Special Characters

Browse and copy unique special characters organized by meaning — from infinity and eternity symbols to peace signs, scientific notation, legal marks, aesthetic decorators, and rare Unicode curiosities.

"Special characters" are any symbols that aren't standard letters or numbers — things like ∞, ©, ™, †, ★, and °. They live in the Unicode standard alongside ordinary text, which means you can copy them here and paste them into documents, social posts, code, usernames, and form fields without needing a special keyboard, ALT codes, or character-map software. Every symbol below is a single click to copy.

Use the categories to jump to what you need, or scan the page for that one glyph you can never remember how to type. Each character is plain Unicode, so it stays the same when you paste it into Google Docs, Word, Notion, Gmail, Instagram, or a chat window.

Want the full story on one specific character — its history, alt codes, and where it's safe to use? Four of the symbols below have their own dedicated page: at symbol (@), ampersand (&), section sign (§), and pilcrow (¶).

There are several ways to insert a special character — but copy and paste is the fastest and the most reliable across devices:

• Copy and paste (easiest): click any symbol on this page to copy it, then paste it (Ctrl/Cmd + V) wherever you need it. No codes to memorize.
• Windows ALT codes: hold Alt and type a number on the numeric keypad (for example Alt + 0169 for ©). This only works on keyboards with a real number pad.
• Mac Character Viewer: press Ctrl + Cmd + Space to open the emoji and symbol picker.
• Unicode entry: on Windows, type the hex code and press Alt + X in some apps (for example 221E then Alt + X gives ∞).

Because these characters are part of Unicode, they display consistently on iPhone, Android, Windows, and Mac. A handful of the rarer mathematical and decorative glyphs can fall back to a missing-character box on older systems; if that happens, choose a more common alternative from the same category.

The most common reason a special character “won’t save” is that it went into the wrong field. Nearly every platform splits your identity into two separate names, and only one of them accepts these characters:

• Username / @handle — the unique ID you log in with. Almost always restricted to lowercase letters, numbers, dots and underscores, so a special character is rejected there or the field silently reverts.
• Display name / nickname — what other people see. Usually accepts a wide range of Unicode, and that is where every character on this page belongs.

Platform specifics, each verified separately: Instagram, Discord, and the field-by-field breakdown of which Discord surface takes what.

Games set their own rules. Many titles allow Latin characters only and reject the rest outright, and a rename often costs money or a token. Paste your text into the field and let the game validate it before you commit.

Want a name that looks empty rather than decorated? A plain space gets trimmed and rejected — you need a character that is not classified as whitespace. See invisible characters.

What counts as a special character?

A special character is any symbol outside the basic letters (A–Z, a–z) and digits (0–9). That includes punctuation like & and @, currency marks like € and £, math signs like ∞ and ±, and decorative glyphs like ★ and ✧. All of them are part of Unicode.

How do I copy a special character without an ALT code?

Just click the symbol you want on this page — it copies to your clipboard instantly, then paste it with Ctrl + V (Windows) or Cmd + V (Mac). You never need to remember a numeric code.

Why does a special character show as a box or question mark?

That happens when the app or device doesn't have a font glyph for that specific character. It's a display issue, not a copy error — the character is still correct underneath. Switching to a more widely supported symbol from the same category usually fixes it.

Are special characters safe to use in passwords and usernames?

Special punctuation (! @ # $ % & *) strengthens passwords and is widely accepted. Rarer Unicode symbols, however, are often rejected by username and password fields, so stick to common ASCII punctuation there and save the decorative glyphs for posts and bios.

Why do I see [OBJ] instead of an emoji or symbol?

[OBJ] is a placeholder some Android apps and older messaging clients show when they can't render a specific emoji or Unicode character — short for "object replacement." The character itself was copied and sent correctly; the receiving app just doesn't have a glyph for it yet. It's the text-mode version of the missing-character box above, and it typically resolves once the app or OS updates its font and emoji set.

Which symbols aren't on a standard keyboard?

Anything beyond letters, digits and the punctuation printed on the keys — hearts (♥ ♡), stars (★ ☆), ticks (✓ ✔), arrows (→ ←), infinity (∞), degree (°) and most currency marks. They exist in Unicode, they just have no key, so copying is the fastest way to use them.

How do I get a heart symbol that isn't an emoji?

Tap ♥ or ♡ above. Unlike the emoji on a phone keyboard, these are text characters — they take the colour and size of the surrounding text and work in username fields and forms that reject emoji.