Leftwards Double Arrow with Stroke ⇍
⇍ (U+21CD) is a standard Unicode character that you can copy and paste anywhere text is accepted. This page provides a concise reference with safe tips, internal links, and practical guidance so you can use it reliably across apps and platforms.
What it is and where it’s used: Leftwards Double Arrow with Stroke is part of the Symbols family (block: Arrows). If you need styled or decorative alternatives, try our Fancy Text tool to generate compatible text that works in most modern interfaces.
History & usage: The character LEFTWARDS DOUBLE ARROW WITH STROKE (U+21CD) belongs to the Arrows block in the Unicode set. Its basic shape is a leftward double arrow with a stroke through it. In history, arrows have long been used to show direction and flow, and this variant is used when a leftward move needs emphasis or a negation signal. In modern text and interfaces, arrows commonly indicate direction and navigation cues in interfaces and documents. The symbol appears in technical diagrams, forms, and user guides to signal steps, lists, or reversed actions. It is treated as a symbol rather than a letter and is not tied to a specific word. When typing, this character is inserted as a single glyph and can be found in fonts that cover the Arrows block. Users interpret it by its orientation: leftward, with the extra stroke to stress negation or emphasis. As with other arrows, it benefits from clear surrounding text to avoid misreading.
Copy and input: the quickest method is to copy the character here. You can also insert it by its codepoint U+21CD in many development tools or editors. Some operating systems provide a character viewer or input palette that lets you search by name or code and insert the glyph into documents.
Display and fallback: if you see an empty box (tofu) or a placeholder rectangle, the active font might not include this codepoint. Switching to a font with broader Unicode coverage or using a fallback font usually fixes the issue. On the web, ensure the page’s font stack includes a general‑purpose fallback.
Related references: browse the Categories for similar characters. When choosing a symbol, prefer the official codepoint for semantic clarity and better compatibility with search, copy, and accessibility tooling.
See our category page for related symbols.
Technical details
- Codepoint:
U+21CD - General Category:
So - Age:
1.1 - Bidi Class:
ON - Decomposition:
21D0 0338 - Block:
Arrows - Script:
Common - UTF-8:
E2 87 8D - UTF-16:
21CD - UTF-32:
000021CD - HTML dec:
⇍ - HTML hex:
⇍ - JS escape:
\u21CD - Python \N{}:
\N{LEFTWARDS DOUBLE ARROW WITH STROKE} - Python \u:
\u21CD - Python \U:
\U000021CD - URL-encoded:
%E2%87%8D - CSS escape:
\21CD
How to type / insert
Fast copy: click the Copy button near the top of this page.
By codepoint: in many editors and IDEs, you can insert via the Unicode code U+21CD or a built‑in character picker.
HTML: use the numeric entity ⇍ (hex) or ⇍ (decimal) when an HTML entity is needed.
Compatibility & troubleshooting
Font support: if the symbol does not render, the current font likely lacks this codepoint. Choose a font with broad Unicode coverage or allow a fallback font.
Web pages: ensure your CSS font stack includes a general fallback; avoid relying on images for common symbols to preserve accessibility and copyability.