↖ North West Arrow Symbol: Meaning, Uses, and Shortcuts
The ↖ (North West Arrow) is a Unicode symbol that points diagonally toward the upper-left corner. Officially part of the Arrows block, this glyph is primarily used to indicate a northwest direction on maps and compasses, or to visually direct a reader's attention to an element positioned at the top left of a screen or page.
Introduced in Unicode 1.0 back in 1991, the North West Arrow sits at the code point U+2196. It belongs to the standard Arrows block, which contains a comprehensive collection of directional pointers. While it functions as a simple navigational tool in traditional cartography, its clean, universal design has made it a staple in modern digital typography and user interface design.
You will spot the ↖ symbol in various everyday contexts. In digital interfaces and programming, it frequently appears as a cursor icon for resizing windows diagonally or pointing to a return button. Mathematicians and scientists occasionally use diagonal arrows to denote specific directional limits or vector interactions. On social media platforms like X or TikTok, users drop the ↖ symbol in their bios or captions to literally point at their profile picture, a username, or a linked website located just above the text.
Typing the ↖ arrow requires a quick keyboard shortcut depending on your device. On Windows, hold the Alt key and type 8598 on your numeric keypad. If you use a Mac, press Control + Command + Space to open the Character Viewer and search for "North West Arrow." Web developers can easily insert it using the HTML entity ↖ or the decimal code ↖. If you are typing on an iPhone or Android device, simply copying and pasting the symbol from the web is the fastest method.
The North West Arrow is part of a larger family of diagonal pointers. It directly contrasts with the ↘ (South East Arrow) and completes the diagonal compass alongside the ↗ (North East Arrow) and ↙ (South West Arrow). While standard vertical and horizontal arrows like ← and ↑ dictate strict grid-based movement, the ↖ arrow offers a dynamic, angled alternative for visual design, coding, and everyday digital communication.