Special Characters

Browse 420+ special characters across 12 categories. Click to copy any character instantly. View HTML entities, Unicode codes, and CSS codes for every symbol.

What is Special Characters?

A Special Characters tool is a comprehensive reference library for Unicode symbols, typographic marks, mathematical operators, currency symbols, and special characters that are not found on a standard keyboard. Unicode is the universal character encoding standard that defines over 140,000 characters covering essentially every writing system on Earth, plus thousands of symbols across dozens of categories. While you can type letters and numbers directly from your keyboard, accessing special characters like copyright © trademark ™ registered ® degree ° arrows → ← ↑ ↓ mathematical symbols ∑ ∞ π ≠ currency signs € £ ¥ ₩ typographic marks — ‘ “ « » and decorative symbols requires knowing their codes or having a reference tool. These characters are essential across many disciplines: web developers need HTML entities to safely embed characters in markup, CSS developers use Unicode escapes in the content property for decorative pseudo-elements, typographers and writers need proper quotation marks and em dashes for professional typography, mathematicians need operator symbols, internationalization developers need character codes for foreign scripts, and designers need to quickly find arrows, check marks, and decorative symbols for UI copy. This tool provides the character itself plus all the codes you need for any context.

How to Use Special Characters

Browse characters using the category tabs to filter by type: Punctuation & Typography (em dash, ellipsis, smart quotes, dagger), Mathematical Symbols (operators, relations, Greek letters), Arrows (directional, curved, double, diagonal), Currency (major world currency symbols), Fractions & Numbers (vulgar fractions, superscripts, subscripts), Letterlike Symbols (trademark, copyright, registered, trademark), Technical Symbols (keyboard symbols, computer symbols), and more. Or use the search box to find a character by its name ('check mark', 'infinity', 'copyright'), by typing the symbol directly, by its HTML entity name (©), or by its Unicode code point (U+00A9). Click any character in the grid to copy it directly to your clipboard—the character itself is copied so you can paste it into any application. The detail panel shows the character's official Unicode name and category, its code point (U+XXXX), the HTML entity both as a named entity (©) and a numeric entity (©), the CSS content value ('\00A9'), and the decimal/hex code. A recently used characters section at the top provides quick access to characters you've used in this session.

FAQ

How do I use special characters safely in HTML?

Two methods work: Named HTML entities (e.g., &copy; for ©, &trade; for ™, &amp; for &, &lt; for <, &gt; for >) are readable and widely supported. Numeric character references work for any Unicode character regardless of whether a named entity exists: &#169; (decimal) or &#x00A9; (hexadecimal) both display ©. Pasting the character directly also works if your HTML file is saved as UTF-8 (which all modern editors do by default). Never use numeric HTML entities for regular letter characters—reserve them for symbols and characters that have HTML special meaning.

How do I use special characters in CSS?

In CSS, Unicode characters appear in the content property of ::before and ::after pseudo-elements using the escape syntax: content: '\00A9'; displays ©. The format is backslash followed by the 4–6 digit hex code point. For example: content: '\2192'; displays →, content: '\2665'; displays ♥, content: '\2713'; displays ✓. This technique is commonly used for decorative bullets, icons without an image, and typographic ornaments. The character's hex code is shown in the detail panel of this tool.

What is the difference between an em dash, en dash, and hyphen?

Three different length dashes serve distinct typographic purposes: Hyphen (-) is the keyboard character used for compound words (well-known, two-factor), phone numbers, and word breaks. En dash (–, U+2013) is used for ranges (pages 10–25, 2020–2024, New York–London flight) and is approximately the width of the letter N. Em dash (—, U+2014) is used to set off parenthetical phrases—like this one—or to indicate an interruption in speech, and is approximately the width of the letter M. Professional typography uses the correct dash for each context. Most word processors auto-convert -- to an em dash, but web content often uses keyboard hyphens incorrectly.

How do I type special characters on a keyboard without a tool?

On Windows: hold Alt and type a number code on the numeric keypad (Alt+0169 for ©). On Mac: Option key combinations (Option+G for ©, Option+2 for ™, Option+R for ®, Option+Shift+Hyphen for —). On Linux: Compose key sequences (varies by setup). In HTML editors: most IDEs support inserting characters by Unicode code point. However, these keyboard methods require memorizing codes for each character, while a reference tool is faster for occasional use.

What are the most commonly needed special characters for web development?

The most frequently needed characters: © (copyright, U+00A9, &copy;), ™ (trademark, U+2122, &trade;), ® (registered, U+00AE, &reg;), — (em dash, U+2014, &mdash;), – (en dash, U+2013, &ndash;), ' ' (curly quotes, U+2018/2019, &lsquo; &rsquo;), " " (curly double quotes, U+201C/201D, &ldquo; &rdquo;), → (right arrow, U+2192, &rarr;), ← (left arrow, U+2190, &larr;), ✓ (check mark, U+2713), ✕ (cross mark, U+2715), ° (degree, U+00B0, &deg;), ∞ (infinity, U+221E, &infin;), and non-breaking space (U+00A0, &nbsp;).