Small Caps, Superscript & Subscript

Word processors make superscript and subscript with formatting, but formatting disappears in a chat, a spreadsheet cell, a social post or a code comment. Unicode has separate characters for many of these forms, such as ² and ₂, and for small capitals such as ᴀ and ʙ. This tool converts your text into those characters, so H₂O, CO₂ and x² stay correct wherever you paste them.

Small capitals

Small caps are capital letter shapes at the height of lowercase letters, used for headings, abbreviations and an elegant look in bios. Unicode includes small capitals for almost every letter. X has none, so a normal x is used, and the small capital Q (ꞯ) was added only recently, so some older fonts show a box instead. The warning below the result names any letter that is affected.

Superscript and subscript

Superscript digits (⁰ to ⁹) and the signs + − = ( ) are complete and well supported. Superscript letters exist for most lowercase letters, from ᵃ to ᶻ, except q, and for some capitals. Subscripts are more limited: all digits and signs, but only the letters a, e, h, i, j, k, l, m, n, o, p, r, s, t, u, v and x. Characters without a form are left unchanged and listed, so you always know what could not be converted.

Chemistry mode

Type formulas as you would on a keyboard. Any number that follows a letter or a closing bracket becomes a subscript, so H2O, C6H12O6 and Ca(OH)2 come out as H₂O, C₆H₁₂O₆ and Ca(OH)₂. Charges are written after a caret: SO4^2- becomes SO₄²⁻ and NH4^+ becomes NH₄⁺. Coefficients at the start, such as the 2 in 2H2O, stay normal size because they follow a space.

Maths mode

Write exponents with ^ and indices with _: x^2 gives x², a_n gives aₙ and e^(i+1) gives exponents for the whole bracket. Brackets let you raise or lower several characters at once. If any character in a bracket has no Unicode form, the bracket is left as typed rather than half converted.

When to use real formatting

In documents, presentations and web pages, use the editor’s superscript and subscript formatting, or LaTeX for serious mathematics. Formatted text looks more consistent, scales with the font and is read correctly by screen readers, which may announce Unicode superscripts as “superscript two”. These characters are best for places where formatting is impossible.

Common uses

Students write formulas in homework chats and online forms, scientists label spreadsheet columns as m², CO₂ or µg/m³, writers add footnote markers like ¹ and ², and social media users give headings a small-caps style.

A worked example

Typing “Small caps look elegant” in small caps mode gives ꜱᴍᴀʟʟ ᴄᴀᴘꜱ ʟᴏᴏᴋ ᴇʟᴇɢᴀɴᴛ, with no warning because every letter has a small capital. Typing “x-ray” warns that x has no small capital. In maths mode, E = mc^2 becomes E = mc², and in chemistry mode CO2 + H2O becomes CO₂ + H₂O, ready to paste into a chat, a slide title or a spreadsheet heading.

Related tools

Find more Unicode styles in the Fancy Text Generator, cross text out with the Strikethrough Text Generator, flip it with Upside Down Text, or change ordinary capitalisation with the Case Converter.