locate the standard currency symbol (usually the dollar or pound sign)
4. Press and hold down that symbol to reveal a pop-up menu of alternative currency options
5. Drag your finger to select the double-barred currency mark and release it

How to get the yen symbol in popular word processors without typing

If you're working inside a document editor and can't use physical keyboard shortcuts, you can insert the character through the built-in menus.

On word processors like Microsoft Word or Google Docs, you can navigate using these menus:

Microsoft Word: click Insert on the top menu, select Symbol, and choose More Symbols. Search for the character within the currency subset and click Insert.

Google Docs: select Insert from the drop-down menu, click Special characters, and select Symbol followed by Currency in the category menu.

For MS Word customers on a PC: there's also a fast hexadecimal conversion. Simply type the Unicode value 00A5 and then press the Alt and X keys simultaneously to transform the text into the correct symbol.

Using spreadsheet applications to format currencies automatically

If you often make holiday expense sheets in Microsoft Excel or Google Sheets, typing shortcuts by themselves isn't efficient. Instead, you can format entire columns to display the JPY symbol automatically.

To format your spreadsheet:

1. Highlight the columns or cells containing your numbers
2. Open the cell formatting drop-down menu at the top of the interface
3. Select Currency or More Formats
4. Choose the Japanese Yen options from the list

This automatically applies the correct prefix to every number while preserving the raw mathematical value for calculations.

Streamlining your personal international money transfers

Knowing how to write the yen symbol on keyboard layouts is handy for managing foreign currencies. By memorising these simple steps, you can draft packing lists and complete travel budgets without delays.

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