What 🔘 means
It points to the chosen option. The emoji copies the selected state of a radio button, the round form control that lets you pick only one answer from a group. Pick another and the first one empties.
If someone sends a bare 🔘 after you offer several choices, ask which one. The dot needs something beside it to point at.
More form-filling than feelings: neutral and functional.
Do not assume 🔘 means agreement or completion.
Don't confuse it with
2Combination ideas
1Suggested poll key: unselected versus selected.
Worth knowing
- The name comes from old car radios: only one mechanical preset button could stay pushed in, so pressing a new one popped the last one out.
Questions people ask
1Why can't I use 🔘 in my X display name?
Likely because it resembles X's checkmark badge. X has been reported to block checkmark-like emoji, 🔘 included, from display names, though as of 2026 its help pages don't spell out the rule.
How to type 🔘
Windows
Win+.Open the emoji picker and search “radio button”.
macOS
Control+Command+Spaceopens the character viewer.
iOS / Android
Emoji keyboard → search “radio button”.
Chat apps
:radio_button:the common shortcode; support varies by platform.HTML
🔘Codes and encoding1 code points
HTML decimal
🔘
HTML hex
🔘
CSS content
content: "\1F518";
Each escape is closed by the next backslash; a trailing space is needed before a literal hex digit.
URL encoded
%F0%9F%94%98
1
On screen
1
Code points
2
JS .length
4
UTF-8 bytes
A visible symbol can contain several code points. JS .length counts UTF-16 units; UTF-8 counts bytes.