Frequently Asked Questions
Answers about code points, encodings, rendering, and privacy.
Lookups run locally. No data is sent or stored.
What is a Unicode code point?
A code point is the number Unicode assigns to a character, written in U+ hexadecimal notation such as U+0041 for A or U+1F600 for the grinning face. The number is stable and independent of how the character is encoded into bytes.
Why do some characters display as boxes or question marks?
A missing glyph usually means the installed font has no design for that character, not that the code point is invalid. Try a font with broader coverage such as Noto Sans or Noto Sans Symbols, and verify the code point separately.
What is the difference between UTF-8, UTF-16, and UTF-32?
They are different ways to encode the same code points. UTF-8 uses one to four bytes and stays compatible with ASCII, UTF-16 uses one or two 16-bit units, and UTF-32 uses a fixed four bytes per code point. UTF-8 is the dominant encoding on the web.
Is my character lookup private?
Yes. The lookup runs entirely in your browser against the built-in Unicode 15.1 dataset. No input, keystroke, clipboard value, or search query is sent to a server or stored.
What is a combining sequence?
A combining sequence is a base character followed by one or more combining marks, such as e followed by the acute accent. It is a sequence of multiple code points even when it looks like one displayed letter.
How accurate is the character database?
Facts such as names, blocks, scripts, and categories are generated from the official Unicode 15.1 Character Database files. Each record shows its reviewed date and source link on the detail page.
What is ASCII and how is it different from Unicode?
ASCII is a 128-character code table used in early computing. Unicode keeps every ASCII character at the same code point and extends the system to more than a million code points, so ASCII is now a subset of Unicode.
What is an HTML entity?
An HTML entity is a character reference that starts with an ampersand and ends with a semicolon, such as © or ©. Browsers decode entities into the characters they represent inside HTML documents.
How do I copy a character in UTF-8, HTML, CSS, or JavaScript?
Open the character detail page and use the copy buttons next to each format. UTF-8 shows the byte sequence, HTML shows named and numeric entities, and CSS, JavaScript, and Python rows show their escape syntax.
What is an emoji sequence?
An emoji sequence is a display unit made of several code points, such as a family joined by a zero-width joiner or a person followed by a skin-tone modifier. It is one visible emoji but not one code point.
What is the difference between UTF-8 and UTF-16?
UTF-8 uses one to four bytes and stays compatible with ASCII. UTF-16 uses 16-bit units and surrogate pairs for characters above U+FFFF. UTF-8 is the default for the web; UTF-16 appears in many system and language APIs.
Do the search and conversion tools send my text anywhere?
No. Search, character lookup, and every converter in this hub run in your browser against static data. Input text, code points, and copied values are not sent to a server or stored.
Where do emoji and HTML entity records come from?
Emoji records are generated from the Unicode 15.1 emoji-test data, and HTML entities come from the WHATWG HTML named character reference table. The Unicode character facts use the official Unicode 15.1 Character Database.