How to Insert Arrow Symbols on Your Web Page

This article explains how to insert arrows (and other symbols) into a blog post or web page's HTML using the editor or platform of your choice. These keystrokes are based on Unicode, which web browsers recognize and turn into the desired symbols.

How to Make an Arrow for Your Web Page

You'll need one of three identifiers: the HTML5 entity code, the decimal code, or the hexadecimal code. Any of the three identifiers produces the same result. In general, entity codes start with an ampersand and end with a semicolon; in the middle is an abbreviation summarizing what the symbol is. Decimal codes follow the format Ampersand+Hashtag+Numeric code+Semicolon, and hexadecimal codes insert the letter X between the hashtag and the numbers.

For example, to produce a left-arrow symbol (←), type any of the following combinations:

• HTML:

  ←

• Decimal:

  ←

• Hexadecimal:

  ←

You must insert these codes directly into the HTML using a text-mode or source-mode edit tool. Adding the symbols to a visual editor might not work, and pasting the Unicode character you want into a visual editor might not result in your intended effect. For example, when writing a blog post using WordPress, switch to Code Editor mode instead of Visual Editor mode to insert a special symbol.

Common Arrow Symbols

Unicode supports dozens of types and styles of arrows. Look at the Character Map on your computer to identify specific styles of arrows.

To open the Character Map, select Start > All Programs > Accessories > System Tools > Character Map (or select Windows and enter character map in the search box).

When you highlight a symbol, you'll see a description of the symbol at the bottom of the Character Map application window in the form of U+nnnn, where the numbers represent the decimal code for the symbol.

Note that not all Windows fonts display all forms of the Unicode symbols, so if you can't find what you want even after changing fonts inside of Character Map, consider alternate sources, including the summary pages for W3Schools.

Selected UTF-8 arrow symbols
Character	Decimal	Hexadecimal	Entity	Standardized Name
←	8592	2190	←	left arrow
↑	8593	2191	↑	up arrow
→	8594	2192	→	right arrow
↔	8595	2194	↔	down arrow
↕	8597	2195		up down arrow
↻	8635	21BB		clockwise open-circle arrow
⇈	8648	21C8		up paired arrows
⇾	8702	21FE		right open-headed arrow
⇶	8694	21F6		three right arrows
⇦	8678	21E6		left white arrow
⇡	8673	21E1		up dashed arrow
⇝	8669	21DD		right squiggle arrow

Considerations

Microsoft Edge, Internet Explorer 11, and Firefox 35 and newer browsers have no difficulty displaying the full range of Unicode characters in the UTF-8 standard. Google Chrome, however, intermittently misses some characters if they're presented solely using the HTML5 entity code.

The UTF-8 standard includes characters beyond arrows, too. For example, UTF-8 supports characters including:

• Currency symbols
• Letter-like symbols that aren't letters
• Mathematical operators
• Geometric shapes
• Box-like shapes
• Dingbats
• Diacritical marks
• Greek, Coptic, and Cyrillic characters

The procedure for inserting these additional symbols is exactly the same as it is for arrows.