Vulgar Fraction One Half Symbol

A symbol from the Fraction Symbols collection. Click the symbol or the button below to copy.

Fraction Symbols collection

Symbol: ½
Unicode: U+00BD
HTML entity: ½
Category: Fraction Symbols

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1 of 20 in the fraction symbols collection

About the vulgar fraction one half symbol

The glyph for vulgar fraction one half shows a smaller 1 placed above a horizontal line, with a smaller 2 below it, forming the fraction ½. It represents the mathematical concept of one divided into two equal parts, or 0.5 in decimal form.

This character is used in recipes, measurements, dimensions, and informal mathematical notation to express the fraction one half as a single typographic unit. It appears in text where a compact, precomposed fraction is preferred over writing out "1/2" with separate characters, such as in cooking instructions or sizing labels.

How to type Vulgar Fraction One Half

Native keyboard shortcuts for each operating system — derived from the codepoint, so the steps below are always accurate.

Windows

2 options

Hold Alt and type 0189 on the numeric keypad, then release Alt.
Or, in Word: type 00BD then press Alt + X.

Numeric keypad required (laptops: enable Num Lock or use Fn).

macOS

2 options

Enable “Unicode Hex Input” in System Settings → Keyboard, then hold Option and type 00BD.
Or: Control + Command + Space opens the Character Viewer — search by name.