How to type ©, ™ and ® on a Mac
All three sit on the Option layer, one key each. The marks carry different legal weight, which matters more than the typing.
How do I type the copyright symbol on a Mac?
Press Option + G for © (copyright). For the other two: Option + 2 gives ™ (trademark), and Option + R gives ® (registered trademark). All three work directly in any text field on a US keyboard layout — no picker needed.
| Symbol | Means | Keystroke | Mojito shortcode |
|---|---|---|---|
| © | Copyright | Option + G | ::copyright |
| ™ | Trademark claim | Option + 2 | ::trademark |
| ® | Registered trademark | Option + R | ::registered |
| § | Section (statutes) | Option + 6 | ::section |
| ¶ | Paragraph (briefs) | Option + 7 | ::paragraph |
One honest caveat: these are the US layout combinations. On some international keyboard layouts the same Option combos map to accented letters instead, so the shortcut can differ — if it doesn't produce the right symbol, the character picker below always works regardless of layout.
Why "(c)" sometimes turns into © on its own
Some apps — Pages and Mail among them — run text substitution that auto-converts (c) to © and (r) to ® as you type. If you've seen the symbol appear without pressing the shortcut, that's why. It's controlled in System Settings → Keyboard → Text Input → Edit or the app's own Edit → Substitutions menu, same place as Smart Dashes and other auto-corrections.
Other routes
⌃ + ⌘ + Space opens the system character picker if you'd rather search than remember three separate shortcuts — type "copyright", "trademark", or "registered" and double-click the result. To confirm any of these five shortcuts on your own keyboard before you rely on them, open Keyboard Viewer (System Settings → Keyboard → Input Sources → Show Input Menu in menu bar, then "Show Keyboard Viewer") and hold Option to see every symbol light up on its key.
Building a web page instead of typing directly? The HTML entities are ©, ™, and ® for ©, ™, and ® respectively — more reliable than a pasted character when you're not sure about the file's encoding.
Faster with Mojito
Mojito replaces all five of these with typed shortcodes instead of key combinations: ::copyright, ::trademark, and ::registered for the marks above, plus ::section and ::paragraph for § and ¶. One consistent pattern instead of five different modifier combos to remember.
::copyright → © in any app.What the marks actually mean
™ vs ® — which one do I want?
™ marks a claim to a trademark, registered or not — you can use it on a name or logo the moment you start using it in commerce. ® is reserved for marks actually registered with a trademark office (the USPTO, for a US registration); using ® on an unregistered mark can get you in real legal trouble. This isn't legal advice, just the general distinction — check with a trademark attorney for anything that actually matters.
How do I type © on iPhone?
Set up a text replacement (Settings → General → Keyboard → Text Replacements) with a trigger like (c), or grab © from the emoji/symbol keyboard if your keyboard app includes one.
Do © and ™ mean my work is actually protected?
In the US, copyright exists automatically the moment you create an original work — the © symbol is a notice, not what creates the protection. Trademark rights work differently and generally come from actual use in commerce, or registration for the strongest protection. Again, not legal advice — just what the symbols do and don't establish on their own.
More guides: How to type the degree symbol on a Mac · How to type an em dash on a Mac · How to type a check mark on a Mac · All guides