Punctuation · U+2022

•Bullet point symbol

• is the Bullet point character. It is text, not a picture — it takes the colour of the type around it and pastes into anything.

How to type it
Unicode
U+2022
Alt code
Alt+8226
HTML
•
Unicode name
Bullet
U+2022Your font
•

01 — Origin

Where the Bullet point symbol comes from

The bullet is a printer’s mark, named for its resemblance to a small round shot. It became universal with desktop publishing in the 1980s, when word processors needed a default list marker that would render on any printer.

Lists in places that have no list formatting — chat messages, form fields, Instagram captions, plain-text email. Also as a separator between short items where a comma would read as part of the text: Berlin • Paris • Rome.

Worth knowing
Do not use it in markup that already produces lists. A bullet character inside an HTML list item gives you two bullets and breaks how a screen reader announces the list.

02 — Codes

Bullet point symbol codes

Tap any value to copy it. All of them produce the same character — they just belong to different places.

03 — How to type

How to type • on any keyboard

Four ways, depending on what you are working in.

Windows
Hold Alt and type 8226 on the numeric keypad, then release. Without a keypad, use the Character Map app (search “charmap”).
Mac
Press Control + Command + Space to open the character viewer, then search “bullet point”. Double-click to insert.
Phone
There is no shortcut on a phone keyboard. Tap the symbol at the top of this page, then long-press in any text field and choose Paste.
Web and code
In HTML write • or •. In CSS content: "\2022". Make sure the page is served as UTF-8 and the raw character works too.

04 — Font support

Will • actually show up?

We checked 147 fonts installed on a normal machine and counted how many of them contain this character. A symbol missing from a font is drawn as an empty box — the text is still correct, it just cannot be drawn.

95% 140 of 147 fonts

Safe everywhere. This one is in almost every font ever installed, including the defaults on Windows, Mac and Android.

05 — Similar

Symbols people confuse with •

Lookalikes that are not the same character at all — separate codes, separate fonts, and here they number 8.

06 — Related

Other typographic marks

The rest of the family, one page each — origin, typing routes and font support, across all 1.

— Em dash symbolIn 96% of system fonts

07 — Same block

Punctuation

Dashes, quotes, bullets, daggers and the marks between them.

All punctuation →

08 — FAQ

Bullet point symbol — questions

How do I type the Bullet point symbol?
On Windows hold Alt and type 8226 on the numeric keypad. On Mac open the character viewer with Control + Command + Space and search “Bullet point”. Or just tap the symbol on this page — it goes straight to your clipboard.
What is the HTML code for •?
Write it as • or • in HTML, \2022 in CSS content, and \u2022 in JavaScript. All four produce the same character.
Is • an emoji?
No. • is a text character — it takes the colour of the text around it and works in usernames, filenames and documents. An emoji is replaced by a colour picture and is sometimes stripped by forms and systems.
Why does • show as a box on some devices?
Because that font has no drawing for this character. We checked 147 fonts on a normal machine and 140 of them include it. The character itself is always correct; only the drawing is missing.