How to Search and Find Any Unicode Character

Understanding UnicodeUnicode
Universal character encoding standard that assigns a unique number to every character across all writing systems and symbol sets, including emoji. Character Names

Every character in the Unicode standardUnicode Standard
The complete character encoding system maintained by the Unicode Consortium, defining characters, properties, algorithms, and encoding forms. has an official name — a short, all-caps description assigned by the Unicode ConsortiumUnicode Consortium
The non-profit organization that develops and maintains the Unicode Standard, including the process for adding new emoji.. Knowing how these names work makes searching much easier.

For example: - 🔥 is officially named "FIRE" - ❤️ is "RED HEART" (with a variation selectorVariation Selector (VS)
Unicode characters (VS-15 U+FE0E and VS-16 U+FE0F) that modify whether a character renders in text (monochrome) or emoji (colorful) presentation. for emojiEmoji
A Japanese word (絵文字) meaning 'picture character' — small graphical symbols used in digital communication to express ideas, emotions, and objects. rendering) - ™️ is "TRADE MARK SIGN" - ∑ is "N-ARY SUMMATION" - → is "RIGHTWARDS ARROW"

Unicode names are designed to be descriptive and unique. Once you understand the naming conventions, you can guess names and find characters faster.

Naming Conventions to Know

• Emoji names tend to use common English words: "THUMBS UP SIGN," "FACE WITH TEARS OF JOY"
• Mathematical symbols describe shape and direction: "RIGHTWARDS DOUBLE ARROW," "LATIN SMALL LETTER A"
• Punctuation uses verbose descriptions: "HORIZONTAL ELLIPSIS," "LEFT DOUBLE QUOTATION MARK"

The Official Unicode Character Database

The Unicode Consortium maintains the official character database at unicode.org. For any given character, the official lookup at https://www.unicode.org/cgi-bin/GetUniCharInfo.pl returns complete metadata: name, category, combining class, bidirectionality, decomposition, and numeric value.

For a more user-friendly experience, Shapecatcher (shapecatcher.com) lets you draw a character and it will identify what Unicode character you drew — useful when you see a symbol somewhere but don't know its name.

Searching by Code PointCode Point
A unique numerical value assigned to each character in the Unicode standard, written in the format U+XXXX (e.g., U+1F600 for 😀).

If you already know the Unicode code point, you can jump directly to the character.

Code Point Format

Unicode code points are written as U+ followed by a 4–6 digit hexadecimal number: - U+1F525 → 🔥 - U+2764 → ❤ - U+00A9 → © - U+03A3 → Σ

On Mac: Character Viewer

1. Press Control + Command + Space to open the emoji picker
2. Expand it to the full Character Viewer (click the expand icon)
3. In the search box, type the code point like 1F525 (without U+)
4. The character appears instantly

Alternatively, once the Character Viewer is open, go to View → Code Tables for a raw grid view of every character in a Unicode block.

On Windows: Character Map

1. Press Windows + R, type charmap, press Enter
2. Enable "Advanced view"
3. In the "Go to Unicode" box, enter the hex code point
4. The Character Map will jump directly to that character

In the Browser Developer Console

Open your browser's console (F12 → Console) and type:

String.fromCodePoint(0x1F525)  // "🔥"
'\u{1F525}'                    // "🔥"
'🔥'.codePointAt(0).toString(16)  // "1f525"

This is especially useful for developers who need to verify code points programmatically.

Searching by Name or Keyword

Most emoji and character lookup tools support keyword search. The trick is using the right keywords.

Effective Search Strategies

Use the official name word: Search "fire" to find 🔥 (FIRE). Search "heart" to find all heart variants.

Try simpler words: "smile" returns more results than "grinning face." "check" finds ✅ ✓ ☑️ faster than "checkmark."

Search by visual description: "arrow right" finds →, "double arrow" finds ⇒, "triangle" finds ▲ △ ▶.

Use the Unicode block name: Characters are grouped into named blocks. "Mathematical Operators" contains ∑ ∫ ∞. "Dingbats" contains ✔ ✕ ★ ✿. "Currency Symbols" contains € £ ¥ ₿.

Tools for Finding Unicode Characters

UnicodePlus.com

A comprehensive searchable database. You can search by name, code point, or HTML entity. The results show the character, its official name, code point, HTML entity, and related characters.

Compart Unicode

Available at compart.com/en/unicode — offers detailed character sheets with full Unicode metadata, cross-references, and rendering across different font families.

fileformat.info

One of the oldest Unicode reference sites. Search by name or code point, and get detailed technical information including the character's properties, bidirectionality class, and historical notes.

Your OS Built-in Tools

Finding Characters You've Seen but Can't Name

Sometimes you spot an unusual character somewhere — a symbol in a document, a glyph in a screenshot — and you need to identify it.

Method 1: Copy and Paste for Lookup

If the character is in digital text, copy it and paste it into the search box of a Unicode lookup tool. Tools like UnicodePlus recognize pasted characters and show their full details.

Method 2: Google the Description

Describe what you see: "circle with an x inside math symbol" or "backwards question mark Unicode." Google often surfaces Unicode table pages or StackOverflow answers that identify the character.

Method 3: Draw It

Shapecatcher.com and the GNOME Characters app both support drawing-based search. Sketch the character roughly and the tool guesses which Unicode glyph it most resembles.

Method 4: Browser Inspector

If the character is on a webpage, right-click it, inspect the element, and look at the raw HTML. Characters might be encoded as HTML entities (🔥) or Unicode escapes (\u{1F525}) that reveal their code point.

HTML Entities and Unicode Escapes

Characters can be referenced in several ways across different contexts:

Understanding these formats helps when you're hunting for a character in source code or HTML.

The EmojiFYI Keyboard Tool

EmojiFYI's keyboard tool lets you search the full emoji set by name, keyword, or category. Every emoji links to its own detail page with code point, Unicode name, and encoding details. It's a fast way to find any emoji or verify its official name before using it in code.