Fullwidth Commercial At

It is the same at sign set to fill a wider character cell. ＠ is the fullwidth form of ASCII @. In Chinese, Japanese, and Korean text layouts that align characters to a full-width cell, it keeps the at sign on the same grid. Its meaning does not change. Unicode treats the pair as compatibility forms, preserving the width distinction for text interchange.

The history of @ goes back well before email. No single inventor is settled as of 2026. A merchant letter dated 24 May 1536 records the sign for an arroba, a Spanish and Portuguese unit of weight or capacity. The Accademia della Crusca, an Italian language academy, attests the accounting reading “at a price of” from the 18th century. In 1971, @ became the separator in an email address. ＠ carries the same at-sign meaning while retaining fullwidth spacing.

How do I type the fullwidth at sign?

Select fullwidth output in Japanese input software. A Japanese IME (input method editor) lets you choose fullwidth (全角, zenkaku) characters; select that option, then enter or convert the at sign. The shortcut varies by keyboard and app.

Use ＠ when a field or text layout calls for fullwidth input. In ordinary text, it is a spacing choice. If a form or mail system expects the standard narrow ASCII @, convert ＠ to @; they are different characters even though they look alike.

Can I use ＠ in an email address?

A live email address usually needs ASCII @. An address containing ＠ may look right but fail form validation or mail handling. Unless the receiving service converts fullwidth input, replace ＠ with @ before submitting the address.

Tokyo GovTech's input-form guidance recommends accepting both widths and converting fullwidth input automatically, as of 2026. When a field does not do this, use the narrow @.