North West Arrow
Block: Arrows
- Symbol
- ↖
- Unicode
U+2196- Unicode name
- NORTH WEST ARROW
- Block
- Arrows
- Category
- Symbol, Other
- Type
- Unicode symbol
North West Arrow (↖) is encoded as U+2196 and has the formal Unicode name NORTH WEST ARROW. Unicode classifies it as Symbol, Other in the Arrows block. Its name places it in the arrow/directional family, which gives the page a narrower identity than the glyph alone. The code point is the stable identifier when fonts, copy-and-paste, or surrounding context make the glyph ambiguous.
Reading North West Arrow in Context
↖ is encoded as U+2196 and classified as Symbol, Other. Its formal name narrows it to the arrow/directional family rather than leaving the mark as an unidentified shape.
The Unicode identity and the surrounding document answer different questions: the code point tells you which character is present, while the surrounding formula, interface, document, or notation system determines the local interpretation. Keeping those layers separate prevents a visual guess from being treated as a character definition.
Looking for a different mark? Try what is ↖ called? and identify it from the character, Unicode value, or appearance.
Fonts and Platforms May Draw This Symbol Differently
Unicode defines the character or sequence, but the visual artwork comes from the font, emoji set, and rendering system. As a result, shape, color, proportions, and detail can vary without changing the encoded identity.
For identification, compare code points and sequence data rather than expecting pixel-for-pixel consistency. This is especially important for emoji and symbols whose presentation is highly stylized by platforms.
Code-Point and UTF-8 Forms for ↖
U+2196 = decimal 8598 = HTML ↖ / ↖. A Unicode escape-style form is u2196. Its UTF-8 bytes are E2 86 96.
Use these identifiers in markup, source code, exports, or character diagnostics when the glyph alone is not enough.