U+266F · Math symbol
HTML entity
♯
LaTeX
\sharp
Music Sharp Sign Symbol ♯
♯ is music sharp sign, U+266F. Unicode also records it as “z notation infix bag count”. It was added in Unicode 1.1, and Unicode files it under Math symbol.
Also known as
- z notation infix bag count
Unicode 1.0 called this character sharp. The standard renamed it later, but documents, fonts and font-editing tools from that era still use the old name.
Codes & technical data
| Unicode | U+266F | |
|---|---|---|
| HTML hex | ♯ | |
| HTML decimal | ♯ | |
| CSS | \266F | |
| JavaScript | \u{266F} | |
| Python | \U0000266F | |
| Java / C# | \u266F | |
| Rust | \u{266f} | |
| Swift | \u{266F} | |
| PHP | \u{266F} | |
| URL encoded | %E2%99%AF | |
| UTF-8 bytes | E2 99 AF | |
| UTF-16 bytes | 266F | |
| Base64 | 4pmv | |
| Decimal | 9839 | |
| HTML entity | ♯ | |
| LaTeX | \sharp | |
| Category | Math symbol (Sm) | |
| 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.
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 Symbols
A broad block covering weather, astrology, chess, music, religion and warning signs. Many members also have an emoji presentation, which is why the same character can look monochrome in one app and full-colour in another.
How to type ♯
| Windows | Type 266F then press Alt+X |
|---|---|
| macOS | Press Ctrl+Cmd+Space, then search for “music sharp sign” |
| Linux | Press Ctrl+Shift+U, type 266f, 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 ♯ music sharp sign symbol?
- On Windows, type 266F and press Alt+X. On Linux press Ctrl+Shift+U then 266f. On any system the quickest route is the copy button on this page.
- What is the code for ♯?
- Music Sharp Sign is U+266F, written in HTML as ♯ and in LaTeX as \sharp. In UTF-8 it takes 3 bytes. The table above lists every escape format.
- What kind of character is ♯?
- Music Sharp Sign is filed under Math symbol in the Miscellaneous Symbols block, and was introduced in Unicode 1.1. 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.