How do I type extended ASCII characters on my PC in DOS applications?

The normal ASCII character set includes characters with codes between 32 (space) and 126 (~ or tilde). On PC-compatible computers, the codes 127 through 255 also correspond to characters that may be displayed on the screen, such as foreign language letters, scientific symbols, and pieces of boxes and borders. These are the extended ASCII characters, and there are normally no keys reserved for them on the keyboard. You can still type these characters, however, by holding down the Alt key while pressing the digits of the ASCII code on the numeric keypad.

For example, to type a one-quarter symbol, while pressing Alt, type  1 , then  7 , and then  4  on the keypad. To type an infinity symbol, while pressing Alt, type  2 , then  3 , and then  6  on the keypad.

Note: This will work for all characters with ASCII codes greater than or equal to 32. For example, to type capital A, you could also hold down Alt and press  6 , then  5 .

For codes below 32, the corresponding non-printable control character will result, rather than the graphical symbol in the character set.

Also see:

• A table of ASCII character codes
• What is ASCII?
• Using Pine on a Windows computer, how do I type accented characters?