Clockwise Open Circle Arrow

Refresh content, reload a page, or rotate clockwise. In software interfaces, ↻ commonly marks an action that reloads a page or synchronizes data. In engineering diagrams and assembly guides, it directs rotational movement in the direction of clock hands.

Using arrows to show direction dates back centuries; one early documented example is a 1737 waterwheel diagram by Bernard Forest de Bélidor, where arrows illustrate water flow and the wheel's direction of rotation. Over time, curved arrows became standard graphic shorthand for cycles and turning.

Why does ↻ mean refresh?

A circular loop signals repetition, while the forward arrowhead implies renewal. Together, they suggest completing a cycle to start anew. That visual metaphor made circular arrows the natural shorthand for refreshing web views, updating feeds, and restarting loops.

This rotation convention is widely preserved in interface guidelines: for example, Material Design guidelines keep circular refresh indicators rotating clockwise even in layouts where text reads right to left.