How to type Left Arrow with Hook
To type Left Arrow with Hook (↩), press Alt + 8617 on Windows, holding Alt while typing the digits on the numeric keypad, or write ↩ in HTML. On any system you can copy it from this page, or enter its codepoint U+21A9 directly: Ctrl+Shift+U then 21a9 on Linux, or 21a9 then Alt+X in Microsoft Word.
Leftwards Arrow With Hook
- Copy it
- Unicode
- U+21A9
- Windows
- Alt + 8617 needs regedit
| Where | Shortcut | How |
|---|---|---|
| Windows | Alt + 8617 | Above 255, so Windows will not accept it as typed. Copy the character instead. |
| Mac | N/A | Press the keys together. |
| HTML | ↩ | Paste this into HTML source. |
| Unicode | U+21A9 | LEFTWARDS ARROW WITH HOOK |
Symbols related to Left Arrow with Hook
These are filed under curving and arrow in CLDR, the keyword list Unicode publishes alongside the names.
Other arrows symbols
↩ lives in the Arrows block (U+2190-U+21FF), arrows in every direction and weight. Within Unicode it is classified as So, a symbol.
What Left Arrow with Hook is used for
In mathematical notation ↩ is a relation: it makes a claim about the two things either side of it, which is true or false rather than a value to work out. TeX gives a relation more space than an operator, and breaks a long line at one in preference to breaking at an operator. That is the classification unicode-math gives it, and it is what decides how the symbol is set: $\hookleftarrow$ 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 it is right arrow curving left. That word is what somebody looking for this character is liable to type when Left Arrow with Hook is not the name they know it by, and the search on the symbol lists matches it as well as the Unicode name.
How Left Arrow with Hook 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.
Every way to write Left Arrow with Hook
| Form | Value |
|---|---|
| Codepoint | U+21A9 |
| Decimal | 8617 |
| UTF-8 bytes | E2 86 A9 |
| UTF-16 bytes | 21 A9 |
| HTML entity | ↩ |
| HTML numeric | ↩ or ↩ |
| CSS | \21A9 |
| JavaScript | \u21A9 |
| Python | \u21A9 |
| URL-encoded | %E2%86%A9 |
| LaTeX, in maths mode | $\hookleftarrow$ |
| SVG | 21A9.svg · (SIL Open Font License) |
If ↩ arrives as ↩
Its three UTF-8 bytes E2 86 A9 are being read one at a time as Windows-1252. The text is undamaged; the reader has to be told it is UTF-8.