Alpha Symbol (α / Α): How to Type, Copy, and Use It
The alpha symbol comes in two shapes: the lowercase α, the one you see in physics and stats, and the capital Α, which looks exactly like a plain Latin A. Alpha is the first letter of the Greek alphabet, which is why it turns up whenever someone means the first or the beginning of something. Here is how to type both, where to copy them, and what alpha actually stands for across math, science, finance, and design.
In a hurry?
- Copy it: tap α or Α in the box below and it lands on your clipboard.
- Windows: hold Alt and type 224 on the numpad for α; copy Α from the grid above.
- Mac: open the Character Viewer (Control + Command + Space) and search alpha.
- Word: type 03B1 then press Alt + X for α (0391 for Α).
- HTML: use α for α and Α for Α.
Table of Contents
Click any card to copy. The lowercase α is what you want in almost every equation; the capital Α is rarely used because it is identical to the Latin A.
Alpha symbol: every code in one table
The lowercase and capital alpha, with the code for each method. Copy from here or use whichever shortcut fits the app you are in.
| Method | Lowercase α | Capital Α |
|---|---|---|
| Character | α | Α |
| Unicode | U+03B1 | U+0391 |
| Windows Alt code | Alt + 224 | None (Character Map) |
| Word (type + Alt+X) | 03B1 | 0391 |
| HTML named | α | Α |
| HTML numeric | α | Α |
| URL / percent | %CE%B1 | %CE%91 |
How to type the alpha symbol on any device
On Windows
Hold the Alt key and type 224 on the numeric keypad for α, then release Alt. That legacy Alt code is the one that actually works on a standard Windows setup. The numbers have to come from the numpad, not the row above the letters. The capital Α has no Alt code, so copy it from the grid above or open Character Map (search charmap), find it, and copy. No numpad? Character Map covers both.
On Mac
There is no direct Option shortcut for alpha, so open the Character Viewer with Control + Command + Space, search alpha, and double-click it. If you type a lot of Greek, add the Greek keyboard under System Settings then Keyboard, and α sits on the a key.
On iPhone and Android
The fastest route is copying α from the box above. To type it regularly, add a Greek keyboard: on iPhone go to Settings, General, Keyboard, Keyboards, Add New Keyboard, Greek; on Android install a Greek layout in your keyboard settings. Then α is on the a key.
In Microsoft Word
Type 03B1 and immediately press Alt + X, and Word turns it into α. Use 0391 for Α. Alt + X also works in reverse: put your cursor after the symbol and press it to see the code. Insert then Symbol works too.
On Linux
Press Ctrl + Shift + U, then type 03b1 and Enter for α. In LibreOffice you can also type 03b1 and press Alt + X, the same as Word.
In HTML and CSS
In HTML write α for α and Α for Α, or the numeric α. In CSS content values, use the escaped code point \03B1.
What does the alpha symbol mean?
Alpha is a workhorse. It marks the first of anything, and because it is the opening letter of the Greek alphabet, it carries the sense of a beginning. In physics α often labels an angle, especially the angle of attack in aerodynamics, and it names the angular acceleration in rotation. In physics and chemistry an alpha particle is a helium nucleus, and alpha decay is a nucleus shedding one. Wherever it appears, alpha stands in for something specific, so the surrounding context tells you which meaning is in play. For the other end of the alphabet, see the omega symbol.
The two alphas: α and Α, and why the capital looks Latin
Lowercase α is the shape everyone recognizes: a small loop with a tail, close to a handwritten a. Capital Α is the odd one, because it is drawn exactly like the Latin letter A. That is not a coincidence, since the Latin A descends from the Greek alpha. In practice the capital Α is almost never used on its own, because readers cannot tell it apart from a normal A. When you need alpha to be visible, reach for the lowercase.
| Form | Character | Looks like | When you use it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lowercase | α | a script a | almost every equation |
| Capital | Α | a Latin A | rarely, since it is indistinguishable |
α vs ∝ vs a: the look-alikes that trip people up
Three characters get mistaken for alpha, and mixing them up changes the meaning of an equation. The alpha α is a Greek letter. The proportional sign ∝ (U+221D) means is proportional to, as in y ∝ x, and it is a relation, not a letter. And a plain italic a in a single-storey font can look almost identical to α. If a formula reads oddly, check whether you have a proportional sign where a letter belongs, or the reverse.
| Symbol | Name | Unicode | Means |
|---|---|---|---|
| α | alpha | U+03B1 | a Greek letter (angle, coefficient, etc.) |
| ∝ | proportional to | U+221D | one quantity varies with another |
| a | Latin a | U+0061 | the ordinary letter |
Alpha in statistics: the 0.05 you keep seeing
In statistics, alpha is the significance level, the threshold you set before a test for how much risk of a false positive you will accept. The famous α = 0.05 means a five percent chance of a Type I error, rejecting a true null hypothesis. If your p-value falls below alpha, the result counts as significant. There is a second statistical alpha too: Cronbach’s alpha, a number from 0 to 1 that measures how consistently the items in a survey or scale measure the same thing, with 0.7 and up usually treated as acceptable.
