Superscript and subscript generator

• Markup. Write it the way you would in LaTeX or a calculator: x^2 becomes x², a_1 becomes a₁, and braces group several characters: x^{n+1} becomes xⁿ⁺¹, a_{ij} becomes aᵢⱼ.
• Chemical formula. Numbers after a letter or closing bracket become subscripts, and a charge after ^ becomes superscript: H2O → H₂O, CO2 → CO₂, Ca(OH)2 → Ca(OH)₂, SO4^2- → SO₄²⁻.
• All superscript. Every character that has a superscript form is converted: 1st → ¹ˢᵗ.
• All subscript. Every character that has a subscript form is converted.

The output uses dedicated Unicode characters, not formatting. That's why it survives copy and paste into places that have no superscript button: social posts, text messages, spreadsheets, file names and plain-text emails.

Unicode doesn't have a small version of every character, so some conversions are incomplete:

Character set	Superscript	Subscript
Digits 0–9	all	all
+ − = ( )	all	all
Lowercase letters	all except q	only a e h i j k l m n o p r s t u v x
Capital letters	A B D E G H I J K L M N O P R T U V W	none

Anything without a small version stays as it is, and a note under the result lists those characters, so you know what to fix. Because the small letters come from different Unicode blocks, they can look slightly mismatched in size or height in some fonts.

You type (mode)	You get
E=mc^2 (markup)	E=mc²
x^2 + y^2 = r^2 (markup)	x² + y² = r²
a_1, a_2, a_n (markup)	a₁, a₂, aₙ
10^{-6} (markup)	10⁻⁶
C6H12O6 (chemical)	C₆H₁₂O₆
NH4^+ (chemical)	NH₄⁺
25°C, m2, ft2	use superscript mode on just the 2: m², ft²

The degree sign ° is its own character and is kept as is. For square and cubic units, superscript ² and ³ are the standard way to write m², ft², cm³ and in³ in plain text.

Superscripts are also handy outside math and chemistry:

• Footnote markers in plain text: as shown in the study¹ and see note².
• Ordinals in a playful style: 1ˢᵗ, 2ⁿᵈ, 3ʳᵈ, 4ᵗʰ (in formal writing, plain 1st, 2nd is standard).
• Exponents in spreadsheets and chats, where you can't format a cell or a message: 2¹⁰ = 1,024.
• Labels on diagrams such as Fig. 1ᵃ.

The trademark ™ and registered ® signs are separate characters, not superscript letters, so type or copy them directly.

Unicode superscripts are great for short snippets in places without formatting. For anything longer, real formatting is better:

• Word processors have superscript and subscript buttons (in Microsoft Word, Ctrl+Shift+= and Ctrl+=).
• Math and science papers should use an equation editor or LaTeX.
• Web pages should use the HTML <sup> and <sub> tags.

Real formatting is searchable, accessible to screen readers, and works for every character. Screen readers may read Unicode superscripts as "superscript two" or skip them, so don't use them for essential information in public content.

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