How to type roman numerals on the keyboard

In the modern world, Arabic numerals are generally accepted by everyone as the standard of calculus. The decimal system of signs is used for counting and numbering in all developed countries of the world. At the same time, Roman numerals, which were used in the non-positional system of the ancient Romans, were not completely forgotten. Often one can see that they are used to number sections and chapters in the books, to mark centuries in the historical literature, to indicate the blood group and many other parameters which nowadays are commonly designated by Roman numerals.

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Table of contents:
1. Roman numerals on a keyboard in any application
- How to replace roman numerals with english letters
- Using ASCII codes to type roman numerals
2. How to type roman numerals in Microsoft Word

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No matter what exactly kind of work you are doing on your computer – be it browsing, working with some text editors or any other applications – every once in a while you may need to type Roman numerals. There is no separated  unit for them on the standard computer keyboard, but not to worry! There are several ways to quickly type Roman numerals on the keyboard.

Roman numerals on a keyboard in any application

Only a very small part of the application developers provide in their products more or less convenient ways to enter Roman numerals using the keyboard. Most of the programs do not have special functionality designed for working with the non-positional number system, which requires from the users a certain level of ingenuity to be able to enter Roman numerals if there is a need for it. There are two convenient ways to enter Roman numerals in any program using just a regular keyboard.

How to replace roman numerals with english letters

Any computer by default has English as one of the available languages. You can quickly switch to it by pressing Alt + Shift or Windows + Space (in case you are using Windows 10). English alphabet alone is able to completely eliminate the need for a separate numeric keypad that would be used just for the Roman numerals since all their analogues can be typed using capital English letters.

The following letters of English alphabet are replacing Roman numerals:

• 1 – I;
• 5 – V;
• 10 – X;
• 50 – L;
• 100 – C;
• 500 – D;
• 1000 – M.

Most people were taught at school how exactly to use Roman numerals to write different numbers. It is quite easy: you need to collect the biggest Roman numbers suitable in a given situation until you reach the number you need.

For example:

To enter number 33 you need to use 10+10+10+1+1+1.

Respectively in the Roman variation number 33 will be written this way: XXXIII.

Also there are some certain rules that specify how to enter Roman numbers and make large numbers shorter while typing.

Using ASCII codes to type roman numerals

Windows operating system is supporting ASCII codes that are used to enter different symbols. This codes can be used to enter Roman numerals as well.

ASCII is an American encoding table that lists the most popular printable and non-printable characters in the form of digital combinations. To use the symbols from this table on a standard keyboard and enter Roman numerals, you need to use the numeric NUM block which is located on the right side of the keyboard.

Activate the additional digital block by pressing the Num Lock key. After that, hold down the left ALT on the keyboard and enter the combinations of Roman numerals on the right digital block. After entering each character, you need to release ALT so that the character will be displayed in the input field. Then again ALT needs to be pressed and you can enter the next character.

The following combinations on the additional digital block are identical to the Roman numerals:

• ALT+73 – I;
• ALT+86 – V;
• ALT+88 – X;
• ALT+76 – L;
• ALT+67 – C;
• ALT+68 – D;
• ALT+77 – M.

ASCII code is not providing us with the most comfortable way of entering Roman numerals, but it can still be used in some situations. For example, when for any reason the English keyboard layout is disabled.

How to type roman numerals in Microsoft Word

While developing Office package and Word application Microsoft took into the account that users who work with texts may need to enter Roman numerals. Since doing this with the help of the English keyboard layout or ASCII codes is not particularly convenient, in it’s Word application Microsoft has introduced a special command that automatically translates Arabic numerals to the Roman ones.

To type Roman numerals in Microsoft Word quickly and in the most convenient manner you need to do the following:

1. Inside the document select the place where you need to insert the Roman number;
2. Press the combination of Ctrl + F9 keys on the keyboard to call up the field for entering the code. The called field will be marked gray in the document and it will have curly braces on both sides;
3. Enter the following in the braces:

= Arabic numeral\*ROMAN

4. Now press F9 to apply the entered command.

After this simple actions, the Arabic number will be automatically translated by Word into the Roman variation.