U+FEFF "" Zero Width No-Break Space Unicode Character
Unicode Version 17.0
U+FEFF "" Zero Width No-Break Space is an invisible, nonprinting code point that serves two distinct essential roles depending on context. Primarily, it functions as a Byte Order Mark or BOM, placed at the very beginning of a text file or data stream to indicate the byte order and encoding scheme, most commonly for UTF-16 and UTF-32 text. Additionally, it acts as a legitimate zero width no-break space within text content, preventing line breaks between adjacent characters without adding any visible whitespace, though its use for this purpose has been largely deprecated in favor of the separate character U+2060 Word Joiner.
General Properties
| Code Point | U+FEFF |
| Version Added | 1.1 |
| Name | Zero Width No-Break Space |
| Unicode 1.0 Name | Byte Order Mark |
| Block | Arabic Presentation Forms-B |
| General Category | Format |
| Canonical Combining Class | Not Reordered |
| Bidirectional Class | Boundary Neutral |
| Alias | BOM (abbreviation) BYTE ORDER MARK (alternate) ZWNBSP (abbreviation) |
Encodings
| HTML Decimal Encoding |  |
| HTML Hex Encoding |  |
| UTF-8 Encoding | 0xEF 0xBB 0xBF |
| UTF-16 Encoding | 0xFEFF |
| UTF-32 Encoding | 0x0000FEFF |
| C/C++/Java Escape | \ufeff |