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@zmwangx
Last active February 23, 2026 03:17
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Unicode characters for special keys on the Mac keyboard (not necessarily Mac specific). #symbols

⌘ – ⌘⌘ – the Command Key symbol
⌥ – ⌥⌥ – the Option Key symbol
⇧ – ⇧⇧ – the Shift Key symbol
⌃ – ⌃⌃ – the Control Key symbol
⎋ – ⎋⎋ – the ESC Key symbol
⇪ – ⇪⇪ – the Capslock symbol
⏎ – ⏎⏎ – the Return symbol
⌫ – ⌫⌫ – the Delete / Backspace symbol
⇥ – ⇥⇥ – the Tab Key symbol

Courtesy The Apple Logo in Unicode; Command, Option, & Shift Symbols in Unicode; and Special Key Symbols. The last one is ultra-complete.

@meermanr
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meermanr commented Feb 4, 2026

Extended list:

Symbol Command Unicode name HTML Entity
Command Place of interest ⌘
Shift Upwards white arrow ⇧
Option Option key ⌥
Control Up arrowhead ⌃
🌐 / fn Globe / fn Globe with meridians 🌐
Return Return symbol ⏎
Enter Up arrowhead between two horizontal bars ⌤
Delete Erase to left ⌫
Forward delete Erase to right ⌦
Clear Clear ⌧
Tab Rightwards arrow to bar ⇥ ⇥
Backtab Leftwards arrow to bar ⇤ ⇤
Space Open box ␣ ␣
Escape Broken circle with northwest arrow ⎋
Caps lock Upwards arrow from bar ⇪
Eject Eject symbol ⏏
Page up Upwards arrow with double stroke ⇞
Page down Downwards arrow with double stroke ⇟
Home Northwest arrow ↖ ↖
End Southeast arrow ↘ ↘
Left Leftwards arrow ← ←
Right Rightwards arrow → →
Up Upwards arrow ↑ ↑
Down Downwards arrow ↓ ↓

@Sim3-14159
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Additionally, there's another Enter key symbol: ⌅ (a "projective"). It's very similar to ⌤ (an "up arrowhead between two horizontal bars"), but it was also used to symbolize a column break.

The projective was used more commonly on Macintosh keyboards to symbolize the Enter key, and the up arrowhead between two bars was more in software menus.

@nicolasmaia
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Function keys (approximated):

F1:
F2: ☼ (☼)
F3:
F4: 🔍︎
F5: 🎙
F6: ☾
F7: ⏪︎
F8: ⏯︎
F9: ⏩︎
F10: 🔈︎
F11: 🔉︎
F12: 🔊︎

@Sim3-14159
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The F1 and F2 keys can be more correctly signified with the 🔅 and 🔆 characters, respectively.

Also, F5 has a better alternative instead of 🎙️: 🎤. In my character viewer, 🎙 is labeled as "studio microphone," while 🎤 is labeled as just "microphone." There's also the 🎤︎ character, which looks exactly like the F5 key on my Mac, and, just like how @noah-nuebling commented earlier on the 🌐︎ symbol actually being the same as 🌐, 🎤︎ is the same as 🎤.

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