downwards arrow with corner leftwards

↵ is a visual label for Return or Enter, not an actual line break. Pasting the symbol into a message or text field merely displays the arrow itself. To actually break a line, software needs an application command or control code triggered by pressing Enter or Return on your keyboard.

The shape recalls the mechanical history of typewriters. When finishing a line, a writer pushed a return lever that advanced the roller so text continued on the next row down, while sliding the movable carriage back to the right so typing could resume at the left margin. Telegraph inventor Donald Murray developed early line controls by 1905, and by 1971 the IBM Selectric II electric typewriter placed this bent arrow directly onto its Return key.

Operating systems handle line ends differently behind the scenes, but keyboards combine the action into a single key. In Microsoft Word, a mark resembling ↵ appears as an optional formatting symbol to reveal a manual line break inserted with Shift+Enter.