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U+200D · General Punctuation

Zero Width Joiner

The zero-width joiner is an invisible character that asks neighboring characters to join. It is the glue behind many emoji sequences: family, profession, and flag emoji are built by placing ZWJ between simpler emoji. In Indic and Arabic scripts it requests connected or half forms. If a device does not support a sequence, the parts appear side by side.

UnicodeU+200D
HTML‍
U+200D

Character codes

Unicode code pointU+200D
Decimal8205
HTML named entity‍
HTML (hex)‍
HTML (decimal)‍
CSS\200D
JavaScript\u200D
Python\u200D
UTF-8 bytesE2 80 8D
UTF-16200D
URL-encoded%E2%80%8D

Character details

Official nameZERO WIDTH JOINER
Unicode blockGeneral Punctuation
General categoryFormat Character (Cf)
SymbolHero categorySpaces & Invisible Characters
EmojiNo

How to type the Zero Width Joiner

Windows

  • In Microsoft Word or Outlook: type 200D then press Alt + X.
  • Open Character Map (search “Character Map” in Start), tick “Advanced view”, search for “zero width joiner”, then Select and Copy.

Mac

  • Press Control + Command + Space to open the Character Viewer, search “zero width joiner”, and double-click the result.
  • With the Unicode Hex Input keyboard enabled (System Settings → Keyboard → Input Sources), hold Option and type 200D.

iPhone & Android

  • Tap Copy at the top of this page, then long-press where you want it and choose Paste.

Docs & web

  • Google Docs: Insert → Special characters, then search “zero width joiner” or enter U+200D.
  • HTML: ‍ or ‍
  • Excel / Google Sheets: =UNICHAR(8205)

Examples

  • Combining a woman emoji and a laptop emoji into a single technologist emoji.
  • Building a family emoji from separate person emoji.
  • Requesting a half form of a consonant in Devanagari text.

Good to know

Don’t mix it up: It is often confused with the zero-width non-joiner (U+200C), which prevents joining instead of requesting it.

Tip: When counting characters, remember that one visible emoji built with ZWJ can contain several code points, which affects length limits in forms and databases.

Display: the character itself is always the same code point, but its shape comes from the font on the device showing it. If you see an empty box, the font lacks this glyph—the text is still correct.

Guides

What Is Unicode? A Plain-English Guide Zero-Width Space: What It Is and How to Use It

Similar spaces & invisible characters

Non-Breaking Space
Soft Hyphen
En Space
Em Space
Thin Space
Zero Width Space
Zero Width Non-Joiner
Word Joiner
Ideographic Space
Byte Order Mark (Zero Width No-Break Space)
Space
En Quad
Em Quad
Three-Per-Em Space
Four-Per-Em Space
Six-Per-Em Space
Figure Space
Punctuation Space
Hair Space

See all 26 spaces & invisible characters →

Questions

What is the Unicode for the Zero Width Joiner?

It is U+200D (ZERO WIDTH JOINER), decimal 8205.

Is there a Windows Alt code for it?

No standard Alt code exists for this character. In Word type 200D then Alt+X, or copy it from this page.

How do I type it on a Mac?

There is no built-in Option shortcut. Use the Character Viewer (Control + Command + Space) and search “zero width joiner”, or copy it from this page.

What is the HTML code?

Use the named entity ‍ or the numeric reference ‍.