How to Superscript in Word? 4 Easy Methods

(Note: This guide on how to superscript in Word is suitable for all MS Word versions including Office 365)

Superscript in Word is a text formatted to appear smaller than the neighboring text and aligned to appear slightly above the regular text. The superscript text is generally smaller than the other text. They are predominantly used while writing scientific research papers or business articles. 

Superscripts are numbers, letters, or symbols used for text formatting. It is also known as superior text in typography. Typography is the technique of arranging the letter to make the written language legible, readable, and appealing.

Superscripts can be easily applied to text with the help of controls in user interfaces in word processors to design applications.

Inserting a Superscript in Word Through the Home Tab

In an article, either the entire text or a part of the text needs superscript formatting to be done. Follow these steps to insert a superscript in your text.

1. Place the cursor where you want to insert the superscript or select the existing text that you want to format as a superscript. 
2. Select the Home tab in the ribbon and then select the Superscript button in the Font group. 
3. If you have completed typing the text in superscript, then press the superscript button to turn it off. Or else, the following text that you type will also be in superscript format.

When you select the text that is formatted to be a superscript, you can find that the area around the button gets highlighted. In the example above, which has the mathematical equation, =x²+y², the number ‘2’ is the power of the variable ‘x’ and ‘y’. 

An alternative way of inserting an exponential function is to include a caret symbol(^) found on your keyboard. For example, 2^4 = 16 is the same as 2⁴=16, and it returns the value multiplied by the value in the superscript or the value next to the caret symbol.

Here, the value ‘2’ is called the base value and the one in the superscript is the power.

Inserting a Superscript Through the Keyboard

The keyboard shortcut to insert a superscript is to select the text that you want to format as a superscript then press Ctrl+Shift+=. To remove the superscript, select the superscript text and simply press Ctrl+Spacebar.

Inserting a Superscript Through the Font Dialog Box

Select the text that you want to format as a superscript and in the ribbon, click the Home tab.  Open the Font dialog box by clicking the arrow in the bottom-right corner of the Font section.

In the Font section, click on the +Body, and in the effects, click the box for superscript and then click OK. You can find the text in the Preview in superscript format.

Inserting a Superscript Through the Symbol Dialog Box

You can include trademark symbols that appear as superscripts. They are symbols that are other than numbers (0-9) and alphabets. Such superscripts are included through the Symbol dialog box. The steps to include a Registered Trademark, ®, in your article are as follows:

• Keep the cursor in the place where you want to insert the superscript.
• Click on the Insert tab in the ribbon, and then click on Symbol.

• Select More Symbols in the drop-down menu. You will find the Symbol dialog box from where you can select the relevant symbol.

• Select the Symbol ® and click on Insert. You will find the symbol included in the place where you placed your cursor.

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Remove a Superscript

You can remove the superscript by selecting the text that is superscripted and clicking on the superscript button. To remove a superscript, select the text and then press the Ctrl+Space bar.

There’s another way to remove it by clicking on the Home tab on the Word ribbon and unchecking the superscript box in the font group.

Use Cases of Superscript

Superscripts in Word have different purposes and meanings based on their usage.

Ordinal Numbers

Ordinal numbers indicate the position of items in a list or sequence. The last two letters of the numbers are included when they are represented as numbers.

For example, first, second, and third are written as 1^st, 2^nd, and 3^rd with the alphabets in superscript.

Chemical Equations

In science, the superscripts represent ionic charges, mass numbers, and the charge of the ion. For example, the equation Ag⁺ + Cl^– → AgCl, represents the positive and negative charges as superscripts.

Mathematical Functions 

Superscripts are useful in representing mathematical formulas such as powers and exponential notations. The superscripted exponential functions tell you how many times to multiply the number by itself.

For example, the function or equation, =x²+y²   represents that x has to be multiplied two times as the power is 2.

Trademark and Copyright Symbols

Symbols such as ®, ™, and © are used to represent registered trademarks and for copyright protection.

Endnote and Footnote Numbers or Text

Generally, endnote and footnote numbers and text are used to give supplementary information, definition, or comments. A footnote is included at the bottom of the page and the endnote at the end of the document.

For example, Amazon Web Services¹ offers reliable and inexpensive cloud computing services. The number “1” here represents that additional information can be found either at the end of the page or the document.

Miscellaneous

Superscripts are used extensively in musical notes where the regular text and the superscripted text convey much meaning to the musicians. In the musical notation, the term Cm⁷ represents the C minor chord in the 7^th fret.

Suggested Reads:

• How to Track Changes in Word? A Step-by-Step Guide
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Closing Thoughts

In this guide, we explained how to insert a superscript in Word. It will be of great help when you write scientific journals that have a lot of mathematical notations, chemical formulas, and footnotes.

Please visit our free resources center to know more about other logical and statistical functions. 

We have high-quality Excel guides and you will be really excited to know how handy and useful these functions are.

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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!