ASCII character chart

Numbers are the language of computers. To communicate with programs (and with other computers), your computer
converts characters and symbols into their numeric representations.

In the 1960s, a need for standardization led to American Standard Code for Information Interchange (ASCII)
(pronounced ask-kee). The ASCII chart contains 128 numbers assigned to corresponding characters. ASCII provides
a way that computers can store and exchange data with other computers and programs.

ASCII-formatted text contains no formatting information such as bold, italic, or fonts. When you use Microsoft
Notepad or save a file as plain text in Microsoft Office Word, ASCII is used. You might have read an advertisement for
a job opening where the employer asked for resumes in ASCII format. This means whether you send your resume in
an e-mail message, fax, or as a printed copy, the employer wants your resume to contain no special style formatting.
ASCII-formatted text works well with Optical Character Recognition (OCR) scanning software, which large companies
frequently use to scan resumes.

Insert an ASCII character into a document

In addition to typing a character on your keyboard, you can also use the character code of the symbol as a shortcut,
or when a symbol isn't available on the keyboard you are using.

To insert an ASCII character from the charts below, press and hold down ALT while typing the decimal
numeric equivalent.

For example, to insert the degree () symbol, press and hold down ALT while typing 0176 on the numeric
keypad.

NOTE

You must use the numeric keypad to type the numbers and not the keyboard. Make sure that the

NUM LOCK key is on if your keyboard requires it to type numbers on the numeric keypad.

ASCII printing characters

Numbers 32126 are assigned to characters that you would find on your keyboard and appear when you view or print
a document. Number 127 represents the DELETE command.

ASCII printing characters chart

Decimal

Character

Decimal

Character

32

space

80

33

81

34

"

82

35

83

36

84

37

85

38

&

86

39

'

87

40

88

41

89

42

90

43

91

44

92

45

93

46

94

47

95

48

96

49

97

50

98

51

99

52

100

53

101

54

102

55

103

56

104

57

105

58

106

59

107

60

<

108

61

109

62

>

110

63

111

64

112

65

113

66

114

67

115

68

116

69

117

70

118

71

119

72

120

73

121

74

122

75

123

76

124

77

125

78

126

79

127

DEL

TIP

You can reference the extended character set for a particular font using the Character Map program in Microsoft

Windows. Click Start, point to All Programs, point to Accessories, point to System Tools, and then click Character
Map.

Extended ASCII printing characters

Extended ASCII characters meet the demand for more characters. Extended ASCII includes the 128 characters found
in ASCII (numbers 032 appear in a following chart), and adds an additional 128 characters for 256 total. Even with
these additional characters, many languages contain symbols that could not be condensed into 256 characters.
Because of this, there are variants of ASCII to encompass regional characters and symbols.

For example, the ASCII table also known as ISO 8859-1 is used by many software programs for languages in North
America, Western Europe, Australia, and Africa.

Extended ASCII printing characters chart

Decimal

Character

Decimal

Character

128

192

129

193

130

194

131

195

132

196

133

197

134

198

135

199

136

200

137

201

138

202

139

203

140

204

141

205

142

206

143

207

144

208

145

209

146

210

147

211

148

212

149

213

150

214

151

215

152

216

153

217

154

218

155

219

156

220

157

221

158

222

159

223

160

224

161

225

162

226

163

227

164

228

165

229

166

230

167

231

168

232

169

233

170

234

171

235

172

236

173

237

174

238

175

239

176

240

177

241

178

242

179

243

180

244

181

245

182

246

183

247

184

248

185

249

186

250

187

251

188

252

189

253

190

254

191

255

TIP

You can reference the extended character set for a particular font using the Character Map program in Microsoft

Windows. Click Start, point to All Programs, point to Accessories, point to System Tools, and then click Character
Map.

ASCII non-printing control characters

Numbers 031 on the ASCII table are assigned for control characters that are used to control some peripheral
devices such as printers. For example, 12 represents the form feed/new page function. This command instructs a
printer to skip to the top of the next page.

ASCII non-printing control characters chart

Decimal

Character

Decimal

Character

null

16

data link escape

start of heading

17

device control 1

start of text

18

device control 2

end of text

19

device control 3

end of transmission

20

device control 4

inquiry

21

negative acknowledge

acknowledge

22

synchronous idle

bell

23

end of transmission block

backspace

24

cancel

horizontal tab

25

end of medium

10

line feed/new line

26

substitute

11

vertical tab

27

escape

12

form feed/new page

28

file separator

13

carriage return

29

group separator

14

shift out

30

record separator

15

shift in

31

unit separator

Beyond ASCII
Another, newer table of characters is called Unicode. Because Unicode is a much larger table, it can represent
65,536 characters instead of the 128 of ASCII or 256 of extended ASCII. This larger capacity allows most characters
of different languages to be included in one character set.