How to type Fraction Slash
To type Fraction Slash (⁄), press Alt + 8260 on Windows, holding Alt while typing the digits on the numeric keypad, or press Option + Shift + 1 on Mac, or write ⁄ in HTML. On any system you can copy it from this page, or enter its codepoint U+2044 directly: Ctrl+Shift+U then 2044 on Linux, or 2044 then Alt+X in Microsoft Word.
Fraction Slash
- Copy it
- Unicode
- U+2044
- Windows
- Alt + 8260 needs regedit
| Where | Shortcut | How |
|---|---|---|
| Windows | Alt + 8260 | Above 255, so Windows will not accept it as typed. Copy the character instead. |
| Mac | Option + Shift + 1 | Press the keys together. |
| HTML | ⁄ | Paste this into HTML source. |
| Unicode | U+2044 | FRACTION SLASH |
Symbols related to Fraction Slash
The Unicode code chart points from ⁄ to /, and the rest are filed under slash and stroke in CLDR, the keyword list Unicode publishes alongside the names.
Other math symbols
⁄ lives in the General Punctuation block (U+2000-U+206F), dashes, quotation marks, spaces and reference marks used across languages. Within Unicode it is classified as Sm, a mathematical symbol. Software may lay it out with the spacing an operator expects. Its bidirectional class makes it a common number separator.
What Fraction Slash is used for
In mathematical notation ⁄ is a binary operator: it takes one operand on each side, and TeX sets a medium space either side of it so that the three parts read as a single expression rather than as three symbols in a row. That is the classification unicode-math gives it, and it is what decides how the symbol is set: $\fracslash$ in LaTeX, in maths mode rather than in a sentence.
Unicode publishes a second list of names for ⁄ in CLDR, the keywords its own search data offers rather than the formal name, and they are stroke and virgule. Those words are what somebody looking for this character is liable to type when Fraction Slash is not the name they know it by, and the search on the symbol lists matches them as well as the Unicode name.
What ⁄ gets confused with
Unicode's own confusables table, the one used to catch lookalike domain names, groups ⁄ with / (U+002F, Forward Slash). They are separate characters that render close enough to be mistaken for one another, so a search or a string comparison will separate them where your eye will not. If Fraction Slash is not matching where you expect it to, one of these is the usual reason.
What Unicode says about Fraction Slash
The standard recognises ⁄ under another name as well: solidus (in typography). That is a formal alias, not a nickname, which is why it turns up in other people's documentation for the same codepoint.
Unicode annotates ⁄ directly. Against U+2044 the code chart carries the note “For composing arbitrary fractions”. That is the standard saying what the character is for, rather than an inference from its name.
The code chart points from ⁄ to Forward Slash and division slash (U+2215). These are the characters the standard thinks you might have meant instead, which makes them the ones worth checking when Fraction Slash looks nearly right but not quite.
How Fraction Slash behaves in software
⁄ takes one column in a terminal. It carries no direction of its own, so in a line that mixes English with Arabic or Hebrew it takes the direction of the text around it rather than forcing one.
What people ask about Fraction Slash
How do i type fractions?
You can press Alt + 8260 on Windows, with Num Lock on and the digits typed on the numeric keypad, or press Option + Shift + 1 on Mac. Either produces ⁄.
What is the symbol of fraction in calculator?
⁄ is FRACTION SLASH, encoded at U+2044. The Unicode code chart annotates it “For composing arbitrary fractions”, which is the standard's own statement of what it is for. It is distinct from solidus (U+002F) and division slash (U+2215), which the chart lists beside it precisely because they are confused for one another.
Every way to write Fraction Slash
| Form | Value |
|---|---|
| Codepoint | U+2044 |
| Decimal | 8260 |
| UTF-8 bytes | E2 81 84 |
| UTF-16 bytes | 20 44 |
| HTML entity | ⁄ |
| HTML numeric | ⁄ or ⁄ |
| CSS | \2044 |
| JavaScript | \u2044 |
| Python | \u2044 |
| URL-encoded | %E2%81%84 |
| LaTeX, in maths mode | $\fracslash$ |
| SVG | 2044.svg · (SIL Open Font License) |
If ⁄ arrives as â�„
Its three UTF-8 bytes E2 81 84 are being read one at a time as Windows-1252. The text is undamaged; the reader has to be told it is UTF-8.