Please Note: This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Word versions: 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, 2021, and Word in Microsoft 365. If you are using an earlier version (Word 2003 or earlier), this tip may not work for you. For a version of this tip written specifically for earlier versions of Word, click here: Inserting a Section Mark.

Inserting a Section Mark

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated February 18, 2023)

In legal and scholarly documents, it is sometimes necessary to use a character commonly known as a section mark. This character looks like a stylized S with a small circle in the middle of it. This character is not available from the keyboard, but can be inserted in a document in two ways. The first is to hold down the Alt key and type the numbers 0167 on the numeric keypad. The second method involves these steps:

Display the Insert tab of the ribbon.
Click the Symbol tool and then click More Symbols. Word displays the Symbol dialog box.
Click on the Special Characters tab. (See Figure 1.)

Figure 1. The Special Characters tab of the Symbol dialog box.

Choose Section from the list of characters.
Click on Insert. The symbol appears in your document at the insertion point.
Click on Close.

WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (7119) applies to Microsoft Word 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, 2021, and Word in Microsoft 365. You can find a version of this tip for the older menu interface of Word here: Inserting a Section Mark.

Author Bio

Allen Wyatt

With more than 50 non-fiction books and numerous magazine articles to his credit, Allen Wyatt is an internationally recognized author. He is president of Sharon Parq Associates, a computer and publishing services company. Learn more about Allen...

MORE FROM ALLEN

Printing Style Sheets

Want to see what styles are defined in your document? Let Word print out a simplistic style sheet for you.

Discover More

Limiting Precision

There may be times you need to limit the amount of precision Excel uses in its calculations. Here is one way to ...

Discover More

Converting Paragraphs to Comments

Want to pull text from a bunch of paragraphs and stuff that text into comments? It's easy to do using the macro presented ...

Discover More

Discover the Power of Microsoft Office This beginner-friendly guide reveals the expert tips and strategies you need to skyrocket your productivity and use Office 365 like a pro. Mastering software like Word, Excel, and PowerPoint is essential to be more efficient and advance your career. Simple lessons guide you through every step, providing the knowledge you need to get started. Check out Microsoft Office 365 For Beginners today!

More WordTips (ribbon)

Inserting a Bullet

Need to place a bullet in the middle of a sentence? There are a couple of easy ways you can do this, as described in this ...

Discover More

Typing Pronunciations of Words

Take a look in a dictionary at the way that words are phonetically spelled. Those special characters used to type those ...

Discover More

Creating Compound Characters

Word provides access to a wide variety of characters either from the keyboard or from the Symbol dialog box. Up and above ...

Discover More

FREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in WordTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."

View most recent newsletter.

Comments

If you would like to add an image to your comment (not an avatar, but an image to help in making the point of your comment), include the characters [{fig}] (all 7 characters, in the sequence shown) in your comment text. You’ll be prompted to upload your image when you submit the comment. Maximum image size is 6Mpixels. Images larger than 600px wide or 1000px tall will be reduced. Up to three images may be included in a comment. All images are subject to review. Commenting privileges may be curtailed if inappropriate images are posted.

Notify me about new comments ONLY FOR THIS TIP

Notify me about new comments ANYWHERE ON THIS SITE

Hide my email address

What is seven more than 1?

There are currently no comments for this tip. (Be the first to leave your comment—just use the simple form above!)

This Site

Got a version of Word that uses the ribbon interface (Word 2007 or later)? This site is for you! If you use an earlier version of Word, visit our WordTips site focusing on the menu interface.