free-symbols

Pop Directional Formatting Symbol

U+202C Pop Directional Formatting ends a previous bidirectional direction formatting sequence.

U+202C

The symbol “‬” is the Unicode character named Pop Directional Formatting (U+202C). It’s used in bidirectional text to restore the previous writing direction after a formatting scope ends.

Pop Directional Formatting Symbol Meaning

Pop Directional Formatting (U+202C) is a control character from Unicode’s bidirectional (bidi) text formatting set. It tells the text rendering system to end a previously started directional formatting override and return to the prior bidi context. This can help ensure that mixed content (for example, left-to-right and right-to-left scripts, or embedded punctuation) displays in the intended order. In practice, you usually don’t “read” this symbol as a visible character—its effect depends on surrounding bidi markers and the direction context established earlier in the text.

Common uses

  • Closing a direction override after inserting bidi-related formatting in UI text
  • Preventing unintended direction changes when composing mixed-script strings
  • Finishing a scoped bidi formatting sequence before continuing normal text
  • Ensuring embedded punctuation and numbers display correctly after a override
  • Correcting layout issues in rendered text where direction control was started earlier

Examples

‬ Pop Directional Formatting (U+202C)

  • Hello ‫العربية‬ world
  • Order: 123‫ ملاحظة‬.
  • Start ‫RTL segment‬ end
  • Text with override ‫مرحلة‬ then resume
  • Mixed content: ABC‫دليل‬ 456

Variations

Ready to copy

Technical codes

UnicodeU+202C
HTML Entity‬
HTML Code‬
CSS\202C

FAQ

What does the Pop Directional Formatting symbol mean?

Pop Directional Formatting (U+202C) is a control character from Unicode’s bidirectional (bidi) text formatting set. It tells the text rendering system to end a previously started directional formatting override and return to the prior bidi context. This can help ensure that mixed content (for example, left-to-right and right-to-left scripts, or embedded punctuation) displays in the intended order. In practice, you usually don’t “read” this symbol as a visible character—its effect depends on surrounding bidi markers and the direction context established earlier in the text.

Is “‬” a visible character?

No. It’s a Unicode bidirectional control character, so it typically has no visible glyph of its own; it affects text layout and direction behavior.

When should I use Pop Directional Formatting?

Use it only to end a previously started bidi directional formatting scope (i.e., when direction was overridden or embedded earlier).

What’s the Unicode code point and how do I encode it?

The code point is U+202C. You can represent it as HTML: ‬, CSS escape: \\202C, or JavaScript: \\u{202C}.

Will this symbol work the same in every app?

Bidi control behavior depends on the rendering engine and the surrounding bidi context. In most modern systems it behaves consistently, but always test in your target environment.