U+202C "" Pop Directional Formatting Unicode Character
Unicode Version 17.0
U+202C "" Pop Directional Formatting is an invisible control character used to terminate the scope of a directional override or embedding that was initiated by characters such as U+202A (Left-to-Right Embedding) or U+202E (Right-to-Left Override). It effectively "pops" the most recently set directional formatting state from the stack, restoring the text's bidirectional layout to its previous, known directionality. This character is essential for correctly handling complex scripts such as Arabic or Hebrew within otherwise left-to-right text, ensuring that embedded segments of opposite direction revert to the surrounding context without confusion.
General Properties
| Code Point | U+202C |
| Version Added | 1.1 |
| Name | Pop Directional Formatting |
| Block | General Punctuation |
| General Category | Format |
| Canonical Combining Class | Not Reordered |
| Bidirectional Class | Pop Directional Format |
| Bidirectional Control | Yes |
| Alias | PDF (abbreviation) |
Encodings
| HTML Decimal Encoding | ‬ |
| HTML Hex Encoding | ‬ |
| UTF-8 Encoding | 0xE2 0x80 0xAC |
| UTF-16 Encoding | 0x202C |
| UTF-32 Encoding | 0x0000202C |
| C/C++/Java Escape | \u202c |