Symbols · Emoji 0.6
⬅️Left Arrow Emoji
Generally, the ⬅️ emoji means “backwards” or “returning to the previous thing.” It’s a quick way to say “go back” or “previous.”
The ⬅️ emoji is a simple left arrow.
- Unicode
- U+2B05 U+FE0F
- Released
- 2010
- Shortcode
- :arrow_
left: - Skin tones
- No
01 — Meaning
What does the ⬅️ Left Arrow emoji mean?
People search for this character under a lot of different names, and the ones we have collected number 5.
02 — Platforms
Left Arrow emoji on iPhone, Android, WhatsApp and X
The character you send is always U+2B05. The picture is not: it is redrawn by each system, and the designs below number 9.
See the whole set the way each system draws it — iPhone emojis, Android emojis, WhatsApp emojis and Discord emojis.
03 — Copy & codes
Left Arrow emoji copy and paste
Everything here is the same character in different notation — including the shortcode chat apps know it by, :arrow_left:.
All emoji copy and paste →In your code
Different notation, one result: whichever escape you paste, what comes out is U+2B05.
04 — How to type
How to type the ⬅️ Left Arrow emoji
Every system hides the emoji key somewhere else. Here is where, plus the raw codes for U+2B05 when there is no key at all.
05 — Download
Left Arrow emoji PNG and SVG
Grab the left arrow as transparent PNG or SVG. Each system ships its own drawing, and the licence stays with the vendor, all 9 of them.
Emoji PNG library →
Apple
Google
Twitter / X
Facebook
Microsoft
06 — Combinations
Left Arrow emoji combinations
Ready-made combos built around left arrow for bios, captions and comments. Tap to copy.
All combinations →Want two emojis fused into one sticker instead of set side by side? Emoji Kitchen does that for every pair Google has drawn, and there are more ready-made pairs in emoji combinations and aesthetic emoji combos.
07 — In conversation
What ⬅️ means from a girl or a guy
The same character carries a different intent depending on the sender and the message before it.
08 — Apps
What ⬅️ means on TikTok, WhatsApp and Discord
One code point, several readings — where the left arrow lands changes how it is taken.
10 — Difference
⬅️ vs ➡️ — what is the difference?
Two emojis that get mixed up constantly. They are different characters with different names.
Unicode name: Left Arrow
Code: U+2B05 U+FE0F · added 2010
Shortcode: :arrow_left:
Generally, the ⬅️ emoji means “backwards” or “returning to the previous thing.”
Unicode name: Right Arrow
Code: U+27A1 U+FE0F · added 2010
Shortcode: :arrow_right:
Usually, it just means “right” or “forward.”
11 — History
Where the ⬅️ Left Arrow emoji came from
This one is older than Unicode emoji: Japanese carriers were drawing it on their handsets years before the standard existed, which it finally joined in 2010.
Same character every time — U+2B05 U+FE0F never changed. Only the drawing did, and only because each vendor redraws its own set. Someone on an older phone still sees the older picture.
Long before Unicode had emoji, Japanese carriers shipped their own picture sets.
⬅️ existed there as
KDDI au E553, SoftBank E235.
Those codes are why it survived into the standard at all — Unicode had to keep Japanese messages readable.
Left Arrow was approved as U+2B05 U+FE0F and shipped in Emoji 0.6 (2010). Emoji 0.6 is the original 2010 batch that came over from the Japanese sets.
Every vendor keeps its own artwork, so ⬅️ is redrawn by Apple, Google, Twitter / X, Facebook, OpenMoji, Samsung, Microsoft, WhatsApp, JoyPixels. The character you send never changes — only the picture does.
12 — FAQ