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up vote 4 down vote favorite

I need the key 1/2 (one-half) but I can't find it on my mac keyboard.

My keyboard is a Danish Mac keyboard.

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You need the key "1/2", as in one half? – Kitsune Jul 28 '09 at 19:30
It isn't on my Mac keyboard either, and I'm from the US. Why would you expect such a key? – David Thornley Jul 28 '09 at 20:05
@David, probably because many PC keyboards have it – Jonik Jul 28 '09 at 20:06

migrated from stackoverflow.com Jul 28 '09 at 20:09

3 Answers

up vote 18 down vote

Quick reference: copy it from here:

½

and paste where needed =)

Other than that; here's how you can produce the symbol:

  1. Select "Show Character Palette" from the Input menu (the flag at top-right corner in the menu bar).
  2. Find category "Symbols" ➔ "Numbers and Number Symbols"
  3. Scroll down and you'll find ½ along with stuff like ⅗ and whatnot.
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Use of the Character Palette is explained (with greater verbosity) in the KB article which Daniel posted earlier: support.apple.com/kb/HT1518. Still, I wanted to add the full answer here on SU, instead of just a link. – Jonik Jul 28 '09 at 20:28
@Jonik You beat me to it >.< – Nippysaurus Jul 29 '09 at 6:27
When this question was closed on SO, but not yet migrated to SU, I wrote the answer ready... to be the first to post after migration (and hoping it would eventually be migrated) :) – Jonik Jul 29 '09 at 8:22
The ⅗ looks like 3/6 on my screen (it is supposed to be 3/5) – kinokijuf Feb 25 '12 at 12:41
up vote 6 down vote

If you need to type the symbol, here is some documentation on how to do it.

OS X Lion

Enter special characters or symbols from the Character Viewer

  1. Open a document, and place the insertion point where you want the special character or symbol to appear.

  2. Choose Edit > Special Characters to open the Character Viewer, or choose Show Character Viewer from the Input menu in the menu bar (looks like a flag or character). If you don’t see Show Character Viewer in the Input menu, follow the steps in this topic to show the Character Viewer in the menu bar.

  3. Select a category from the list on the left, and then select the character you want to use. Use the Recently Used or Favorites sections in the Character Viewer to quickly enter frequently used characters or symbols.

Mac OS X v10.6

To show the Character Viewer:

  • Choose Apple menu > System Preferences, click Language & Text, and then click Input Sources.

  • Select the Keyboard & Character Viewer checkbox.

To use the Character Viewer:

  • Open a document, and place the insertion point where you want the special character or symbol to appear.

  • Choose Edit > Special Characters to open the Character Viewer, or choose Show Character Viewer from the Input menu in the menu bar (looks like a flag or character).

  • Choose the type of characters you want to see from the View pop-up menu.

  • If you don’t see the View pop-up menu, click the button in the upper-right corner of the Character Viewer to show the top portion of the window.

  • Click By Category, and then select a category on the left.

  • Double-click the symbol you want to use on the right.

Source

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up vote 3 down vote

For ½ ⅓ ⅔ etc on Lion 10.7.x on most applications click Edit-Special Characters... And look at Digits - All. (If digits all is not listed click the Gear-Customize List and check off Digits - All.

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You can also search in that palette (upper right corner). Typing "half" works for this symbol. – pluckyglen Jun 2 '12 at 0:15

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