How to type Return Arrow
To type Return Arrow (↵), press Alt + 8629 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+21B5 directly: Ctrl+Shift+U then 21b5 on Linux, or 21b5 then Alt+X in Microsoft Word.
Downwards Arrow With Corner Leftwards
- Copy it
- Unicode
- U+21B5
- Windows
- Alt + 8629 needs regedit
| Where | Shortcut | How |
|---|---|---|
| Windows | Alt + 8629 | 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+21B5 | DOWNWARDS ARROW WITH CORNER LEFTWARDS |
Symbols related to Return Arrow
These are filed under downwards, leftwards 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 Return Arrow is used for
In mathematical notation ↵ is an ordinary symbol: it carries no special spacing and sits in an expression the way a letter does, standing for a thing rather than doing something to the things around it. That is the classification unicode-math gives it, and it is what decides how the symbol is set: $\carriagereturn$ 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 downwards arrow corner leftwards. That word is what somebody looking for this character is liable to type when Return Arrow is not the name they know it by, and the search on the symbol lists matches it 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+21B2, Downwards Arrow With Tip Leftwards). 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 Return Arrow is not matching where you expect it to, one of these is the usual reason.
What Unicode says about Return Arrow
Unicode annotates ↵ directly. Against U+21B5 the code chart carries the note “May indicate a carriage return or new line”. That is the standard saying what the character is for, rather than an inference from its name.
The code chart points from ↵ to return symbol (U+23CE). These are the characters the standard thinks you might have meant instead, which makes them the ones worth checking when Return Arrow looks nearly right but not quite.
How Return Arrow 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 Return Arrow
How to type a downward arrow?
You can press Alt + 8629 on Windows, with Num Lock on and the digits typed on the numeric keypad. That produces ↵.
Every way to write Return Arrow
| Form | Value |
|---|---|
| Codepoint | U+21B5 |
| Decimal | 8629 |
| UTF-8 bytes | E2 86 B5 |
| UTF-16 bytes | 21 B5 |
| HTML entity | ↵ |
| HTML numeric | ↵ or ↵ |
| CSS | \21B5 |
| JavaScript | \u21B5 |
| Python | \u21B5 |
| URL-encoded | %E2%86%B5 |
| LaTeX, in maths mode | $\carriagereturn$ |
| SVG | 21B5.svg · (SIL Open Font License) |
If ↵ arrives as ↵
Its three UTF-8 bytes E2 86 B5 are being read one at a time as Windows-1252. The text is undamaged; the reader has to be told it is UTF-8.