Squared symbol
The squared symbol ² is the little raised 2 that turns a length into an area and a number into its own product: 5² = 25, and a room 4 m by 5 m is 20 m². Copy ² here — with its whole superscript family for company — plus the area and algebra phrases people paste most, and every way of typing it.
Copy the superscripts
Squared phrases ready to copy
Where the little 2 works
| Setting | The squared job |
|---|---|
| Units | Area: m², cm², km², ft² — the ² belongs to the unit and is never written out as “square” in specs |
| Algebra | A number times itself: x², (a + b)²; read aloud as “squared” or “to the power of two” |
| Science | Acceleration (m/s²), energy (E = mc² — the most famous squared in the world) |
| Property & plans | Floor areas in listings everywhere: “85 m²” carries the whole room in five characters |
One small character, one honest warning: ² is a single pre-made glyph, which makes it perfect for finished text — but it is not the same as formatting a normal 2 as superscript. In copied-and-pasted plain text the glyph survives; a formatted 2 loses its raise the moment formatting is stripped. For documents that will be copied around, the glyph is the safer citizen.
How to type it
| Platform | Method |
|---|---|
| Windows | Alt + 0178 on the numeric keypad; in Word, type B2 then Alt + X |
| Mac | No single key — Character Viewer (search “superscript two”) or copy from here |
| Word / Docs formatting route | Type a normal 2, select it, press Ctrl + Shift + = (Word) — but remember it will not survive plain-text copying |
| HTML | The “sup2” entity name (ampersand + sup2;) or code 178; or wrap a 2 in a sup tag |
Explore more
The power’s partner lives on the root symbol page, the multiplication that builds a square is on the multiplication symbol page, and areas sit inside the wider unit symbols and math symbols collections.
Frequently asked questions
How do I write m² correctly?
The ² touches the unit with no space before it and the whole thing reads “square metres”: 85 m². A space before the number’s unit is right (85 m²), but never between the m and its ² — “m ²” is a typo.
² or a superscript-formatted 2 — which is better?
For anything that will be copied, shared or indexed, the ² glyph: it is one real character, so it survives plain text, chats and forms. Formatted superscripts look identical on the page but collapse to a plain 2 (making 52 of your 5²) when pasted as text.
What is ³ then?
Cubed — the same idea one dimension up: volumes (m³), and x³ in algebra. The family continues ⁴, ⁵… though only ¹, ² and ³ have their own old, dedicated characters; the rest use the superscript set in the grid above.
How is x² read aloud?
“x squared” — or fully, “x to the power of two”. The short form is universal in classrooms and conversation; the long form is the precise pattern that extends to every power (x⁴ is “x to the power of four”). Its sibling x³ gets the same treatment: read “x cubed”, or “x to the power of three”.