How to type currency and special symbols on iPhone
Where € £ ¥ actually live on the standard iPhone keyboard, the two taps that get you there, and which punctuation keys hold extra variants under a long press.
The standard iPhone keyboard only shows letters, because showing everything at once would leave no room for any of it. Numbers, currency signs and most punctuation live one or two taps below the surface, on pages that stay hidden until you go looking for them. None of it requires a special app — it is built into every iPhone, on any keyboard that follows the same layout Apple’s does.
The two-tap route
From the letter keyboard, the bottom-left key reads “123”. Tap it once and the keyboard swaps to numbers, along with a first layer of punctuation — the parenthesis, the ampersand, the dollar sign among them. That same key now reads “#+=”; tap it again and a second symbol page appears, and this is where the currency signs live.
- Numbers page (123): 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0, then − / : ; ( ) $ & @ " on the row below, then a row of basic punctuation.
- Symbols page (#+=): brackets and braces, # % ^ * + =, then _ \ | ~ < >, then € £ ¥ and a bullet •, then the same punctuation row again.
Tap “ABC” to get back to letters. The keyboard remembers nothing about which of the two number pages you were last on — it always opens back on the first one — so a symbol you use constantly is worth the extra tap every time, or worth setting up a shortcut for, covered further down.
Long-press for the rest
A few of the plainer-looking keys on those two pages are not just one character. Press and hold instead of tapping and a short row of variants pops up above the key, the same gesture used for accented letters — slide to the one you want and lift your finger.
- The dollar sign often holds other currency symbols behind it, so if you only see $ on the page you are on, try holding it before hunting through the symbols page.
- The hyphen holds the longer en dash and em dash: – and —, useful for a parenthetical the way a comma or a colon is not quite right for.
- The period holds an ellipsis: … as a single character rather than three separate dots.
- The straight apostrophe and quote mark hold their curly, “typographic” equivalents, plus the low and angled quote styles used outside English.
- The question mark and exclamation point hold ¿ and ¡, the marks Spanish places at the start of a question or exclamation as well as the end.
Which exact variants appear can shift a little with the region set in Settings → General → Language & Region, since that is what tells iOS which currency and punctuation conventions to prioritise.
Why the currency sign you expect might not be the first one shown
The keyboard has one number and symbol layer per language, not per country, and it is tuned to that language’s home region. An English (US) keyboard leads with $ and shows € £ ¥ on request. A Spanish keyboard leads with €. If you regularly write about a currency your keyboard was not tuned for, adding that language’s keyboard — covered in the guide on typing two languages on iPhone — usually gets it onto the page directly instead of behind a hold or a hunt through the symbols page.
A faster route for the ones you use constantly
If there is one symbol you reach for daily — a specific currency sign, © for a byline, or a section mark § for a document — Text Replacement turns it into a two-letter shortcut typed on the letter keyboard, with no page-switching at all. Settings → General → Keyboard → Text Replacement, and set the Phrase to the character itself; typing the Shortcut anywhere then drops it in. The full setup is covered in the guide on text replacement shortcuts.
Where Kibo fits
Kibo is a standard iPhone keyboard underneath its themes and sounds, so the same 123 and #+= pages, and the same long-press variants, work exactly as described above — nothing about switching to it changes where a currency sign or an em dash lives. What does change is the language layer sitting on top: Kibo carries 30 typing languages in one keyboard, so reaching the number and symbol page tuned to the language you are writing in is a tap on the globe key rather than adding a whole separate iOS keyboard for it. It is free to download and works with Full Access left off.
Frequently asked questions
Where is the euro or pound sign on the iPhone keyboard?
Tap “123” to reach numbers, then tap “#+=” for the second symbol page — € and £ sit on that page alongside ¥ and a bullet. On some keyboards, holding down the $ key also reveals other currency signs directly.
How do I type an em dash on iPhone without copying and pasting one?
On the numbers page, press and hold the hyphen key. A short row pops up with the shorter en dash and the longer em dash — slide to the one you want and lift your finger.
Why does my keyboard show a different currency symbol first?
The number and symbol page is tuned to the keyboard’s language, not to a currency you choose separately. An English (US) keyboard leads with $; a keyboard for a euro-using language leads with €. Adding the relevant language keyboard usually puts the sign you want on the page directly.
Try it on your own keyboard
Kibo is a free custom keyboard for iPhone with real mechanical key sounds, a wardrobe of themes and RGB backlight effects. No account, no ads, and it works with Full Access left off.