Box Drawings Light Diagonal Cross ╳

╳ (U+2573) 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: Box Drawings Light Diagonal Cross is part of the Symbols family (block: Box Drawing). If you need styled or decorative alternatives, try our Fancy Text tool to generate compatible text that works in most modern interfaces.

History & usage: BOX DRAWINGS LIGHT DIAGONAL CROSS, U+2573, belongs to the Box Drawing block in Unicode. It is a visual symbol used in text interfaces and older console art. The character creates a diagonal cross inside a box outline. In history, box drawing characters were designed to form simple diagrams with plain text. As fonts and displays improved, their use narrowed to niche interfaces and technical notes. In practice, this specific cross is used to show a close or delete action, status change, or an incorrect state, context permitting. A cross symbol often denotes close/delete in UI or an incorrect state, context permitting. It helps users recognize actions without adding color or extra icons. It is most compatible with monospaced fonts and simple text environments. Designers may combine it with other box drawing symbols to build panels or checklists. In modern apps, developers usually favor graphical icons, but text interfaces may still rely on box drawings for lightweight indicators. The symbol remains a part of Unicode for compatibility and historical accuracy.

Copy and input: the quickest method is to copy the character here. You can also insert it by its codepoint U+2573 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.