North West Arrow
Unicode places the north west arrow at code point U+2196, part of the arrows family. Copy the ↖ with a single click below, then scroll down for every way to type it: the HTML entities, the CSS content escape, the JavaScript escape and the Windows alt code where one exists.
| Symbol | ↖ | |
|---|---|---|
| Unicode | U+2196 | |
| Name | North West Arrow | |
| HTML (decimal) | ↖ | |
| HTML (hex) | ↖ | |
| CSS content | \2196 | |
| JavaScript / JSON | \u2196 | |
| UTF-8 bytes | 0xE2 0x86 0x96 | |
| UTF-16 units | 0x2196 |
How do you type the north west arrow on each platform?
| Where | How to type it |
|---|---|
| Any device | Click the ↖ at the top of this page. It goes straight to your clipboard, and you paste it with Ctrl+V on Windows or Cmd+V on a Mac. This is the only method that behaves identically everywhere. |
| Windows | There is no short alt code for this character. Press Win and the full stop key to open the emoji and symbol panel, then use the symbols tab and search for north west arrow. |
| macOS | Add Unicode Hex Input under Keyboard settings, switch to it, then hold Option and type 2196. Without that input source, open the Character Viewer with Control+Command+Space and search for north west arrow. |
| Linux and ChromeOS | Press Ctrl+Shift+U, type 2196, then press Enter or the space bar. This works in GTK applications and with IBus. |
| Microsoft Word | Type 2196 in the document, then press Alt and X together with the cursor immediately after the last digit. Word replaces the digits with ↖. |
| Google Docs | Insert, then Special characters, then paste U+2196 or type north west arrow in the search box. You can also draw the shape in the sketch pad on the right. |
| Excel and Google Sheets | Use the formula UNICHAR(8598) in a cell. Copy the cell and paste it as a value if you want the character rather than the formula. |
| HTML | Write ↖ or ↖. There is no standard named entity for this character. On a page served as UTF-8 the character itself also works. |
| CSS | Use content: "\2196" inside a ::before or ::after rule. Terminate the escape with a space if the next character is also a hexadecimal digit. |
| JavaScript | The escape \u2196 produces this character inside a string literal, and the same escape is valid in JSON. |
More detail per platform: Windows alt codes, special characters on a Mac, special characters in Word and HTML entities.
Frequently asked questions
How do I copy the north west arrow symbol?
Click the ↖ above or the copy button and it is placed on your clipboard. Paste it anywhere with Ctrl+V or Cmd+V. It is a real text character, so it works in documents, chats and code.
What is the Unicode code point for north west arrow?
The north west arrow has the Unicode code point U+2196. In HTML you can write it as ↖ or ↖.
Does the north west arrow symbol work everywhere?
In almost every modern app and font, yes. If a font does not include this glyph you may see a placeholder box, but the underlying character U+2196 is still correct and will render in a font that supports it.
Related symbols
Browse the full arrow symbols hub, or return to the searchable symbol grid.