What : means
In English prose, put it after a complete introductory sentence. “Pack this: water, keys, patience” works because “Pack this” stands alone; the colon supplies the drumroll. Avoid “Including: milk, eggs” mid-sentence. Headings and labels need not be complete sentences.
Neutral in prose; before a quotation, it can sound deliberate and slightly formal.
What it means when someone sends it to you
3 readingsAfter a statement, before an explanation
The next words spell out the point.
Inside a time or pasted link
It marks a structural boundary, not a pause.
Inside a sideways face
It supplies the eyes, not sentence punctuation.
Don't confuse it with
1Combination ideas
3A smile.
A smile with a nose; softens a joke.
Skepticism, disappointment, or unease.
Questions people ask
1Why does : show as a box on some devices?
Because that device's fonts have no glyph for it. The character is still correct and still copies correctly — the box is a missing glyph, not a broken character.
How to type :
Windows (Word)
Alt+XType 003A, then Alt+X to get :.
Windows
Win+Rrun charmap for the full table, or use the emoji picker's Ω symbols tab (Win + .).
macOS
Control+Command+SpaceOpen the character viewer and search “colon”.
Linux
Ctrl+Shift+UType 003a, then Enter or Space.
HTML
:CSS
\003ACodes and encoding1 code points
HTML decimal
:
HTML hex
:
CSS content
content: "\003A";
Each escape is closed by the next backslash; a trailing space is needed before a literal hex digit.
URL encoded
%3A
1
On screen
1
Code points
1
JS .length
1
UTF-8 bytes
A visible symbol can contain several code points. JS .length counts UTF-16 units; UTF-8 counts bytes.