How to Enter Subscript and Superscript in Google Sheets

When you are working with statistical data inside Google Sheets, you may need to use subscripts and superscripts.

If you’ve never tried using these before, you may be wondering how to enter them into your spreadsheet.

In this tutorial, I will show you a few ways to add subscript and superscript in Google Sheets

What are Subscript and Superscript?

Subscripts are characters that are smaller than standard text that is positioned slightly lower.

For example, the 5 in X₅ is a Subscript.

Superscript is similar to subscript in that they are also smaller than standard text but these are positioned higher

For example, the 3 x³ is a Superscript.

Both subscript and superscript are useful in mathematical formulas and equations for a number of reasons.

Subscript is commonly used when writing chemical formulas or when showing different versions of a variable in a mathematical sequence.

Superscript is commonly used when raising variables to a certain power (x³) or for other more common uses like showing temperatures 100°F.

In Google Docs it is very easy to enter subscripts and superscripts, but in Google Sheets, there is not a built-in feature yet for this. Luckily there are still a few methods you can use to enter them into your spreadsheet that we will cover below.

How to Enter Subscript and Superscript

Copy and Paste Unicode Characters

The easiest way to add subscript or superscript to your Google Sheet is to use Unicode Symbols.

The best way to get Unicode Symbols into your spreadsheet is to copy and paste them from a website where you can look up the desired Unicode Symbols that you want.

For example, if you go to Unicode-Table.com you can copy any subscript and superscript numbers, symbols, or letters that you want and paste them into your spreadsheet.

CHAR Function

The CHAR function is a formula in Google Sheets that you can use to enter certain characters into your spreadsheet.

Each character has a number that is called an ASCII code. When you use that number with the character function it will return your desired symbol.

You can use this to enter subscript and superscript into your file.

The syntax of the CHAR function is:

=CHAR(number)

Below is an example of how to use this formula. You simply enter the character code of the superscript or subscript value that you are trying to return within the CHAR function.

After using the function to get your character you can paste your formula as values so you just have the symbol.

Subcript CHAR Code Numbers

Character	Code	Subscript Symbol
0	8320	₀
1	8321	₁
2	8322	₂
3	8323	₃
4	8324	₄
5	8325	₅
6	8326	₆
7	8327	₇
8	8328	₈
9	8329	₉
+	8330	₊
–	8331	₋
=	8332	₌
(	8333	₍
)	8334	₎
a	8336	ₐ
e	8337	ₑ
o	8338	ₒ
x	8339	ₓ
i	7522	ᵢ
r	7523	ᵣ
u	7524	ᵤ
v	7525	ᵥ
y	7527	ᵧ

Superscript CHAR Code Numbers

Character	Code	Superscript Symbol
0	8304	⁰
1	185	¹
2	178	²
3	179	³
4	8308	⁴
5	8309	⁵
6	8310	⁶
7	8311	⁷
8	8312	⁸
9	8313	⁹
+	8314	⁺
–	8315	⁻
=	8316	⁼
(	8317	⁽
)	8318	⁾
a	7491	ᵃ
b	7495	ᵇ
c	7580	ᶜ
d	7496	⁰
e	7497	ᵉ
f	7584	ᶠ
g	7501	ᵍ
h	688	ʰ
i	7588	ᶤ
j	690	ʲ
k	7503	ᵏ
l	737	ˡ
m	7504	ᵐ
n	8319	ⁿ
o	7506	ᵒ
p	7510	ᵖ
r	691	ʳ
s	738	ˢ
t	7511	ᵗ
u	7512	ᵘ
v	7515	ᵛ
w	695	ʷ
x	739	ˣ
y	696	ʸ
z	7611	ᶻ

Copy and Paste from Another Program

Another option is to create your superscript and subscript numbers or symbols in another program and just copy and paste them into your spreadsheet.

Google docs has the ability to enter superscript and subscript, so you can always enter them there first and then copy and paste them into your sheet.

For your convenience, we have also put common ones below that you can copy and paste into your sheet.

Common Math Superscripts:

⁰ ¹ ² ³ ⁴ ⁵ ⁶ ⁷ ⁸ ⁹ ⁺ ⁻ ⁼ ⁽ ⁾

Common Math Subscripts:

₀ ₁ ₂ ₃ ₄ ₅ ₆ ₇ ₈ ₉ ₊ ₋ ₌ ₍ ₎

More Google Sheets Tutorials:
How to Do Basic Math Formulas
Scientific Notation in Google Sheets
How to Insert Special Characters