Vertical bar (pipe) (|)
U+007C · VERTICAL LINE · Unicode 1.1 (1993)
How to type |
Windows
Alt code (numeric keypad)
Alt+124
Turn on Num Lock, hold the Alt key, type 124 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
007C Alt+X
Type 007C 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 “vertical bar (pipe)” 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 ;vertic.
- Now type ;vertic 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 ;vertic.
- Type ;vertic in any app and tap | in the suggestions.
Linux
Unicode input
Ctrl+Shift+U 007c Enter
Press Ctrl+Shift+U, type 007c 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 VERTICAL LINE, code point U+007C. 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: bar, line, pike, pipe, sheffer, stick, stroke, vbar.
It sits in the punctuation and typography symbols 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: "\007C"; | |
| JavaScript | \u007C | |
| URL | %7C | |
| UTF-8 bytes | 7C | |
| Unicode | U+007C |
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.
- |Vertical bar (pipe)U+007C · VERTICAL LINE
- LU+006C · Basic Latin
- Digit oneU+0031 · DIGIT ONE · Basic Latin
- Latin capital letter iU+0049 · LATIN CAPITAL LETTER I · Basic Latin
- Greek capital letter iotaU+0399 · GREEK CAPITAL LETTER IOTA · Greek and Coptic
- Myanmar sign little sectionU+104A · MYANMAR SIGN LITTLE SECTION · Myanmar
- Script small lU+2113 · SCRIPT SMALL L · Letterlike Symbols
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 | Vertical bar (pipe) |
| Português | Barra vertical |
| Español | Barra vertical |
| Italiano | Barra verticale (pipe) |
| Français | Barre verticale |
| Deutsch | Senkrechter Strich |
| Türkçe | Dikey çizgi |
| Bahasa Indonesia | Garis vertikal |
| Polski | Kreska pionowa |
| Русский | Вертикальная черта |
| 日本語 | 縦線 (パイプ) |
| 한국어 | 세로 막대 (파이프) |
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 007C and press Alt+X.
What is the difference between | and l?
| is the vertical bar (pipe) (U+007C). l is a different character: l (U+006C, Basic Latin 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 ;vertic.
What is the HTML code for the vertical bar (pipe)?
Use the entity | or the numeric code | (hex |). In CSS write \007C, in JavaScript \u007C.
Will | show on every phone?
Very likely yes: | dates from Unicode 1.1 (1993), so every current system has a font for it.