Halfwidth Leftwards Arrow ￩
￩ (U+FFE9) is a standard Unicode character that you can copy and paste anywhere text is accepted. This page provides a concise reference with safe tips, internal links, and practical guidance so you can use it reliably across apps and platforms.
What it is and where it’s used: Halfwidth Leftwards Arrow is part of the Symbols family (block: Halfwidth and Fullwidth Forms). If you need styled or decorative alternatives, try our Fancy Text tool to generate compatible text that works in most modern interfaces.
History & usage: The HALFWIDTH LEFTWARDS ARROW depicts a directional symbol used in text and interfaces. In user interfaces it signals backward navigation or a return action. In documents it marks a previous item in a list or a back step in a workflow. In forms and input hints it can indicate going back to a prior field or step. Its halfwidth form keeps it compact in tight layouts and mixed scripts. On display, its appearance can vary with fonts and platforms, so provide a descriptive label for accessibility and consider including a textual cue for screen readers. Cross‑platform rendering is generally consistent for standard environments, and assistive tech can read it as a simple arrow when a clear label is provided.
Copy and input: the quickest method is to copy the character here. You can also insert it by its codepoint U+FFE9 in many development tools or editors. Some operating systems provide a character viewer or input palette that lets you search by name or code and insert the glyph into documents.
Display and fallback: if you see an empty box (tofu) or a placeholder rectangle, the active font might not include this codepoint. Switching to a font with broader Unicode coverage or using a fallback font usually fixes the issue. On the web, ensure the page’s font stack includes a general‑purpose fallback.
Related references: browse the Categories for similar characters. When choosing a symbol, prefer the official codepoint for semantic clarity and better compatibility with search, copy, and accessibility tooling.
See our category page for related symbols.
Technical details
- Codepoint:
U+FFE9 - General Category:
Sm - Age:
1.1 - Bidi Class:
ON - Decomposition:
<narrow> 2190 - Block:
Halfwidth and Fullwidth Forms - Script:
Common - UTF-8:
EF BF A9 - UTF-16:
FFE9 - UTF-32:
0000FFE9 - HTML dec:
￩ - HTML hex:
￩ - JS escape:
\uFFE9 - Python \N{}:
\N{HALFWIDTH LEFTWARDS ARROW} - Python \u:
\uFFE9 - Python \U:
\U0000FFE9 - URL-encoded:
%EF%BF%A9 - CSS escape:
\FFE9
How to type / insert
Fast copy: click the Copy button near the top of this page.
By codepoint: in many editors and IDEs, you can insert via the Unicode code U+FFE9 or a built‑in character picker.
HTML: use the numeric entity &#xffe9; (hex) or &#65513; (decimal) when an HTML entity is needed.
Compatibility & troubleshooting
Font support: if the symbol does not render, the current font likely lacks this codepoint. Choose a font with broad Unicode coverage or allow a fallback font.
Web pages: ensure your CSS font stack includes a general fallback; avoid relying on images for common symbols to preserve accessibility and copyability.