U+200B · General Punctuation

Zero Width Space

The zero-width space is an invisible character that marks a place where a line may break without showing any gap. It helps long URLs, file paths, and compound words wrap on narrow screens, and marks word boundaries in languages like Thai and Khmer that are written without spaces. Because it cannot be seen, it also causes puzzling bugs when pasted into code, passwords, or usernames.

UnicodeU+200B

HTML&ZeroWidthSpace;

U+200B

Character codes

Unicode code point	`U+200B`
Decimal	`8203`
HTML named entity	`&ZeroWidthSpace;`
HTML (hex)
HTML (decimal)
CSS	`\200B`
JavaScript	`\u200B`
Python	`\u200B`
UTF-8 bytes	`E2 80 8B`
UTF-16	`200B`
URL-encoded	`%E2%80%8B`

Character details

Official name	ZERO WIDTH SPACE
Unicode block	General Punctuation
General category	Format Character (Cf)
SymbolHero category	Spaces & Invisible Characters
Emoji	No

How to type the Zero Width Space

Windows

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

Mac

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

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 space” or enter U+200B.
HTML: &ZeroWidthSpace; or
Excel / Google Sheets: =UNICHAR(8203)

Examples

Letting a long URL wrap on a mobile screen at a slash.
Marking word boundaries in Thai text for line breaking.
Tracking down why two identical-looking strings do not match in code.

Good to know

Don’t mix it up: It is often confused with the word joiner (U+2060), which is also invisible but prevents a line break instead of allowing one.

Tip: If a copied string behaves strangely, paste it into a Unicode inspector to spot hidden U+200B characters and remove them.

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.