U+202B "‫" Right-to-Left Embedding Unicode Character

Unicode Version 17.0

U+202B "‫" Right-to-Left Embedding is an invisible control character used in bidirectional text processing to override the default text direction for a specific embedded segment. When inserted into a string of text, it instructs the rendering system to treat the following characters as right-to-left (for example, for Arabic or Hebrew) until it is terminated by a U+202C (Pop Directional Formatting) character. This allows developers to correctly display mixed scripts, such as when an English phrase appears within a right-to-left sentence, without altering the overall document direction. Its proper use is essential for ensuring readable and logically ordered text in multilingual digital environments.

General Properties

Code Point U+202B
Version Added 1.1
Name Right-to-Left Embedding
Block General Punctuation
General Category Format
Canonical Combining Class Not Reordered
Bidirectional Class Right To Left Embedding
Bidirectional Control Yes
Alias RLE (abbreviation)

Encodings

HTML Decimal Encoding ‫
HTML Hex Encoding ‫
UTF-8 Encoding 0xE2 0x80 0xAB
UTF-16 Encoding 0x202B
UTF-32 Encoding 0x0000202B
C/C++/Java Escape \u202b

Unicode Properties

NFC Quick Check Yes
NFD Quick Check Yes
NFKC Quick Check Yes
NFKD Quick Check Yes
Numeric Type None
Numeric Value NaN
Joining Type Transparent
Line Break Combining Mark
Case Ignorable Yes
Changes When NFKC Casefolded Yes
Script Common
Script Extensions Common
Indic Syllabic Category Other
Default Ignorable Code Point Yes
Vertical Orientation Rotated
Grapheme Cluster Break Control
Word Break Format
Sentence Break Format