Alpha in finance: the return that beats the market
For investors, alpha is the return a portfolio earns above what its risk would predict, the value a manager adds beyond simply tracking the market. A positive alpha means beating the benchmark; a negative alpha means trailing it. It sits next to beta, which measures how much an asset moves with the market. Chasing alpha is the whole point of active management, which is why the word shows up constantly in fund marketing.
The alpha channel: transparency in design
In graphics, the alpha channel is the part of a pixel that stores transparency, the A in RGBA. An alpha of 0 is fully see-through and 255 (or 1.0) is fully solid. It is why a PNG can have a soft edge that blends into any background, and why designers talk about alpha compositing when layering images. If you work in CSS, the fourth value in rgba(0,0,0,0.5) is exactly this alpha.
Alpha everywhere: the constant, the waves, and the beginning
A few more places alpha earns its keep. The fine-structure constant α is roughly 1/137, one of the numbers that sets the strength of electromagnetism, and physicists have puzzled over why it has that value for a century. Alpha waves are the 8 to 12 Hz brain rhythm that shows up when you relax with your eyes closed, which is why meditation apps mention them. And alpha and omega, the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet, is an old phrase for the beginning and the end. In software, an alpha version is the first rough release, before beta.
Alpha in URLs and encoding
In a URL, α is percent-encoded as %CE%B1 (its two UTF-8 bytes); capital Α is %CE%91. In code, the string escape is \u03B1 for α and \u0391 for Α. If α shows as a box or garbled text, serve the page as UTF-8.
Copy-paste HTML codes
Every code for the alpha letters in one place. Click a cell and copy.
| Symbol | Named entity | Numeric entity | URL (percent) code |
|---|---|---|---|
| α | α | α | %CE%B1 |
| Α | Α | Α | %CE%91 |
In a CSS content value, use \03B1 for α. For its Greek-letter siblings, see the [delta symbol](/delta-symbol/), [sigma symbol](/sigma-symbol/), [theta symbol](/theta-symbol/), and [omega symbol](/omega-symbol/) guides, plus the full [math symbols Alt codes](/math-symbols-on-keyboard-alt-codes/) reference.
Troubleshooting
My α shows as a box or garbled text
That is an encoding mismatch: the UTF-8 bytes for α are being read as an older encoding. Set the file, database, and page charset to UTF-8 and α displays correctly.
My capital alpha looks like a normal A
It is supposed to. Capital Α (U+0391) is drawn identically to the Latin A. If you need alpha to be recognizable, use the lowercase α instead.
Alt + 224 does nothing, or Alt + 945 gives the wrong character
Use Alt + 224, not 945. The 945 code only works if you have switched on hex numpad entry in the registry, so on most machines it gives the wrong glyph. Alt + 224 needs the numeric keypad with Num Lock on. If it still fails, type 03B1 then Alt + X in Word, use the Character Viewer on a Mac, or copy α from the grid above.
Frequently asked questions
How do I type the alpha symbol α?
On Windows, hold Alt and type 224 on the numpad, or type 03B1 then Alt + X in Word. On a Mac, open the Character Viewer (Control + Command + Space) and search alpha. On phones, add a Greek keyboard or copy α from the grid above.
What does the alpha symbol mean?
It depends on the field. In physics it is often an angle or angular acceleration; in statistics it is the significance level (α = 0.05); in finance it is return above the benchmark; in design it is the transparency channel. Alpha is also the first letter of the Greek alphabet, so it stands for a beginning.
What is the difference between α and ∝?
They look similar but are unrelated. α is the Greek letter alpha. ∝ (U+221D) is the proportional-to sign, a relation meaning one quantity varies with another, as in y ∝ x.
Why does capital alpha look like the letter A?
Because the Latin A is descended from the Greek alpha. Capital Α (U+0391) and Latin A are visually identical, which is why the capital form is rarely used on its own.
What is alpha in statistics?
Alpha is the significance level you set before a test, the acceptable chance of a false positive (a Type I error). The common value is 0.05. Separately, Cronbach’s alpha measures how reliably a set of survey items measures one thing.
