How do I type the ⅖ vulgar fraction two fifths symbol?

On Windows, type 2156 and press Alt+X. On Linux press Ctrl+Shift+U then 2156. On any system the quickest route is the copy button on this page.

What is the code for ⅖?

Vulgar Fraction Two Fifths is U+2156, written in HTML as &frac25;. In UTF-8 it takes 3 bytes. The table above lists every escape format.

Will ⅖ survive being pasted anywhere?

Not always. Vulgar Fraction Two Fifths is a compatibility character: any system that applies Unicode NFKC normalisation — search indexes, usernames, identifiers — replaces it with 2⁄5. Use it for display, not where text is normalised.

U+2156 · Other number

HTML entity

&frac25;

Vulgar Fraction Two Fifths Symbol ⅖

⅖ is vulgar fraction two fifths, U+2156. Unicode records it as a compatibility form of 2⁄5 (fraction form). It was added in Unicode 1.1, and Unicode files it under Other number.

Also known as

Unicode 1.0 called this character fraction two fifths. 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+2156`
HTML hex	`⅖`
HTML decimal	`⅖`
CSS	`\2156`
JavaScript	`\u{2156}`
Python	`\U00002156`
Java / C#	`\u2156`
Rust	`\u{2156}`
Swift	`\u{2156}`
PHP	`\u{2156}`
URL encoded	`%E2%85%96`
UTF-8 bytes	`E2 85 96`
UTF-16 bytes	`2156`
Base64	`4oWW`
Decimal	`8534`
HTML entity	`&frac25;`
Decomposes to	2⁄5 (fraction form)
Numeric value	2/5
Category	Other number (No)
Introduced	Unicode 1.1

Will ⅖ survive being pasted?

Normalisation. No. Anything that applies NFKC — search indexes, usernames, domain names, programming identifiers — rewrites ⅖ as 2⁄5. Safe for display, not for storage.
Legacy encodings. ⅖ 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 Number Forms

Roman numerals as single characters, and the vulgar fractions beyond the three Latin-1 supplies. A Roman numeral here is one character, not a run of letters, so Ⅷ and VIII sort and search differently.

All 58 characters in Number Forms →

How to type ⅖

Windows	Type `2156` then press `Alt`+`X`
macOS	Press `Ctrl`+`Cmd`+`Space`, then search for “vulgar fraction two fifths”
Linux	Press `Ctrl`+`Shift`+`U`, type `2156`, press `Enter`
HTML	`&frac25;`

About Unicode’s Other number category

This is classified as a number that is not a plain digit — a fraction, a superscript figure, a circled or bracketed numeral. Software will not parse it as a number without being told to.

Frequently asked questions

How do I type the ⅖ vulgar fraction two fifths symbol?: On Windows, type 2156 and press Alt+X. On Linux press Ctrl+Shift+U then 2156. On any system the quickest route is the copy button on this page.
What is the code for ⅖?: Vulgar Fraction Two Fifths is U+2156, written in HTML as &frac25;. In UTF-8 it takes 3 bytes. The table above lists every escape format.
Will ⅖ survive being pasted anywhere?: Not always. Vulgar Fraction Two Fifths is a compatibility character: any system that applies Unicode NFKC normalisation — search indexes, usernames, identifiers — replaces it with 2⁄5. Use it for display, not where text is normalised.