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* In [[Microsoft Windows]], symbols and accented characters not found on the keyboard are inserted by holding down the ''Alt'' key and typing number(s) on the [[numeric keypad]], see [[Windows Alt keycodes]]. <!--How about on computers where the numeric keypad is used with the same keys as the letters on the right side of the keyboard with Num Lock being the key that switches between the function; this is common for laptop computers.--> Numbers that are used with the ''Alt'' key to generate a character, represents the Decimal numeric entity code, [[Wordpad]] editor can be used to generate characters from many Unicode blocks. Note, [[Internet Explorer|IE]] doesn't support typing in decimal entity values more than 256. Characters are stored on your computer as numbers, each letter or symbol is represented by a number. To make sure that text looks the same on all computers, there is a standard called [[Unicode]] that defines which numbers are mapped to which characters. Due to the number of alphabets in the world, Unicode defines tens of thousands of characters.
* A variant of alt codes are Alt-X codes; can be applied in [[WordPad]] and [[Microsoft Word]] 2002/2003 for Windows, the keystroke <code>Alt + x</code> will convert a Selected hexadecimal number to the corresponding character; see [[Unicode#Input methods|Unicode input methods]], [[Windows Alt keycodes]]. Note, [[Internet Explorer|IE]] does not support this feature.
* The [[Linux]] [[console]] supports Alt codes using the same method as with Windows. In VIM editor, first type <code>Ctrl-V u</code>, then type in the hexadecimal number of the symbol or character that you want, and it will be converted into the symbol.
* In Mac OS X and in Mac OS 8.5 and later: choose the ''Unicode Hex Input'' keyboard layout. Hold down the [[Option key]], and type the four digit [[Hexadecimal|hex]] Unicode code point. Release Option key; the equivalent character will appear.
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