Quotation mark symbols « »

Click to copy smart quotes, guillemets and the quotation marks of other languages, plus big decorative quotes for social posts. Shortcuts for each are listed below.

How to type it 43 symbols on this page

Quotation marks14

Decorative quotes12

Japanese and fullwidth quotes9

Quotes by language8

How to type «

Copy and paste

Click to copy it, then paste with Ctrl + V (⌘ + V on a Mac) or a long press on phones.

Windows

Hold Alt and type 174 on the number pad (Num Lock on), then let go of Alt.

In Microsoft Word, type 00AB and press Alt + X.

Mac

Press Option + \.

Or open the Character Viewer with Control + ⌘ + Space.

iPhone and Android

Copy it here and paste it. To type it again later, save it as a text replacement (iPhone: Settings › General › Keyboard › Text Replacement; Gboard: Settings › Dictionary › Personal dictionary).

HTML and CSS

Unicode U+00AB. Every format is on the left-pointing double angle quotation mark page.

Codes for every quotation mark symbols

SymbolNameUnicodeHTMLAlt code
left double quotation mark U+201C “ Alt 0147
right double quotation mark U+201D ” Alt 0148
left single quotation mark U+2018 ‘ Alt 0145
right single quotation mark U+2019 ’ Alt 0146
quotation mark U+0022 " –
apostrophe U+0027 ' –
left-pointing double angle quotation mark U+00AB « Alt 174
right-pointing double angle quotation mark U+00BB » Alt 175
single left-pointing angle quotation mark U+2039 ‹ Alt 0139
single right-pointing angle quotation mark U+203A › Alt 0155
double low-9 quotation mark U+201E „ Alt 0132
single low-9 quotation mark U+201A ‚ Alt 0130
double high-reversed-9 quotation mark U+201F ‟ –
single high-reversed-9 quotation mark U+201B ‛ –
heavy double turned comma quotation mark ornament U+275D ❝ –
heavy double comma quotation mark ornament U+275E ❞ –
heavy single turned comma quotation mark ornament U+275B ❛ –
heavy single comma quotation mark ornament U+275C ❜ –
heavy low single comma quotation mark ornament U+275F ❟ –
heavy low double comma quotation mark ornament U+2760 ❠ –
sans-serif heavy double turned comma quotation mark ornament U+1F676 🙶 –
sans-serif heavy double comma quotation mark ornament U+1F677 🙷 –
sans-serif heavy low double comma quotation mark ornament U+1F678 🙸 –
reversed double prime quotation mark U+301D 〝 –
double prime quotation mark U+301E 〞 –
low double prime quotation mark U+301F 〟 –
left corner bracket U+300C 「 –
right corner bracket U+300D 」 –
left white corner bracket U+300E 『 –
right white corner bracket U+300F 』 –
halfwidth left corner bracket U+FF62 ｢ –
halfwidth right corner bracket U+FF63 ｣ –
presentation form for vertical left corner bracket U+FE41 ﹁ –
presentation form for vertical right corner bracket U+FE42 ﹂ –
fullwidth quotation mark U+FF02 ＂ –

Straight quotes vs. smart quotes

The keyboard gives you straight quotes " and '. Typeset text uses curly smart quotes: an opening “ and closing ” for double quotes, and ‘ ’ for single quotes. The closing single quote ’ is also the correct apostrophe (don’t, it’s).

Word, Google Docs and phones convert straight quotes to curly ones as you type. If you need a straight one in Word, press Ctrl + Z right after the change; in Google Docs, turn off "Use smart quotes" under Tools > Preferences. Keep straight quotes in code, spreadsheet formulas and command lines, where curly quotes cause errors. Straight quotes also stand in for feet and inches, though the correct characters are the primes ′ and ″.

Quotation marks around the world

Each language has its own convention. American English uses “double” quotes, with ‘single’ ones for a quote inside a quote; British publishing often does the opposite. German opens with a low mark and closes with a high one: „so“. French, Russian and Swiss texts use guillemets « », with French adding a space inside them. Polish writes „…”, Swedish ”…”, and Japanese uses corner brackets 「 」, with 『 』 for a quote inside a quote.

Big decorative quotes such as ❝ ❞ make pull quotes stand out in captions and slides, and the fullwidth corner brackets work in aesthetic bios too.

How to type quotation marks

On a Mac, Option + [ gives “, Option + Shift + [ gives ”, Option + ] gives ‘ and Option + Shift + ] gives ’. Guillemets are Option + \ for « and Option + Shift + \ for ».

On Windows, use Alt codes on the number pad: Alt + 0147 “, Alt + 0148 ”, Alt + 0145 ‘, Alt + 0146 ’, Alt + 0171 « and Alt + 0187 ». On iPhone and Android, press and hold the quote key to choose curly quotes, guillemets and „. In HTML, use “, ”, ‘, ’, « and ».

For brackets used around titles and names, see bracket symbols. For feet and inches, see the inches symbol page.

Frequently asked questions

How do I type curly quotes on a Mac?

Option + [ types “ and Option + Shift + [ types ”. For single quotes, use Option + ] and Option + Shift + ].

What are « » called?

They are guillemets, or angle quotation marks. French, Russian and many other languages use them as quotation marks.

What is the Alt code for quotation marks?

Alt + 0147 types “ and Alt + 0148 types ”. Alt + 0171 and Alt + 0187 type « and ».

Which quote is the apostrophe?

The correct apostrophe is the right single quotation mark ’, the same character that closes a single quote. The straight ' is the typewriter version.