What ▯ means
As of 2026, it has no established standard chat reading. Treat it as a plain geometric mark unless the surrounding message gives it a role.
Part of the collection
Related characters
2
APL Functional Symbol Squish Quad
In APL, a programming language, ⌷ is a functional symbol—a special sign used in its notation. It is related to ▯, but remains a distinct character.
APL Functional Symbol Quad
⎕ is another APL functional symbol, also related to ▯. It is a separate character in APL notation, not another spelling of the rectangle.
Combination ideas
2Rating or level meter: three of five filled.
"Tofu" boxes: characters a device can't display.
Questions people ask
1Why does ▯ look like a missing character?
It can be a font fallback. ▯ is an intentional text character; if it appears where a different symbol was expected, the font may not contain that other character and may show a substitute.
More like this
13
Collections with ▯
3
How to type or find ▯
- Search it as
- hollow rectangle · vertical box
- Shows up in
- Anything that takes text · its shape is whatever your font draws
Windows (Word)
Windows
HTML
▯CSS
\25AFLinux
In many Linux apps, press CtrlShiftU, type 25AF, then press Enter.
Codes and encoding1 code points
HTML decimal
▯
HTML hex
▯
CSS content
content: "\25AF";
Each escape is closed by the next backslash; a trailing space is needed before a literal hex digit.
URL encoded
%E2%96%AF
1
On screen
1
Code points
1
JS .length
3
UTF-8 bytes
A visible symbol can contain several code points. JS .length counts UTF-16 units; UTF-8 counts bytes.