Copy and paste
Arrow Symbols
Arrows carry direction faster than words, which is why they end up in changelogs, commit messages, docs and menus.
These are all standard Unicode, so they keep their shape in proportional fonts and need no code block. They are also single characters, which means they survive a text field with a tight character limit.
Right
→
Left
←
Up
↑
Down
↓
Left right
↔
Up down
↕
Double right
⇒
Double left
⇐
Heavy right
➡
Long right
⟶
Long left
⟵
Curved right
↪
Curved left
↩
Loop right
⟳
Loop left
⟲
Triangle right
▶
Triangle left
◀
Small triangle
▸
Chevron right
›
Double chevron
»
Double chevron left
«
Arrow trail
──────────▶
Pointer run
▸▸▸
Zigzag arrow
↯
Where these work
This page has 24 pieces: 24 single-line and 0 multi-line. The widest is 11 characters across.
Everything on this page is a single line, so there is nothing to align and nothing to break. These paste correctly into chat, bios, usernames, commit messages, spreadsheet cells and form fields alike.
Questions
Which arrow should I use in a changelog?
The plain right arrow → for "changed from A to B", and the long arrow ⟶ when it sits between two long strings and needs the extra breathing room.
Do arrows work in a commit message?
Yes. Git stores UTF-8, GitHub renders it, and terminals have had these glyphs for decades. The only place they break is a terminal stuck on a legacy code page.
Why does -> look different from →?
-> is two ASCII characters your brain reads as an arrow; → is one real arrow character. Some editors auto-convert the first into the second, which can surprise you in code.
Make your own
None of these say your name. The text to ASCII generator turns any word into a banner across 133 FIGlet fonts, and the image to ASCII converter turns a picture into text art in your browser. Both are free and neither uploads anything.