Mathematical symbol Set Minus
About this character
The character ∖ carries the official Unicode name “Mathematical symbol Set Minus” and the code point U+2216, which is 8726 in decimal. It belongs to the Mathematical Operators block (U+2200–U+22FF), which gathers the operators, quantifiers and relations of algebra, logic and set theory.
In memory, ∖ takes 3 bytes in UTF-8 (0xE2 0x88 0x96) and 1 in UTF-16 (0x2216). That difference is why badly configured forms or databases garble this character: they assume one byte per character.
How to type ∖
| System | What to do |
|---|---|
| Windows | In Word or WordPad, type 2216 and press Alt + X to turn the code into the character. |
| macOS | On a Mac, open the Character Viewer with Ctrl + ⌘ + Space and search for “Mathematical symbol Set Minus”. |
| Linux | On Linux (GTK), type Ctrl + ⇧ + U, 2216 then press Enter. |
| HTML / Web | In an HTML page, write ∖. Use \2216 in CSS, \u2216 in JavaScript and \u2216 in Python. |
| On this site | The simplest route is the Copy button above: the character goes straight to your clipboard, ready to paste anywhere. |
Keyboards that include ∖
This character is not on any common physical layout, so the Copy button above is the quickest way to get it into a document.
Codes and encodings
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Code point | U+2216 |
| Unicode block | Mathematical Operators (U+2200–U+22FF) |
| Decimal | 8726 |
| Hexadecimal | 0x2216 |
| Octal | 021026 |
| Binary | 10001000010110 |
| UTF-8 bytes | 0xE2 0x88 0x96 |
| UTF-16 units | 0x2216 |
| Named HTML entity | None |
| Decimal HTML entity | ∖ |
| Hex HTML entity | ∖ |
| CSS escape | \2216 |
| JavaScript escape | \u2216 |
| Python escape | \u2216 |
| URL encoding | %E2%88%96 |
Frequently asked questions
What is the Unicode code for ∖?
Its code point is U+2216, which is 8726 in decimal and 021026 in octal. In HTML you can write it as ∖ or ∖.
Why does ∖ show up as a box or a question mark?
An empty box means the font has no glyph for U+2216. The character is still in the text: switching to a font that covers the block (Noto, DejaVu or Segoe UI Symbol) makes it appear.
Can I use ∖ in a filename, a URL or a password?
In a URL it must be encoded as %E2%88%96. Modern filesystems accept it, though it is still risky when moving files between systems. For passwords, some forms reject non-ASCII characters outright.