U+007F "DEL" DELETE Unicode Character

Unicode Version 17.0

DEL

U+007F "DEL" DELETE is a legacy control character inherited from ASCII, historically used to delete or erase the preceding character from a stream of data, often by punching a hole in paper tape to mark a character for removal. In modern computing, it is rarely used for practical deletion tasks, as its function has been superseded by more sophisticated keyboard delete keys and software-based editing. Instead, U+007F primarily serves a historical and technical role, sometimes appearing as a placeholder or in communication protocols where its original function is still recognized. It should not be confused with other delete-related characters like the Unicode BACKSPACE or the forward delete key on keyboards, as it holds a distinct significance in the history of character encoding.

General Properties

Code Point U+007F
Version Added 1.1
Unicode 1.0 Name Delete
Block Basic Latin
General Category Control
Canonical Combining Class Not Reordered
Bidirectional Class Boundary Neutral
Alias DEL (abbreviation)
DELETE (control)

Encodings

HTML Decimal Encoding 
HTML Hex Encoding 
UTF-8 Encoding 0x7F
UTF-16 Encoding 0x007F
UTF-32 Encoding 0x0000007F
C/C++/Java Escape \u007f

Unicode Properties

NFC Quick Check Yes
NFD Quick Check Yes
NFKC Quick Check Yes
NFKD Quick Check Yes
Numeric Type None
Numeric Value NaN
Line Break Combining Mark
Script Common
Script Extensions Common
Indic Syllabic Category Other
Vertical Orientation Rotated
Grapheme Cluster Break Control
Word Break Other
Sentence Break Other