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Bracket Symbols ([)

Every bracket in one grid — square [ ], curly { }, round ( ) and angle ⟨ ⟩ brackets, named and click-to-copy for code, maths and editing.

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Left Square Bracket · U+005B · Punctuation & Text Symbols

Click the symbol or the button to copy it, then paste it anywhere — documents, messages, bios and code.

Bracket Symbols codes

Code	Value
Unicode code point	`U+005B`
Unicode name	`Left Square Bracket`
HTML named entity	`[`
HTML decimal	`[`
HTML hex	`[`
CSS content code	`\5B`
JavaScript / JSON	`\u005B`
Windows Alt code	No standard Alt code — copy it from the card above

Bracket Symbols variants (19)

19 related glyphs — click any tile to copy it. Tiles with a page open that symbol's own page.

]Right Square Bracket{Left Curly Bracket}Right Curly Bracket(Left Parenthesis)Right Parenthesis⟨Mathematical Left Angle Bracket⟩Mathematical Right Angle Bracket⟪Mathematical Left Double Angle Bracket⟫Mathematical Right Double Angle Bracket〈Left Angle Bracket〉Right Angle Bracket《Left Double Angle Bracket》Right Double Angle Bracket（Fullwidth Left Parenthesis）Fullwidth Right Parenthesis❨Medium Left Parenthesis Ornament❩Medium Right Parenthesis Ornament❪Medium Flattened Left Parenthesis Ornament❫Medium Flattened Right Parenthesis Ornament

Meaning & usage

Brackets come in families and each family has a job. Round brackets (parentheses) tuck in asides and, in maths, set the order of operations. Square brackets mark editorial insertions in quotes — 'she [the mayor] said' — and hold arrays and citations in code and academic writing.

Curly braces { } group sets in mathematics and blocks in programming. Angle brackets ⟨ ⟩ belong to linguistics, physics notation and East Asian text, where the double forms 《》 title books. This page collects the whole family's real Unicode characters, including fullwidth and ornamental forms, so the exact bracket you need is one click away.

Examples in use

She [the author] later withdrew the claim
if (x > 0) { return [1, 2, 3]; } — all three families in one line
《The Tale of Genji》 — CJK book-title brackets

How to type the bracket symbols

Windows

Press the [ key (to the right of P) — the Bracket Symbols is a standard keyboard character.

Mac

Press the [ key (to the right of P) — the same as on Windows.

iPhone & Android

Most phone keyboards have no built-in key for [. Open this page on your phone, tap Copy, then paste it into your message or bio. (On Android, Gboard's emoji search finds some symbols by name.)

Linux

Press Ctrl+Shift+U, type 005b and press Enter (works in most GTK apps and terminals with IBus). Or copy it from this page.

Frequently asked questions

Which bracket should I use in a quote?

Square brackets [ ] are the convention for words you add or change inside someone else's quoted text, so readers know the addition is yours, not theirs.

How do I type curly brackets { }?

On a US keyboard, Shift+[ gives { and Shift+] gives }. The square brackets themselves need no shift.

Are ( ) called brackets or parentheses?

In American English ( ) are parentheses, [ ] are brackets and { } are braces. British English often calls ( ) brackets too and [ ] square brackets — either way the characters on this page are the same.

Why does [ sometimes show as a box or question mark?

The box (called tofu) means the device or font viewing it has no drawing for U+005B (Left Square Bracket). The character itself is fine — try a different font or a newer device, or use one of the variants on this page.

Is the Bracket Symbols free to use?

Yes. [ is a standard Unicode text character published in the Unicode Character Database. You may use it in personal and commercial documents, designs and products without permission or payment.

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Data: Unicode Character Database · Page updated 2026-11-13