How to Superscript in PowerPoint? (And Subscript) 3 Easy Ways
(Note: This tutorial on how to superscript in PowerPoint is suitable for PowerPoint 2013 and later versions including Office 365)
Microsoft Office offers a variety of formatting to the text. You can change the formatting or the orientation of the text in Excel, Word, or PowerPoint.
When using PowerPoint, you might have to superscript or subscript a particular text.
In this article, you’ll learn how to superscript in PowerPoint. Additionally, you’ll also learn how to subscript in PowerPoint.
You’ll Learn
- What Is Superscript and Subscript in PowerPoint? And Where Are They Used?
- How to Add Superscript or Subscript in PowerPoint?
- Add a Symbol
What Is Superscript and Subscript in PowerPoint? And Where Are They Used?
Before we learn how to superscript in PowerPoint, let us see what superscripts and subscripts are and where they are used.
When including a heading or any content in a presentation slide, all the text need not appear in the same straight line. Some mathematical or commercial applications might have a text or number associated with them as a superscript or subscript.
A superscript is nothing but a piece of text, number, or symbol that appears slightly higher above the rest of the text. Whereas, a subscript is a piece of text, number, or symbol that appears slightly below the rest of the text. Subscripts and superscripts can be either preceding or following a character.
Consider an example of a quadratic equation, X12+Y12+2X1Y1=(X1+Y1)2, that you have to add to your PowerPoint slide.
The equation as such doesn’t make any sense. There is no emphasis on the particular text and any sort of distinction as to which number corresponds to which variable.
Consider this formula instead: X12+Y12+2X1Y1=(X1+Y1)2 . This is easy to understand and relate to, right? This is the same quadratic formula which is mentioned before, but with superscript and subscript values.
If you add the necessary superscripts and subscripts to the existing formula, the formula becomes easy to read and better to understand.
In PowerPoint, there is no button to toggle superscript and subscript text as in Word. However, there are some ways you can add them to your PowerPoint slide.
Uses of Superscripts
Superscripts are used in a variety of places ranging from mathematical applications to common commercial applications. Superscripts are used to represent any ordinal number (1st, 2nd, 3rd…), trademark (™), copyright symbol (©), footnotes in a document, or to denote any power values in mathematics.
Uses of Subscripts
Subscripts on the other hand are very rarely used. They can be used to represent any chemical formula, several concepts in physics (Tδ, TΣ…), and to denote any base values(Xdec, Xoct).
How to Add Superscript or Subscript in PowerPoint?
Inserting a superscript or subscript in PowerPoint is quite easy. I will show you 3 easy ways to add a superscript and subscript in PowerPoint using the examples below.
Using the Font Setting Option
Powerpoint does not have a built-in option to toggle option to superscript or subscript as it does in Word. So, you can use the Font Settings Option to convert the normal text into superscripts or subscripts.
- First, select the text you want to convert into superscript or subscript.
- Then, navigate to Home. Under the Font section, click on the Font Settings option which can be seen as a small arrow.
- This opens up a Font dialog box. Under the Font tab, check the checkbox for superscript or subscript. In this case, we want to subscript the number “1”. So, check the checkbox for Subscript and click OK.
- This changes the selected text to a subscript.
In case you want to convert the number “2” to a superscript, select the number. Navigate to Home and click on the Font Settings option. In the Font Settings dialog box, check the checkbox for Superscript and click OK.
This method might be time-consuming, but it offers you the flexibility to change the offset value (i.e) you can set the elevation or inclination of the selected text.
Using Keyboard Shortcuts
The above method might be less efficient. In such cases, PowerPoint has a keyboard shortcut that enables you to superscript or subscript texts or numbers.
- To superscript a text, first, select the text.
- Now, holding the Ctrl key, press Shift and +. That is, press the keys “Ctrl” + ”Shift” + ”+”.
- This makes the selected text a superscript.
You can also subscript the text in the same way.
- First, select the text.
- Then, holding the Ctrl key, just press + (i.e) “Ctrl” + ”+”. This converts the selected text to a subscript.
Note: While using the keyboard shortcut, pressing the + key in the Numpad does not work. You need to use the + key near the backspace to superscript/subscript a character.
Using the Quick Access Toolbar
Powerpoint does not have toggle buttons to superscript or subscript any text, but it offers you the flexibility to add buttons to the Quick Access Toolbar and enable them whenever needed. This would be very helpful if you have to add more superscripts or subscripts to the text.
- To add the superscript or subscript buttons to the Quick Access Toolbar, first, enable the Quick Access Toolbar. Click on the small drop-down towards the right of the menu pane and click on Show Quick Access Toolbar.
- Click on the Customize Quick Access Toolbar dropdown, and select More Commands.
- This opens up a PowerPoint Options dialog box. Choose All Commands under the Choose commands from: dropdown.
- Scroll down and find the Subscript and Superscript commands and click on Add. Click OK.
- This adds the Superscript and Subscript buttons to the Quick Access Toolbar.
If you want to subscript any text, just select the text and click on the Subscript button.
Likewise, if you want to superscript any of the text, select the text and click on the Superscript button.
Add a Symbol
To add a symbol to the text and make it into a superscript or subscript, first, navigate to the Insert main menu and click on Symbol.
This opens up a Symbol dialog box. Search for the symbol and click on Insert. This adds the symbol as a normal text.
Now, select the symbol and use any of the above-mentioned options to superscript or superscript the symbol.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can you type a superscript of a superscript or a subscript of a subscript?
No, you cannot add a superscript to an existing superscript or subscript. If you try, PowerPoint deactivates the superscript/subscript and the text becomes normal.
How to undo a superscript or subscript in PowerPoint?
Simply select the superscript or subscript text and use the same method to undo the superscript or subscript. You can also press Ctrl+Z immediately to revert the text to its original format.
How to indicate a power without adding a superscript to it?
You can use the exponent indicator (^) character to indicate powers instead of superscripting the cells.
Closing Thoughts
In this article, we saw what is a superscript and subscript and their uses in PowerPoint. We also learned how to superscript in PowerPoint using 3 easy ways. You can either use the Font settings options, the Quick Access Toolbar, or the keyboard shortcut keys to superscript or subscript in PowerPoint. Choose the method which suits your purpose the best.
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Simon Calder
Chris “Simon” Calder was working as a Project Manager in IT for one of Los Angeles’ most prestigious cultural institutions, LACMA.He taught himself to use Microsoft Project from a giant textbook and hated every moment of it. Online learning was in its infancy then, but he spotted an opportunity and made an online MS Project course - the rest, as they say, is history!
