U+23AF · Math symbol
LaTeX
\harrowextender
Horizontal Line Extension Symbol ⎯
⎯ is horizontal line extension, U+23AF — \harrowextender in LaTeX. It was added in Unicode 3.2, and Unicode files it under Math symbol.
What Unicode says about ⎯
used for extension of arrows
— annotation from the Unicode Standard, NamesList.txt
Codes & technical data
| Unicode | U+23AF | |
|---|---|---|
| HTML hex | ⎯ | |
| HTML decimal | ⎯ | |
| CSS | \23AF | |
| JavaScript | \u{23AF} | |
| Python | \U000023AF | |
| Java / C# | \u23AF | |
| Rust | \u{23af} | |
| Swift | \u{23AF} | |
| PHP | \u{23AF} | |
| URL encoded | %E2%8E%AF | |
| UTF-8 bytes | E2 8E AF | |
| UTF-16 bytes | 23AF | |
| Base64 | 4o6v | |
| Decimal | 9135 | |
| LaTeX | \harrowextender | |
| Category | Math symbol (Sm) | |
| Introduced | Unicode 3.2 | |
Will ⎯ survive being pasted?
- Normalisation. Yes. ⎯ is unchanged by NFKC, so it survives normalising systems intact.
- Legacy encodings. ⎯ is Unicode-only — it has no Latin-1 equivalent, so a system stuck on an 8-bit encoding cannot represent it.
- Size. 3 bytes in UTF-8. Character-limited fields — SMS, bios, some form validators — usually count bytes, not characters.
Unicode cross-references
The standard points readers of ⎯ at these characters — usually because they look alike, or because one is the correct choice where the other is often used by mistake.
Nearby in Miscellaneous Technical
Symbols from engineering, electronics and computing: APL operators, keyboard keys, dentistry and cartography marks. The ⌘ ⌥ ⇧ ⏎ keys people paste into shortcut documentation live here.
How to type ⎯
| Windows | Type 23AF then press Alt+X |
|---|---|
| macOS | Press Ctrl+Cmd+Space, then search for “horizontal line extension” |
| Linux | Press Ctrl+Shift+U, type 23af, press Enter |
| HTML | ⎯ |
About Unicode’s Math symbol category
Unicode classifies this as a mathematical symbol, which means software that lays out formulas treats it as an operator or relation and gives it spacing accordingly, rather than setting it tight against its neighbours like a letter.
Frequently asked questions
- How do I type the ⎯ horizontal line extension symbol?
- On Windows, type 23AF and press Alt+X. On Linux press Ctrl+Shift+U then 23af. On any system the quickest route is the copy button on this page.
- What is the code for ⎯?
- Horizontal Line Extension is U+23AF and in LaTeX as \harrowextender. In UTF-8 it takes 3 bytes. The table above lists every escape format.
- What kind of character is ⎯?
- Horizontal Line Extension is filed under Math symbol in the Miscellaneous Technical block, and was introduced in Unicode 3.2. Unicode classifies this as a mathematical symbol, which means software that lays out formulas treats it as an operator or relation and gives it spacing accordingly, rather than setting it tight against its neighbours like a letter.