How to Add Superscript or Subscript in Google Docs (3 Options)

Google Docs is a popular online word processor that allows you to create and edit documents from any device with an internet connection. However, it also has some limitations that you should be aware of before using it for your projects. If you want to format your text in superscript or subscript, you are lucky though.

Superscript and subscript are two ways of writing text that are smaller than the normal text size. They are often used in mathematics, science, and other fields to indicate special symbols, units, variables, or expressions. Superscript is the text that appears above the normal line of text, such as x² or 10⁶.

Subscript is the text that appears below the normal line of text, such as H₂O or NO₃. To use superscript or subscript in Google Docs is super-easy if you know where to look for. You can format text as superscript or subscript either with a few clicks or using keyboard shortcuts.

How to Use Superscript in Google Docs via Format Options

Use the following steps to format text as superscript in Google Docs with just three mouse clicks.

1. Select the text you want to make superscript with the mouse
    
   
   
2. Click “Format” in the menu and then “Text”->”Superscript”
    
   
   
3. The selected text will be formatted as superscript
    
   
   

How to Use Superscript in Google Docs as Special Characters

If you want to use a special character formatted in superscript, this is an alternative option you can use.

1. Place the cursor where you want to insert superscript in Google Docs
    
   
   
2. Click “Insert” in the menu and then “Special characters”
    
   
   
3. Search for “Superscript”, click the desired character and close the window
    
   
   
4. The superscript character will be placed at the cursor position
    
   

How to Insert Subscript in Google Docs via Format Options

Use the following steps to format text as subscript in Google Docs with just three mouse clicks.

1. Select the text you want to make subscript with the mouse
    
   
   
2. Click “Format” in the menu and then “Text”->”Subscript”
    
   
   
3. The selected text will be formatted as subscript
    
   

How to use Keyboard Shortcuts for Superscript or Subscript in Google Docs

Windows and macOS have the following different subscript / superscript shortcuts for Google Docs:

• • Windows superscript keyboard shortcut: CTRL+.
  • Windows subscript keyboard shortcut: CTRL+,
  • macOS superscript keyboard shortcut: ⌘ +.
  • macOS subscript keyboard shortcut: ⌘ +,

Just mark the text you want to format and press the respective hotkey as superscript / subscript. You can review these and other shortcuts anytime directly inside of Google Docs anytime if needed. If the superscript / subscript keyboard shortcut doesn´t work, you might have to fix the Windows driver. We show you everything below:

1. Type the subscript / superscript to format highlighted text directly
    
   
   
2. In the menu, click “Help”->”Keyboard shortcuts” to see all Google Docs hotkeys
    
   
   
3. To fix keyboard issues in Windows, open “Device Manager” in the Start menu
    
   
   
4. Open Keyboards, right click your keyboard and select “Uninstall device”
    
   This will trigger automatic reinstallation of the keyboard driver. Alternatively you can first try “Update driver” to see if a new driver is available.
    
   
   
5. If you uninstalled the keyboard driver, you can do an automatic re-scan
    
   To do this, click “Action” in the top menu and select “Scan for hardware changes”. Windows should then detect your keyboard again and automatically installed the required driver from scratch.