How to use the dingbats
- Find the category you need, such as Checkmarks and Crosses or Stars and Asterisks.
- Click any character in the dingbats list to copy it to your clipboard.
- Paste the copied dingbat into your document, email, website or social media post.
- Use the reference table below if you need the exact HTML entity or Unicode code point.
What Are Dingbats?
Dingbats are typographic ornaments that serve as bullets, markers or decorative elements in text. The term originally referred to physical metal sorts used by printers before digital typography. Today, the Unicode standard assigns each dingbat a unique code point, primarily in the Dingbats block spanning U+2700 to U+27BF.
Unlike letters or numerals, dingbats convey meaning through shape rather than phonetic value. A heavy check mark (U+2714) signals approval, while a black star (U+2605) often denotes a favourite item. Because they are standard Unicode characters, dingbats display consistently across modern operating systems and browsers without requiring custom fonts.
How to Type Dingbats on Windows, Mac and Linux
Typing dingbats directly from a keyboard requires different methods depending on your operating system. On Windows, Alt codes typed on the numeric keypad only reach code points up to 255, so they cannot produce dingbats such as the check mark (U+2713). Copy the symbol from this page, press Win + . to open the emoji and symbol panel, or in Microsoft Word type the hexadecimal code point (2713) and press Alt + X.
On macOS, press Control + Command + Space to open the Character Viewer. Search for the name of the dingbat, such as "black scissors", and double-click to insert it. Alternatively, you can create custom text replacements in System Settings under Keyboard.
On Linux with GTK applications, press Ctrl + Shift + U, type the hexadecimal code point (for example, 2714), then press Enter. In terminal emulators, you can also use echo -e '\u2714' to output the character.
HTML Entities and Unicode Code Points
Web developers frequently need to embed dingbats in HTML documents. You can use the decimal numeric entity format ✔ or the hexadecimal format ✔ to render the heavy check mark (U+2714). Do not use ✅ for that: it is U+2705 WHITE HEAVY CHECK MARK, which most platforms draw as a green colour emoji. Both formats work in all modern browsers.
| Symbol | Name | Unicode | Decimal Entity | Hex Entity |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ✂ | BLACK SCISSORS | U+2702 | ✂ | ✂ |
| ✓ | CHECK MARK | U+2713 | ✓ | ✓ |
| ✔ | HEAVY CHECK MARK | U+2714 | ✔ | ✔ |
| ✗ | BALLOT X | U+2717 | ✗ | ✗ |
| ★ | BLACK STAR | U+2605 | ★ | ★ |
| ☆ | WHITE STAR | U+2606 | ☆ | ☆ |
| ➀ | DINGBAT CIRCLED SANS-SERIF DIGIT ONE | U+2780 | ➀ | ➀ |
| ➊ | DINGBAT NEGATIVE CIRCLED SANS-SERIF DIGIT ONE | U+278A | ➊ | ➊ |
In CSS, you can insert a dingbat using the content property with an escaped hex value: content: '\2714';.
Common Uses for Dingbats
Dingbats appear throughout user interfaces and printed documents. Check marks and ballot boxes are standard in form design and task lists. Stars rate products, reviews and difficulty levels. Scissors indicate a cut line in printable templates or coupon designs. Arrows guide readers through sequential steps or highlight calls to action.
Circled numbers provide compact step indicators without requiring separate image assets. Because they are text characters, they inherit font size, colour and line height from surrounding CSS, making them far easier to style than raster images. If you need other decorative glyphs, pages like aesthetic symbols or currency symbols cover different character sets.
Rendering and Font Support
Not every font includes the full Dingbats block. When a selected font lacks a specific glyph, the operating system falls back to another installed font that contains it. This fallback can cause slight visual inconsistencies in weight or alignment. To ensure uniform rendering, specify a font stack that includes comprehensive symbol coverage, such as Segoe UI Symbol on Windows or Apple Color Emoji on macOS.
Some dingbats, particularly those in the Miscellaneous Symbols block (U+2600 to U+26FF), may render as colourful emoji on certain platforms. Appending the variation selector U+FE0E after the character forces a monochrome text presentation where supported. The last group on this page, Emoji-style Dingbats, collects the characters that most platforms draw in colour by default, such as the white heavy check mark, the cross mark and the heavy plus sign.
Worked examples
| Example | Input | Result |
|---|---|---|
| Checkmark | This input could not be calculated. | |
| Scissors | This input could not be calculated. | |
| Star | This input could not be calculated. |
FAQ
What is the difference between a dingbat and an emoji?
Dingbats are monochrome typographic ornaments defined in the Unicode standard, typically rendered in the current text colour. Emojis are pictographs that often display in full colour and have specific presentation rules governed by variation selectors.
Why do some dingbats look different on my phone compared to my computer?
Each operating system and application uses its own font to render Unicode characters. If the default fonts differ, the visual weight, proportions and style of the same dingbat will vary between devices.
Can I use dingbats in email subject lines?
Yes, most modern email clients support Unicode characters in subject lines. However, older clients or strict spam filters might flag unusual characters, so test your emails before sending them to large lists.
How do I find the Unicode code point for a specific dingbat?
You can look up the character in the official Unicode charts or use the reference table on this page. The code point is usually written in the format U+ followed by four or five hexadecimal digits, such as U+2714.
Are dingbats accessible to screen readers?
Screen readers announce the official Unicode name of the character, which can be verbose. For critical information, always pair dingbats with text labels or use ARIA attributes so users relying on assistive technology understand the meaning.
Do dingbats count as one character in string length calculations?
In UTF-16 encoding used by JavaScript, most dingbats in the basic multilingual plane count as one character. Those outside this plane, if any, would require two code units. Standard dingbats from U+2700 to U+27BF are single characters.