Insert Approximate (Almost Equal To) Symbol in Excel

If you’re working with mathematical or statistical data, you may want to use the approximate symbol (≈). It is also called the approximately equal or almost equal symbol.

And, as you may have guessed, it means that two values are approximately equal. For example, A≈B means A and B are almost equal.

In this article, I will show you some simple methods to insert the approximate symbol in Excel.

A lot of people use the tilde symbol (~) for approximate, such as in A~B. This is incorrect, but it’s used more as a tilde symbol is available on the keyboard, and the approximate symbol is not.

Copy and Paste the Approximate Symbol into a Cell in Excel

The quickest way to get the approximate symbol is to copy it from somewhere (say a web page or another Excel/Word/PowerPoint file) and paste it into Excel.

Below is the approximate symbol you can copy and paste into a cell in Excel:

≈

Keyboard Shortcut to Get the Approximate Symbol

You can also use the below keyboard shortcut to get the approximate symbol in a cell in Excel:

ALT + 247

To use this shortcut, hold the ALT key and then press the number keys 2, 4, and 7 one after the other.

Once done, leave the ALT key, and the approximate symbol will appear in the cell.

Note that this would only work if you have a numeric keypad on your keyboard And you’re using the number keys on the numeric keypad. You also need to have the Num Lock enabled on your keyboard.

Also read: Insert Less Than Or Equal To Symbol in Excel

Formula to Get the Approximate Symbol

Another way to get the approximately equal symbol in Excel is by using the below formula:

=UNICHAR(8776)

Enter this formula in any cell in Excel and hit the enter key to get the result, which would be the approximate symbol.

Also read: Insert Infinity Symbol in Excel

Using the Symbol Dialog Box

If you don’t want to remember a keyboard shortcut or the formula, here is a foolproof way to insert any symbol in Excel – use the Symbol dialog box.

Below are the steps to use the Symbol dialog box in Excel to insert the approximate symbol:

1. Select the cell where you want the symbol.
2. Click the Insert tab in the ribbon.

3. Click on the Symbol icon to open the Symbol dialog box.

4. Select the Mathematical Operators option from the Subset drop-down.

5. Select the Almost Equal To symbol from the grid.

6. Click on Insert.

The above steps would insert one Almost Equal To symbol (aka the approximate symbol) in the cell selected in Step 1.

Once you have it in one cell, you can copy and paste it anywhere in the worksheet or any other place.

Also read: Insert X-Bar Symbol in Excel (Average / Mean)

Using the Equation Text Box

Another way to get an ‘Almost Equal To’ symbol in Excel is by using the Equation text box.

Let me show you how it works.

Below are the steps to get the approximate symbol with the equation text box:

1. Type ‘Character Map’ in the Windows search bar. It will show you the Character Map application in the search results.

2. Open the Character Map application.
3. In the Character Map, click on the ‘Advanced view’ option.

4. In the ‘Search for’ field, type almost and hit the Enter key. This will search and show you only those symbols that have the word almost in their name.

5. Double-click on the Almost Equal To the symbol, then click the Copy button.

6. Paste it into an Excel cell where you want the approximate symbol.

In this article, I have shown you five ways to insert the Almost Equal To symbol (aka the approximate symbol) in Excel.

I hope you found this article helpful. If you know of any other way to do this or have any feedback/suggestions, do let me know in the comments section.

Other Excel Symbol articles you may also like:

• Insert Diameter Symbol in Excel
• Insert Alpha Symbol (α) in Excel
• Insert Sigma Symbol in Excel (Σ or σ)

Other Excel articles you may find helpful:

• Find the Closest Match in Excel (using Formulas)
• Excel Wildcard Characters