Please Note: This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Excel versions: 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003. If you are using a later version (Excel 2007 or later), this tip may not work for you. For a version of this tip written specifically for later versions of Excel, click here: Superscripts in Custom Formats.
When working in Excel, you can easily format text so that it contains superscripts, subscripts, or whatever other formatting tricks you want. You use the Cells option on the Format menu to make these font modifications. This menu option is not available when you are defining custom formats, however. What if you want to place a superscript in your custom formats?
The answer is to use some of the special font characters available to Windows users. Using these characters you can easily insert superscripted numbers, as long as they are the numbers 0, 1, 2, or 3. Simply use the following shortcuts, where you hold down the Alt key as you type the numbers on the numeric keypad:
| Superscript | Shortcut | |
|---|---|---|
| 0 | Alt+0186 | |
| 1 | Alt+0185 | |
| 2 | Alt+0178 | |
| 3 | Alt+0179 |
These shortcuts work if you are using the Arial font in your worksheet, which is the default. If you are using some other font, the character codes to create the superscripted numbers may be different. In that case, you will need to use the Windows Character Map accessory to figure out what shortcut keys to use to get the results you want. (On my Windows XP system, I can access the Character Map accessory by choosing Start | All Programs | Accessories | System Tools | Character Map. It may differ on your version of Windows. You may also need to install the Character Map using Windows Setup program if you cannot find it on your system.) When using the Character Map, you can select a symbol and see in the lower-right corner of the program window what the numeric keypad shortcut key is for the character.
ExcelTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Excel training. This tip (1946) applies to Microsoft Excel 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003. You can find a version of this tip for the ribbon interface of Excel (Excel 2007 and later) here: Superscripts in Custom Formats.
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2018-10-01 15:36:28
Nikki Mezic
Question, I have a spreadsheet with thousands of numbers in it. I need to superscript the 4th number in each cell. Is there a way to do them all at once rather than one by one?
2017-02-11 06:27:47
Willy Vanhaelen
@rich soby
Try: =SUM(H2:H5)+N("1")
Teh N() function returns zero when it's argument is text so it doesn't affect the SUM function in this case.
2017-02-10 10:41:34
rich soby
Had a curious questioned asked - the excel is later embedded into power point - situation is a cell has a sum formula eg(=sum(h2:h6)) - and in some cases they want to put notes for the sums below on the PP slide - so they want to use a superscript on the sum number. Current solution is to convert the result to text and added a superscripted number (say 1-4) - I'm looking for a more elegant solution where say I add the text (superscripted) to the cell after the sum, but keep the numeric formatting and the sum formula - Like Sum(H2:h5)&"1"
2016-03-07 04:21:23
Shailendra
how to add the superscript of x
how to add the subscript of x.
2015-03-13 10:22:48
sugumar
how to add the superscript of 4.
for moment of inertia the unit is mm^4
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Please Note:
This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Excel versions: 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003. If you are using a later version (Excel 2007 or later), this tip may not work for you. For a version of this tip written specifically for later versions of Excel, click here: 
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