Using the superscript tool
Type on the left. The raised characters appear on the right, and Position switches between superscript and subscript, where Unicode's coverage gets a great deal thinner.
Letters with no small form are listed under the output and left as they were, so you can see what didn't convert rather than hunting for it. Swap the boxes to bring raised text back down.
Why some letters are missing
There's no superscript q in Unicode. There's no subscript b, c, d, f or g either. These aren't oversights the standard will fix, because the characters were never meant to be an alphabet.
They arrived a few at a time for phonetics and mathematics. The International Phonetic Alphabet needed raised letters to mark aspiration, so the ones it uses exist, and the ones no notation ever called for were never drawn. Nobody needed a raised q. A font can't help, because the character has no code point to draw.
The numbers show the seams. ¹, ² and ³ sit at U+00B9, U+00B2 and U+00B3, inherited from Latin-1 because typewriters and early standards needed m² and m³. The other seven live together at U+2070 and up. Three digits in one block and seven in another, for a reason that's 40 years old.
Superscript, gaps and all
Formatting that survives a plain text box
A word processor makes superscript by tagging ordinary characters and telling the renderer to lift them. Copy that into a chat box and the tag goes. The text drops back down.
These characters carry the lift themselves. ᵃ is as much its own character as a is, so it survives anywhere text survives: a URL, a filename, a bio, a commit message. That's the appeal, and it's the same reason it causes trouble. Search engines don't fold ˢᵐᵃˡˡ back to "small", and a screen reader may announce it as "modifier letter small a" 11 times. Use it for a flourish, not for anything a reader needs.
Related conversions
Bubble text works the same way, swapping each letter for a dedicated Unicode character rather than applying a style. Strikethrough takes the other approach and hangs a combining mark off characters you already have.
The Unicode converter will show you the code point behind any character here.
Questions
How do I make superscript text?
Type above and copy the result. Each character is replaced with its own Unicode superscript character, so it keeps its shape when pasted.
Why is there no superscript q?
Unicode encoded superscript letters for phonetics and mathematics, one at a time, and no standard ever needed a raised q. There's no code point for it.
Will superscript text work on Instagram or Discord?
Yes, in bios and messages. These are ordinary characters rather than formatting, so anywhere that accepts text accepts them.
Is this the same as the superscript button in Word?
No. Word applies a style to a normal character and the style is lost on copy. This replaces the character itself, so nothing is lost, and nothing can be undone by changing the font.