How to Type Tilde ~
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The tilde ~ is a versatile symbol used in programming, mathematics, languages, and everyday writing. In Spanish and Portuguese, it appears above letters like n and a to change pronunciation. In math, it means "approximately equal to." In programming, it serves as a bitwise NOT operator or a home directory shortcut.
Despite its many uses, the tilde can be surprisingly hard to find on some keyboards, especially on non-US layouts and mobile devices. The position of the tilde key varies by region and device type.
This guide covers every method to type ~ and related tilde characters on all major platforms. All characters on this page are Unicode text that works everywhere, from social media to code editors.
Tilde Symbol FAQ
The alt code for tilde ~ is Alt+126. Hold the Alt key, type 126 on the numeric keypad, then release Alt. For the tilde operator (∼), use Alt+8764. Make sure Num Lock is enabled.
On US and UK keyboards, the tilde shares a key with the backtick (`) in the top-left corner, left of the 1 key. Press Shift+` to type ~. On German keyboards, tilde is accessed via AltGr++ or as a dead key. On Spanish keyboards, it may be on AltGr+4 or a dedicated key.
In programming, the tilde has several meanings: in C/C++/Java it is the bitwise NOT operator (~x), in Unix/Linux it represents the home directory (~/Documents), in JavaScript it can be used for bitwise operations, and in regular expressions some flavors use it for pattern matching.
Use Shift+` (backtick key, top-left of the keyboard). If your layout doesn't have this key, try the Windows character map (Win+R, type charmap), or the touch keyboard (right-click taskbar > Show touch keyboard). You can also copy ~ from this page.
The tilde ~ (U+007E) is a general-purpose ASCII character used in programming, URLs, and informal writing. The almost-equal-to sign ≈ (U+2248) is a mathematical symbol meaning "approximately equal to" and is used in formal equations. There is also the tilde operator ∼ (U+223C), used in mathematics for similarity and proportionality.
On Mac, press Option+N, then the letter (N for ñ, A for ã, O for õ). On Windows, use alt codes: Alt+0241 for ñ, Alt+0227 for ã, Alt+0245 for õ. On mobile, long-press the letter key to see accented variants including tilde versions.