What are special characters?
Special characters encompass symbols, accent marks, punctuation marks, ASCII control characters, and formatting characters like paragraph marks.
They differ from alphanumeric characters in that they are not considered letters or numbers, and are highly adaptable for various purposes, such as writing, coding, and mathematical operations.
Other terms for special characters include special symbols, special letters, or keyboard characters.
How to type special characters?
On a standard computer keyboard, there are many special characters that you can easily type.
First, press and hold the shift key, then press the key with the corresponding character on the keyboard.
For example, the @ symbol can be typed by pressing Shift + 2 (the number 2 key on the function key row).
Special characters in passwords
Special characters are commonly needed to create a robust password. This is because they increase the password’s complexity and minimize the risk of the user’s account being hacked.
Hackers frequently use lists of common or easily guessable phrases and character combinations (such as “password” and “1234”) to gain access to a user’s account, so special characters make the password less predictable.
Nevertheless, special characters that are used in predictable patterns (such as substituting “a” with “@” or “s” with “$”) have lost their efficacy in terms of password strength.
The software for typing special characters.
Numerous operating systems feature applications or shortcuts which enable users to type unique symbols and characters not present on a standard QWERTY keyboard.
Nevertheless, these applications might not function with all software programs, and they may lack the specific symbols or characters one requires, or the keystrokes may be too difficult to memorize.
An easier way is to access websites that aggregate special characters on the internet. You simply need to search for the character you need, select it, and then copy it by using the Ctrl + C key combination.
