Arrow symbol to copy and paste

What is the arrow symbol?

An arrow you can type is a character of Unicode, and it has hundreds: the plain → ← ↑ ↓ in its block of arrows since 1993, heavy and feathered ones such as ➜ and ➳ among its dingbats, long ones like ⟶ for mathematics, and colored emoji such as ➡️ and 🔄. Pasted as text, an arrow takes the font and color of the words around it.

Over 200 of them are gathered here and named, by direction and by kind. The die above dresses an arrow in hearts, sparkles or a line, and it can make over 500 combos.

How to copy and paste an arrow

1. Pick a direction or a kind below, or type its name into the search: down, double, curved.
2. Tap the arrow and it is copied; the name of what you took shows for a moment at the bottom.
3. Paste it where you write: a bio, a list of steps, a caption or a document.

What arrows mean

• Right arrow →: next, leads to, then; in mathematics, maps to or tends to.
• Double arrow ⇒: implies, in logic; ⇔ means if and only if.
• Left right arrow ↔︎: both ways, an exchange, a link between two things.
• Up ↑ and down ↓: more and less, rising and falling, or see above and below.
• Curved arrows ↩︎ and ↪︎: go back, reply or undo; ↻ means refresh or repeat.
• Down arrow emoji ⬇️: look below, the link is here.
• Feathered arrow ➳ and 💘: Cupid’s arrow, love at first sight.
• Triangles ▼ and ▲: a menu that drops down, or sorting from high to low.

How to type an arrow on a keyboard

• Windows: hold Alt and type 26 on the number pad for →, 27 for ←, 24 for ↑, 25 for ↓, 29 for ↔︎ and 18 for ↕︎.
• Mac: the Character Viewer, opened by Control, Command and Space, keeps every arrow under Arrows; or make a text replacement that turns -> into →.
• Word turns --> into → and <=> into ⇔ by itself; Google Docs turns -> into → as you type, and Insert, Special characters, Arrows has the rest.
• iPhone: add the Japanese keyboard and type やじるし (yajirushi, arrow) to be offered → ← ↑ ↓ ⇒ and more.
• HTML: &rarr; writes →, &larr; ←, &uarr; ↑, &darr; ↓, &harr; ↔ and &rArr; ⇒.

Cute arrows for a bio

An arrow in a bio points at something: the link below, a new video, a shop. ╰┈➤ leads the eye down a line, ➳♡ is Cupid’s, and ⇢ ˗ˏˋ adds a flourish to a list. Hearts to set beside them are among our heart symbols, and every other kind is on our page of copy and paste symbols.

Where the arrow symbol comes from

The arrow was a weapon long before it was a sign. As a sign of direction it turns up in the 18th century: in 1737 Bernard Forest de Bélidor drew arrows in his treatise on hydraulics to show which way water runs and wheels turn, and maps of the time began to show the flow of rivers with them. In the 19th century the arrow lost its feathers and became the bare line with a head that we type today; Paul Klee painted it, and road signs and screens put it everywhere.

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