Invisible character

Copy a blank, invisible character.

Hangul FillerU+3164

Blank, usually as wide as a letter

Unicode counts it as a letter, not a space, so checks that reject empty or space-only text often let it through. People use it for blank names and empty-looking messages. Some apps show it as a box or give it no width.

Braille Pattern BlankU+2800

Blank, about as wide as a letter

A braille cell with no dots. Unicode counts it as a symbol, not a space, so trimming usually leaves it in. Handy for blank lines and extra spacing in bios and posts. Screen readers may read it out.

Zero-width spaceU+200B

No width at all

Invisible and takes no room. Marks where a long word or URL may wrap. Many sites strip it, and it can break searches, passwords and code when pasted by accident.

No-break spaceU+00A0

Same as a normal space

A space that stops a line from breaking between two words (10 kg, Mr. Smith). It counts as whitespace, so it won’t get past “can’t be empty” checks. In HTML it’s  .

Word joinerU+2060

No width at all

Like a zero-width space but forbids a line break at that spot. Also stripped by many sites.

Halfwidth Hangul FillerU+FFA0

Blank, narrower

A narrower form of the Hangul Filler. Also counted as a letter, so it behaves the same way where it’s supported.

Runs in your browser. Nothing is uploaded.

Runs in your browser. Nothing uploaded.

How to copy an invisible character

  1. Pick the character that suits where you’ll paste it. The notes on each card say how it behaves.
  2. Click Copy (or Copy 5 for a longer blank) and paste it into the name, message or field.
  3. If an app removes it, try another one. To find hidden characters in text you already have, paste it into the check box at the bottom.

How invisible characters work

Every character has a code point in Unicode, including some that draw nothing. Some are spaces of different widths, some are formatting marks with no width at all, and a few are ordinary letters or symbols that happen to be blank, like the Hangul Filler from the Korean script and the braille cell with no dots.

That last group is what makes “blank” names and messages possible. Apps usually check that a name isn’t empty by trimming spaces first. Characters that Unicode classes as letters or symbols survive that trimming, so the app sees text while people see nothing.

Things to watch out for

  • Accessibility: screen readers may read invisible characters out or skip them, which can make a blank name confusing for people who use one.
  • Copied code and passwords: a zero-width space hidden in a copied command or password stops it working. Paste suspicious text into the checker to spot one.
  • Rules of the app: some games and social networks ban blank names and remove them. Use them where they’re welcome.

For visible symbols such as arrows and check marks, see special characters.