Types of arrow symbols
Unicode has several hundred arrows, spread over a handful of blocks. The plain ones you see most (→ ← ↑ ↓ ↔︎) live in the Arrows block, together with double arrows like ⇒, curved arrows like ↩︎ and circle arrows like ↻. Heavy and decorative arrows such as ➜ ➤ ➳ come from the Dingbats block, and newer sets (the Supplemental Arrows blocks and Miscellaneous Symbols and Arrows) add triangle-headed, sans-serif and wide-headed versions like ⭢ and 🡒.
A quick way to choose: thin arrows → look like normal text, double arrows ⇒ read as "implies" or "results in", heavy arrows ➜ ➤ stand out as bullets and pointers, and emoji arrows like ⬆︎ or 🔙 show up in color on phones. Brand-new arrows from the supplemental blocks may appear as empty boxes on older devices, so the classic → ← ↑ ↓ are the safest choice when everyone needs to see them.
Where arrows are used
In everyday text, arrows give directions and point at things: Settings → Privacy → Blocked, "link in bio ↓" or "swipe →". In math, → means "maps to" or "tends to" (x → 0), ⇒ means "implies" and ⇔ means "if and only if". In chemistry, → separates reactants from products, ⇌ marks an equilibrium, ↑ marks a gas given off and ↓ a precipitate.
Keyboards use arrows as labels too: ⇧ is Shift, ⇪ is Caps Lock, ⇥ is Tab and ⌫ is the Mac Delete key. For a closer look at each direction, see the up arrow, down arrow, left arrow and right arrow pages.
How to type arrow symbols
On Windows, hold Alt and type a number on the number pad: Alt + 24 ↑, Alt + 25 ↓, Alt + 26 →, Alt + 27 ←, Alt + 29 ↔︎ and Alt + 18 ↕︎. You can also press Win + . to open the emoji panel and browse its symbols. On a Mac, press Control + Command + Space to open the Character Viewer and search for "arrow".
In Microsoft Word, AutoCorrect turns --> into → and <-- into ←, or you can type a code such as 2192 and press Alt + X. In Google Docs, use Insert > Special characters and search "arrow". In HTML, →, ←, ↑, ↓ and ⇒ work everywhere, and in LaTeX use \rightarrow, \leftarrow or \Rightarrow. On a phone, search "arrow" in the emoji keyboard, or just copy one from this page.