Beta Symbol (β / Β): How to Type, Copy, and Use It
The beta symbol comes in two shapes: the lowercase β, the one you meet in finance, physics, and stats, and the capital Β, which is drawn just like a Latin B. Beta is the second letter of the Greek alphabet, so it usually stands for the second of something — the version after alpha, the risk measure beside alpha, the error you weigh against the first one. Here is how to type both, where to copy them, and what beta actually means across the fields that use it.
In a hurry?
- Copy it: click β or Β in the grid below.
- Windows: there is no Alt code for the real β. In Word, type 03B2 then Alt + X, or copy it. (Alt + 225 gives ß, a different letter.)
- Mac: open the Character Viewer (Control + Command + Space), search beta, and double-click β.
- Phone: add a Greek keyboard and β sits on the b key, or just copy it.
- In HTML β is
β; in a URL it is%CE%B2.
Table of Contents
Click any card above to copy. The lowercase β is what you want in almost every formula; the capital Β is rarely used because it is identical to the Latin B.
Beta symbol: every code in one table
The lowercase and capital beta, with the code for each method. Copy from the grid above, or use whichever shortcut fits the app you are in.
| Character | β | Β |
| Unicode | U+03B2 | U+0392 |
| Windows Alt code | None (see note) | None (Character Map) |
| Word (type + Alt+X) | 03B2 | 0392 |
| Mac | Character Viewer | Character Viewer |
| HTML named | β | Β |
| HTML numeric | β | Β |
| URL / percent | %CE%B2 | %CE%92 |
One thing trips people up: the old Alt + 225 code quoted for beta actually types ß, the German sharp s, not the Greek β. There is no Alt code for the real beta, so use Word, Character Map, or the grid above.
How to type the beta symbol on any device
On Windows
There is no Alt code that produces the real Greek β. The old Alt + 225 you will see quoted actually types ß, the German sharp s (U+00DF) — a look-alike, not beta. The clean routes: in Word, type 03B2 and press Alt + X; anywhere else, open Character Map (search charmap), find beta, and copy it. Or use the grid above.
On Mac
There is no direct Option shortcut for beta. Open the Character Viewer with Control + Command + Space, search beta, and double-click β. If you type a lot of Greek, add the Greek keyboard under System Settings, then Keyboard, and β sits on the b key.
On iPhone and Android
The fastest route is copying β 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 β is on the b key.
In Microsoft Word
Type 03B2 and immediately press Alt + X, and Word turns it into β. Use 0392 for the capital Β. Alt + X also works in reverse: put your cursor after the symbol and press it to see the code.
On Linux
Press Ctrl + Shift + U, type 03b2, then press Enter for β (use 0392 for Β). With a Compose key set up, some layouts also reach the Greek letters through the Compose sequence.
In HTML and CSS
In HTML, the named entity is β and the numeric is β; the capital is Β or Β. In a CSS content value, use the escaped code point \03b2. Serve the page as UTF-8 so the character holds.
What does the beta symbol mean?
Beta is the second letter of the Greek alphabet, and most of its jobs follow from that: it tends to mark the second thing, the counterpart to alpha. Beyond that, the meaning depends entirely on the field. The same small β carries very different weight in a lab, a spreadsheet, and a software release.
Beta in software: what a beta version really is
This is the meaning most people are actually searching for. A beta version is the near-final release you hand to real users to catch bugs before launch. Alpha comes first and is rough and internal; beta is more stable and usually goes to outsiders. An open beta is public, a closed beta is invite-only, and “in beta” means it works but is not promised to be finished. Google famously kept Gmail in beta for about five years, which shows how loosely the label gets used.
Beta in finance: how much a stock moves with the market
In investing, beta measures how much a stock or portfolio moves relative to the whole market. A beta of 1 moves with the market; above 1 is more volatile (a beta of 1.5 tends to swing about 50 percent more than the market), and below 1 is steadier. A beta near 0 barely tracks the market, and a negative beta moves against it. Beta is the risk half of the pair, while alpha is the extra return a manager adds on top of what that risk would predict.
