Paste the symbol into search. Its Unicode name tells you which exact character or sequence you have.
Technical note: Search the character itself when possible. Its Unicode name identifies the encoded character, while a descriptive site label can explain the way people commonly use it.Reviewed by CoolSymbol.now Editorial · August 2, 2026What you need to know
The fastest method is to copy the unknown character and paste it into CoolSymbol.now search.
A visible emoji can contain several code points joined together.
Two characters can look nearly identical while having different meanings and code points.
See real examples in technical symbols and punctuation symbols. For the full lesson, read Unicode Symbols Explained: From Code Point to Character.
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Paste the character into search
Every character has one official name, written in capitals. That name is fixed and never changes. It is the safest way to tell two lookalikes apart.
This site shows the name and the code point next to each character. You can also use a character map on your computer, or paste the character into an inspector.
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Check the entire sequence
Search by what the character does, not only by how it looks. A name often contains a useful word such as HEART, ARROW or DOUBLE.
Names also say how heavy or hollow a shape is. WHITE means hollow. BLACK means filled. That is a naming rule, not a colour.
- Keep variation selectors
- Keep zero-width joiners
- Keep regional-indicator pairs used for flags
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Appearance is not identity
Once you know the name, you can look up the code point. From there you get the HTML reference, the keyboard code and the block it belongs to.
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When the name is not enough
A name tells you what a character is. It does not always tell you how it is used. GREEK SMALL LETTER PI and GREEK PI SYMBOL both draw a pi. One is a letter in Greek text. The other was encoded for maths.
Names are permanent, so a few are simply wrong. Unicode fixes mistakes with notes instead of renaming, because renaming would break existing text.
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Sources and further reading
This answer was reviewed against current Unicode terminology and the practical guidance below.
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Related symbol collections
More collections supported by this answer
These links are grouped by purpose so you can move from the general answer to the exact inventory you need.