Why is there no pound sign on my keyboard?

Assuming you’re in the UK, the pound sign (£) is normally found on the 3 key. You press Shift + 3 to get the £ to appear. But what if there’s no pound sign on your keyboard? Let’s explain how you get around the issue and why it’s normally not a major problem.

By the way, if you’re an American or otherwise refer to the pound sign as #, then click here to find out how to get that sign.

No pound sign on keyboard

If the printed lettering on your keyboard shows no pound sign on the 3 key, it’s almost certain that you’ve got a keyboard with the American English layout. On American keyboards, the £ is normally replaced with a hash (#), as you can see on this Vissles keyboard pictured below:

That doesn’t mean you can’t type a £ sign by pressing Shift + 3, though. As long as your operating system is set to UK English, the £ should still appear when you type Shift + 3.

How to change keyboard language

If you’re using Windows, you can put your keyboard into UK English by opening the Windows search and typing ‘language’. You should see a settings menu such as the one below in Windows 11 (the Windows 10 menu is very similar):

Make sure English (United Kingdom) is selected on both Windows display language and Country or region.

On a Mac, open System Preferences, search for ‘language’ in the top-right of the System Preferences window and then ensure English (UK) is selected as the Primary language and the United Kingdom is the selected region, as shown:

How to get the pound sign without changing language

Let’s say you’re using a computer in a foreign country and can’t change the language, or you simply don’t want to change the language on the computer you’re using. How do you type the £ sign?

By far the easiest thing to do is simply copy and paste it from this website into the document/email or whatever you’re typing. We’ve put the pound sign on a clear line below so it’s easier to copy:

£

On Windows, highlight the pound sign and then copy with Ctrl + C and paste with Ctrl + V. It’s Command + C and Command + V on a Mac.