U+2591 · Other symbol
HTML entity
░
LaTeX
\blockqtrshaded
Light Shade Symbol ░
░ is light shade, U+2591 — \blockqtrshaded in LaTeX. It was added in Unicode 1.1, and Unicode files it under Other symbol.
What Unicode says about ░
25%
— annotation from the Unicode Standard, NamesList.txt
Codes & technical data
| Unicode | U+2591 | |
|---|---|---|
| HTML hex | ░ | |
| HTML decimal | ░ | |
| CSS | \2591 | |
| JavaScript | \u{2591} | |
| Python | \U00002591 | |
| Java / C# | \u2591 | |
| Rust | \u{2591} | |
| Swift | \u{2591} | |
| PHP | \u{2591} | |
| URL encoded | %E2%96%91 | |
| UTF-8 bytes | E2 96 91 | |
| UTF-16 bytes | 2591 | |
| Base64 | 4paR | |
| Decimal | 9617 | |
| HTML entity | ░ | |
| LaTeX | \blockqtrshaded | |
| Category | Other symbol (So) | |
| Introduced | Unicode 1.1 | |
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.
Nearby in Block Elements
Solid and shaded rectangles in eighths, used to draw bars, gradients and coarse graphics in text. Progress bars in command-line tools are almost always made of these.
How to type ░
| Windows | Type 2591 then press Alt+X |
|---|---|
| macOS | Press Ctrl+Cmd+Space, then search for “light shade” |
| Linux | Press Ctrl+Shift+U, type 2591, press Enter |
| HTML | ░ |
About Unicode’s Other symbol category
Unicode files this under "other symbol" — the catch-all for pictographs, signs and marks that are neither maths, currency, nor letter-like. It is the largest symbol category in the standard.
Frequently asked questions
- How do I type the ░ light shade symbol?
- On Windows, type 2591 and press Alt+X. On Linux press Ctrl+Shift+U then 2591. On any system the quickest route is the copy button on this page.
- What is the code for ░?
- Light Shade is U+2591, written in HTML as ░ and in LaTeX as \blockqtrshaded. In UTF-8 it takes 3 bytes. The table above lists every escape format.
- What kind of character is ░?
- Light Shade is filed under Other symbol in the Block Elements block, and was introduced in Unicode 1.1. Unicode files this under "other symbol" — the catch-all for pictographs, signs and marks that are neither maths, currency, nor letter-like. It is the largest symbol category in the standard.