What is Zero Width Space (U+200B)?
The Zero Width Space (U+200B) is a non-printing character in Unicode that is used to indicate a break or a space in a line of text without actually taking up any space on the page. It is a zero-width character, meaning that it does not occupy any space in a line of text, and therefore it is not visible.
The Zero Width Space character is used in various applications and can serve several purposes:
- It can be used to break a word into multiple lines in some applications, such as in some text editors.
- It can be used to separate two characters that would otherwise be combined into a single ligature in certain scripts.
- It can be used in web development to control the flow of text in HTML pages, by breaking words at specific points to ensure that they do not overflow the boundaries of a container.
- It can also be used in text processing for programmatic purposes, such as for breaking up words into sub-words for indexing or search purposes.
In general, the Zero Width Space character is a versatile character that is widely used in many different applications, from text processing to web development. It is assigned the code point U+200B in the Unicode standard and is supported by most modern text editors and software applications.
| Unicode | U+200B |
| HTML Code | ​ |
| HEX Code | ​ |
How to type Zero Width Space (U+200B)?
To type the Zero Width Space (U+200B) character, you can use its Unicode code point representation. The Unicode code point for the Zero Width Space character is “U+200B”.
In many text editors, you can type the Zero Width Space character by entering its Unicode code point, then pressing the “Alt” and “x” keys (Alt+x) on your keyboard. For example, to type the Zero Width Space character in Microsoft Word, you can press “Alt” and “x”, then type “200B” and press “Enter”.
Alternatively, you may be able to find the Zero Width Space character in the special characters or symbols menu of your text editor. Some text editors also provide a way to insert the character using a keyboard shortcut, so check the documentation for your specific software for more information.
In HTML and other markup languages, you can add the Zero Width Space character by using its Unicode code point representation:
<p>This is a sentence with the Zero Width Space character:​</p>
When this HTML code is rendered in a web browser, the “โ” character will be displayed as the Zero Width Space character.