What ⏪ means
Left means backwards; doubling the triangle means fast. On playback controls a single triangle pointing right is play, and a doubled one is the fast version, so ⏩ is fast-forward and ⏪ is its mirror image, fast rewind. You meet the pair on cassette decks, video recorders, TV remotes and many music and video apps. In some apps the same-looking button jumps back a few seconds instead of rewinding continuously; the direction is the same.
What does it mean when someone sends ⏪?
Usually “go back”: to a message, a moment or a memory. After a confusing or garbled message it means “wait, back up, say that again”. Next to an old photo, a song or a year it is a throwback. After the sender's own mistake it can mean “scratch that, let me start over”, a do-over rather than an apology. The emoji only gives the direction; the words around it say where to.
Casual and neutral, like tapping a button.
Don't read regret or “I miss you” into a lone ⏪; it usually points at an earlier message.
What it means when someone sends it to you
3 readingsDon't confuse it with
1Combination ideas
1Worth knowing
- “Rewind” literally means winding the tape back onto its reel, a job cassette and videotape owners did by the minute. The emoji keeps the gesture alive.
- American video-rental shops stuck “Be kind, rewind” on tapes, asking customers to return them wound back to the start. The slogan outlived the tapes.
Questions people ask
1Can I use ⏪ for a throwback post?
Yes. Next to an old photo or a year it reads naturally as “going back to this moment”.
How to type ⏪
:rewind:the common shortcode; support varies by platform.⏪Codes and encoding1 code points
A visible symbol can contain several code points. JS .length counts UTF-16 units; UTF-8 counts bytes.