Beta in statistics: the error you usually forget
In hypothesis testing, β is the probability of a Type II error — missing a real effect, a false negative. Its complement, 1 − β, is the power of the test. Where alpha (often 0.05) is the false-positive risk you set up front, beta is the false-negative risk you accept, and researchers usually aim for a power of 0.8, which means β = 0.2. Regression uses a different beta: the standardized coefficients, the β weights that show how strongly each variable predicts the outcome.
Beta in physics: particles, decay, and speed
A beta particle is a fast electron (β−) or positron (β+) thrown out of a nucleus during beta decay, and beta radiation is the stream of them. Separately, physicists write β for the ratio of an object’s speed to the speed of light, v/c, which is why it runs all through relativity and the Lorentz factor. One symbol, two unrelated jobs.
Beta everywhere else: blockers, brain waves, and more
Beta blockers are heart medications that calm the β-adrenergic receptors. Beta waves are the 13–30 Hz brain rhythms of an alert, focused mind. In finance you will also hear “smart beta” for rules-based funds, and in casual typing β often gets swapped for the German ß. The letter gets around.
β vs ß vs B: the look-alikes that cause real problems
Three characters get confused with beta, and the mix-up matters. ß is the German sharp s (U+00DF) — the character Alt + 225 actually gives you — and it is a Latin letter, not Greek. Β, the capital beta (U+0392), is drawn identically to the Latin B (U+0042), so a password or URL that uses one where a system expects the other will fail without any visible reason. If you need beta to be unmistakable, use the lowercase β, and check the Unicode code point rather than trusting your eyes.
Beta in URLs and encoding
In a link, β is percent-encoded as %CE%B2, the two UTF-8 bytes for the character, and the capital Β is %CE%92. A domain can carry β through Punycode, where it is stored as an xn-- address the browser decodes for display. If β shows up as β or a box, that is an encoding mismatch: the UTF-8 bytes are being read as an older encoding. Set the file, database, and page to UTF-8 and it displays correctly.
Copy-paste HTML codes
Everything for the web and for links in one place. Copy the entity you need.
| Character | Named entity | Numeric entity | URL (percent) code |
| β | β | β | %CE%B2 |
| Β | Β | Β | %CE%92 |
In a CSS content value, use the escaped code point \03b2. For the sibling alpha symbol and every other character, see the copy and paste symbols tool.
Troubleshooting
My β shows as β or a box
That is an encoding mismatch — the UTF-8 bytes for β are being read as an older encoding. Set the file, database, and page charset to UTF-8 and β displays correctly.
Alt + 225 gives me ß, not β
That is expected. Alt + 225 maps to the German sharp s (ß, U+00DF), which only looks like beta in some fonts. There is no Alt code for the true Greek β. Type 03B2 then Alt + X in Word, use the Character Viewer on a Mac, or copy β from the grid above.
My capital beta looks like a normal B
It is supposed to. The capital Β (U+0392) is drawn identically to the Latin B. If you need beta to be recognizable, use the lowercase β instead.
Frequently asked questions
How do I type the beta symbol β?
There is no Alt code for it. In Word, type 03B2 then Alt + X. On a Mac, open the Character Viewer (Control + Command + Space) and search beta. On phones, add a Greek keyboard, or copy β from the grid above.
What does the beta symbol mean?
It depends on the field. In software it is a near-final test version; in finance it is how much a stock moves with the market; in statistics it is the Type II error rate (and power is 1 − β); in physics it is a beta particle or the speed ratio v/c. Beta is also the second letter of the Greek alphabet.
What is the difference between β and ß?
They look alike but are unrelated. β is the Greek lowercase beta (U+03B2); ß is the German sharp s (U+00DF), a Latin letter. Alt + 225 gives ß, not β.
What is the difference between alpha and beta?
Alpha is the first Greek letter, beta the second, and the pair splits the work in several fields. In software, alpha is the rough early build and beta the near-final test release. In finance, alpha is the return above the benchmark and beta is market risk. In statistics, alpha is the false-positive rate and beta the false-negative rate.
How do I write β in HTML?
Use the named entity β or the numeric β. The capital is Β or Β. In a URL, β is %CE%B2.
