What ¯ means
Its meaning depends on the notation around it.
This spacing macron takes its own character space instead of attaching to the previous letter.
In ¯\_(ツ)_/¯, the bars act as raised arms; the punctuation and face complete the shrug.
Don't confuse it with
1Combination ideas
1A text shrug for uncertainty, indifference, or “what can you do?”
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 00AF, 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 “macron”.
Linux
Ctrl+Shift+UType 00af, then Enter or Space.
HTML
¯CSS
\00AFLinux
On Linux, press Ctrl+Shift+U, type 00af, then press Enter.
Codes and encoding1 code points
HTML decimal
¯
HTML hex
¯
CSS content
content: "\00AF";
Each escape is closed by the next backslash; a trailing space is needed before a literal hex digit.
URL encoded
%C2%AF
1
On screen
1
Code points
1
JS .length
2
UTF-8 bytes
A visible symbol can contain several code points. JS .length counts UTF-16 units; UTF-8 counts bytes.