Question mark (?)
U+003F · QUESTION MARK · Unicode 1.1 (1993)
How to type ?
Windows
Alt code (numeric keypad)
Alt+63
Turn on Num Lock, hold the Alt key, type 63 on the numeric keypad and let go of Alt: ? appears.
Uses the old DOS code page 437, which US-English Windows uses for Alt codes without a leading 0; on Windows set to other languages the result can differ.
Word and Outlook: Alt + X
003F Alt+X
Type 003F and press Alt+X right after it: Word turns the code into ?. Press Alt+X again to turn it back into the code.
Emoji and symbols panel (Windows 10 and 11)
Win+.
Press Win + full stop (.) to open the panel, go to the Symbols tab (Ω) and pick ?.
No numeric keypad on your laptop? See the other ways in our Alt codes guide.
Mac
Character Viewer
Ctrl+⌘ Cmd+Space
Press Ctrl+⌘+Space (or the Globe key + E), search for “question mark” and click ? to insert it.
iPhone
Make a shortcut (Text Replacement)
Turn a short word into ? once and type it in any app:
- Copy ? from this page.
- Open Settings › General › Keyboard › Text Replacement and tap +.
- Paste ? as the Phrase and type a Shortcut, for example ;questionma.
- Now type ;questionma anywhere: the keyboard suggests ?.
Android
Make a shortcut (Gboard personal dictionary)
Teach your keyboard a short word that turns into ?:
- Copy ? from this page.
- Open Gboard settings › Dictionary › Personal dictionary, choose your language and tap +.
- Paste ? as the word and type a shortcut, for example ;questionma.
- Type ;questionma in any app and tap ? in the suggestions.
Linux
Unicode input
Ctrl+Shift+U 003f Enter
Press Ctrl+Shift+U, type 003f and press Enter or Space. Works in GTK apps and with IBus (GNOME, Ubuntu, Fedora).
What ? means and how it is used
The official Unicode name of ? is QUESTION MARK, code point U+003F. You will find it in the Basic Latin block; it was added in Unicode 1.1 (1993).
It also goes by these names and keywords: mark, question.
It sits in the punctuation with 109 symbols, among them © ® ™ § ¶.
Codes for HTML, CSS and JavaScript
Tap Copy next to the code you need.
| HTML entity | ? | |
|---|---|---|
| HTML decimal | ? | |
| HTML hex | ? | |
| CSS | content: "\003F"; | |
| JavaScript | \u003F | |
| URL | %3F | |
| UTF-8 bytes | 3F | |
| Unicode | U+003F |
Will it show on my friend's phone?
Very likely yes: ? dates from Unicode 1.1 (1993), so every current system has a font for it.
Checking your device…
Don't confuse ? with
These look alike but are different characters. Search, sorting and screen readers treat them differently, so copy the one you mean.
- ?Question markU+003F · QUESTION MARK
- Latin letter glottal stopU+0294 · LATIN LETTER GLOTTAL STOP · IPA Extensions
- ɁU+0241 · Latin Extended-B
- ॽU+097D · Devanagari
- ᎮU+13AE · Cherokee
- ꛫU+A6EB · Bamum
- ︖U+FE16 · Vertical Forms
Names in other languages
What ? is called in the 12 languages of this site (Unicode CLDR and our editors). Tap a name to open that language's page.
| Language | Name |
|---|---|
| English | Question mark |
| Português | Símbolo de interrogação |
| Español | Signo de interrogación |
| Italiano | Punto interrogativo |
| Français | Point d'interrogation |
| Deutsch | Fragezeichen |
| Türkçe | Soru işareti |
| Bahasa Indonesia | Tanda tanya |
| Polski | Znak zapytania |
| Русский | Вопросительный знак |
| 日本語 | 疑問符 (はてなマーク) |
| 한국어 | 물음표 |
Related symbols
All Punctuation →Questions people ask
How do I type ? on a laptop without a numeric keypad?
On Windows press Win + full stop (.) and pick ? in the Symbols tab, or in Word type 003F and press Alt+X.
What is the difference between ? and ʔ?
? is the question mark (U+003F). ʔ is a different character: latin letter glottal stop (U+0294, IPA Extensions block). They can look alike, but computers treat them as different letters, so a search for one will not find the other.
How do I type ? on an iPhone?
The iPhone keyboard has no key for ?. Copy it here, then add it in Settings › General › Keyboard › Text Replacement with a shortcut like ;questionma.
What is the HTML code for the question mark?
Use the entity ? or the numeric code ? (hex ?). In CSS write \003F, in JavaScript \u003F.
Will ? show on every phone?
Very likely yes: ? dates from Unicode 1.1 (1993), so every current system has a font for it.