Superscript Generator

Ordinary superscript is formatting, which vanishes when you paste into a chat box or a web form. These characters keep their raised position.

1. Type or paste your text into the Input box. Everything in the box is converted, so enter only the part you want raised.
2. Read the result in the output box. Characters without a raised form are left as typed.
3. Use the Style menu to choose Superscript or Subscript.
4. Click Copy.
5. Paste the result next to your normal text, for example after a base number or word.

For a power such as 10 to the sixth, type 6 alone, copy ⁶ and put it after a normal 10 to get 10⁶. If you type 10^6 the caret stays, because only letters, digits and the symbols + - = ( ) have raised forms.

In Superscript the digits 0 to 9, all lower-case letters except q, and the capitals A, B, D, E, G, H, I, J, K, L, M, N, O, P, R, T, U, V and W are converted, along with + - = ( ). The capitals C, F, Q, S, X, Y and Z stay normal, which is why Cats starts with a full-size C. The other style, Subscript, covers the digits and just seventeen letters.

Worked example. The default input x2 + y2 gives ˣ² ⁺ ʸ². The plus sign is raised too, which is rarely what you want in an equation, so for formulas convert only the exponent and keep the rest typed normally.

Unicode scatters the raised characters across several blocks. The digits ¹, ² and ³ date from the oldest character sets and are the most widely supported, while ⁴ to ⁹ and the raised letters come later, so a very old font may show boxes for them. Common uses are exponents such as m² and km³, ordinal endings, footnote markers after a claim, and a raised ᵀᴹ where no trademark sign is handy.

Some limits are worth knowing. Screen readers usually read ² as squared but may spell out raised letters, and search does not match raised words to plain ones. The table this tool uses has no raised q.

• For calculation rather than display, the scientific calculator takes powers with the ^ key, such as 2^10.
• For tiny words rather than exponents, the small text generator adds small caps.
• To see raised, small and many other alphabets together, use the Unicode text converter.

In a word processor, use its built-in superscript command, which looks neater than substituted characters. Unicode superscript is for plain-text places such as comments, form fields, spreadsheets and social posts.

Two jobs account for most uses of raised text, and both are easiest when you convert only the part that must be raised.

Ordinals. Typing 1st 2nd 3rd 4th converts everything, including the digits, and gives ¹ˢᵗ ²ⁿᵈ ³ʳᵈ ⁴ᵗʰ. If you prefer a normal number with a raised ending, as in 23ʳᵈ, type just rd, copy ʳᵈ and attach it to a plain 23. Many style guides prefer ordinals without raising at all, so check your own house style before choosing.

Footnotes and references. A raised number after a claim points to a note at the end of an email, post or document. Type the number, convert it, and paste it directly after the final word or the full stop, with no space. Use the same raised number again at the bottom of the text, followed by the note. For several notes, convert 1, 2 and 3 once and reuse the copied characters.

A few cautions apply:

• Raised digits sit close to the baseline of the text before them, so in a very small font they can be hard to tell apart.
• Do not use raised digits for phone numbers, prices or codes, because a copied number with raised digits will not work as a number in a calculator or a dialler.
• Raised letters can look uneven in a long word, since they come from different Unicode blocks with slightly different designs.