Inhibit Arabic Form Shaping Symbol
is the “Inhibit Arabic Form Shaping” control character (U+206C) used to prevent Arabic glyph shaping.
U+206C
is a Unicode control character: INHIBIT ARABIC FORM SHAPING (U+206C). It’s used when you need to stop Arabic form shaping in supported rendering systems. This page helps you copy the symbol and use it correctly in text and code.
Inhibit Arabic Form Shaping Symbol Meaning
U+206C () is the Unicode character named “INHIBIT ARABIC FORM SHAPING.” Arabic text shaping normally changes glyph forms depending on context (such as joining behavior). When this character appears, it instructs the text shaping engine to inhibit those Arabic form shaping rules at that position. The exact visible result depends on the font, platform, and shaping engine, but the intent is to keep the surrounding characters from being reshaped. Use it sparingly and in the parts of text where you truly need unshaped or differently shaped Arabic presentation.
Common uses
- •Prevent Arabic shaping for a short segment in mixed-direction or specialized text.
- •Control how a shaping engine renders Arabic characters in typography/layout tools.
- •Include in test strings to verify whether shaping is being applied by a renderer.
- •Use in content pipelines that must preserve a specific glyph presentation for Arabic.
- •Mark boundaries in scripts where shaping should be inhibited for compatibility reasons.
Examples
INHIBIT ARABIC FORM SHAPING (U+206C)
- ABCDEF
- arabictest
- 123456
- prefixsuffix
- wordword
Variations
Ready to copy
Technical codes
| Unicode | U+206C | |
| HTML Entity |  | |
| HTML Code |  | |
| CSS | \206C | |
| Alt Code | Alt + 8300 | |
| Decimal | 8300 |
How to type Inhibit Arabic Form Shaping Symbol ()
On Windows
Hold Alt and type 8300 on the numeric keypad. In Word, type 206C then press Alt + X.
On Mac
Switch to the Unicode Hex Input keyboard, then hold Option and type 206C. Or press Control + Command + Space and search.
On Linux
Press Control + Shift + U, type 206c, then press Enter or Space.
Anywhere
Copy with the button above and paste it wherever you need it — this works on every device and in every app, with no keyboard shortcut to remember.
FAQ
What does U+206C () do?
It’s the Unicode “INHIBIT ARABIC FORM SHAPING” character, used to inhibit Arabic form shaping at its position when supported by the rendering engine.
Will I always see a visible change when I use ?
Not necessarily. The visible outcome depends on the font, platform, and shaping engine. If shaping is not being applied or is handled differently, you may see little or no change.
How can I copy into my code or document?
You can copy the character directly (), or use the provided encodings: HTML , CSS \\206C, or JavaScript \\u{206C}.
Is the same as a joiner or directional mark?
No. While related to shaping behavior, specifically targets inhibiting Arabic form shaping (U+206C), not general join behavior like ZWJ/ZWNJ or directionality marks.