Raised text, not a smaller font
What is superscript? It is text above the baseline — x², E=mc², or a footnote marker ¹. Shrinking the font is not the same thing. Unicode raised characters stay when you copy between Word, Google Docs, and chat.
Quick answer: Use it for powers, footnotes, and units. Type x2 in the live converter, copy, and paste.
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When do you need it?
- Math powers: x², y³, aⁿ
- Science: E=mc², 10⁶
- Units: m², cm³
- Footnotes: markers ¹ ² ³
Teachers and students use the raised 2 most often: area, “squared,” and the 2 in E=mc². A footnote ¹ is the same family of characters, not a lowered ₁ from chemistry.
Slides and posters need the same mark if classmates will copy the text out. A screenshot of a Word equation will not give them a pasteable ². Give them the character, or they will retype a normal 2.
Ready digits and x² live on the raised-numbers paste page.
Why Word’s raised 2 dies in chat
Ctrl + Shift + = in Word makes a normal 2 look high. Paste that sentence into WhatsApp or a comment box and the 2 usually drops back. The app never received a raised character — only a style that stayed inside the document.
² is a different code point (U+00B2). Once it is on the clipboard, most phones and browsers keep it up. If an old font shows a box, the device is missing that glyph. Switch to a common system font; do not shrink the point size again.
Papers can keep Word styling if the file never leaves Word. The moment you copy into email, a LMS comment box, or a group chat, you need the Unicode mark. Units such as 25 m² and notes such as “see ¹” are the lines people actually send. Do not type ^2 and hope the app will raise it.
On a phone, copy ² or x², long-press the message box, Paste. On a computer, click, then Ctrl + V or Cmd + V. If you still see a full-size 2, you copied a normal digit.
What it looks like in practice
| Use | Plain text | Raised |
|---|---|---|
| Exponent | x2 | x² |
| Physics | E=mc2 | E=mc² |
| Footnote | 1 | ¹ |
Lowered digits (H₂O, x₁) are the opposite job. Side-by-side examples: below the line vs above it.
Make a raised string in three steps
- Open the superscript generator (that mode is already selected).
- Type plain text such as
x2orm2, then Copy. - Paste into Word, Docs, slides, or chat. Formula mode lifts only the digits.
That is what is superscript in practice: a character that stays raised after paste, not a Word-only style.