SymbolHub

Crescent Moon Symbol (☾)

The crescent moon symbol ☾ is Unicode U+263E, the crescent moon used for night, sleep and the moon. Press Copy to put it on your clipboard.

Unicode
U+263E
HTML
☾
Word
263E Alt+X

How to type the crescent moon symbol (☾)

The quickest way is to press Copy above and paste. To type ☾ yourself, use the method for your device below.

Windows

  1. In Word or Outlook, type 263E and press Alt + X. Alt + X converts the hex code before the cursor into the character, and back again.
  2. Press Win + R, type charmap and press Enter. Tick “Advanced view”, search for Last Quarter Moon, then Select and Copy. Character Map is built into every version of Windows.

Mac

  1. Press Control + Command + Space to open the Character Viewer, search for moon and double-click it.
  2. With the Unicode Hex Input keyboard enabled (System Settings → Keyboard → Input Sources), hold Option and type 263E.

Linux & ChromeOS

  1. Press Ctrl + Shift + U, type 263e, then press Enter or Space. Works in GTK and IBus apps (GNOME, Firefox, Chrome, LibreOffice) and on ChromeOS.

iPhone & iPad

  1. Copy ☾ from this page, then go to Settings → General → Keyboard → Text Replacement and add it with a shortcut such as ;cres. The shortcut then turns into the symbol as you type, in every app.

Android

  1. Copy ☾ here, then open Gboard settings → Dictionary → Personal dictionary and add it with a shortcut.

Microsoft Word

  1. Type 263E, then press Alt + X.
  2. Insert → Symbol → More Symbols. Set “from” to Unicode (hex), type 263E in “Character code” and click Insert.

Google Docs

  1. Insert → Special characters, then search for “moon” or draw it in the box.

Excel & Google Sheets

  1. Enter =UNICHAR(9790) in a cell. It works in Excel 2013 and later and in Google Sheets.

HTML

  1. Write ☾ or ☾ in your HTML.

What does ☾ mean?

☾ is a crescent moon, and it is one of two text crescents in Unicode. Their official names come from the lunar calendar: ☽ is FIRST QUARTER MOON and ☾ is LAST QUARTER MOON, and the two glyphs are mirror images of each other. Which way a crescent faces in the real sky depends on the phase and on your hemisphere, so treat the pair as a design choice rather than an astronomy lesson.

In practice people use either crescent to mean night, dreams, sleep or dark mode. It is popular in aesthetic bios (☾ ⋆｡°✩), night-time greetings and the moon toggles of apps. In astronomy and astrology the moon is traditionally written with ☽.

Both crescents are text characters with no emoji form. For a coloured crescent, use 🌙; for one with a face, 🌛 or 🌜. The Islamic star and crescent ☪ is a separate religious symbol and should not be built from ☾ and a star.

Common uses

  • Goodnight messages: Sweet dreams ☾
  • Aesthetic bios and dividers: ☾ ⋆｡°✩
  • Night or dark-mode labels in interfaces
  • Lunar calendars and moon-phase notes

Crescent Moon Symbol codes for HTML, CSS and programming

Every code below produces ☾. Use the HTML entity in web pages, the CSS escape in content, and the escape sequence in source code.

Unicode code pointU+263E
HTML decimal☾
HTML hex☾
CSS contentcontent: "\263E";
JavaScript"\u263E"
Python"\u263E"
Python (by name)"\N{LAST QUARTER MOON}"
Java / C#"\u263E"
UTF-8 bytesE2 98 BE
UTF-16263E
URL encoded%E2%98%BE

☾ vs look-alike characters

These characters look similar to ☾ but have a different meaning and code. Pasting the wrong one can break search, sorting and screen readers.

CharNameWhen to use it
First Quarter Moon
U+263D		First quarter moon, the mirror-image crescent. Traditional symbol for the Moon in astronomy.
Crescent Moon
U+1F319		Crescent moon emoji, shown in colour.
Power Sleep Symbol
U+23FE		Power sleep symbol, the crescent used on devices to mark sleep mode.
Star and Crescent
U+262A		Star and crescent, a religious and national symbol.

Symbols similar to ☾

Click to copy, or open a symbol for its codes. See the full moon symbols collection.

  • Details
  • Details
  • Details

☾ character properties

Official Unicode name
LAST QUARTER MOON
Also known as
moon symbol, last quarter moon, half moon symbol
Code point
U+263E
Unicode block
Miscellaneous Symbols (U+2600–U+26FF)
General category
Other symbol (So)
Added in
Unicode 1.1 (1993)
Plane
Basic Multilingual Plane (0)
Emoji
No, it is a text symbol

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between ☾ and ☽?

They are mirror images, named LAST QUARTER MOON and FIRST QUARTER MOON in Unicode. Both are used as general moon symbols; pick the one that faces the way you want.

Is there a moon emoji I can copy?

Yes: 🌙 is the crescent moon emoji, and 🌛 and 🌜 add a face. ☾ itself is a text symbol with no emoji form.

Is there an alt code for the crescent moon symbol?

No. ☾ is outside the Windows-1252 and code page 437 character sets, so no Alt + number code produces it. Copy it from this page, type 263E then Alt + X in Word, or find it in Character Map.

How do I type the crescent moon symbol on a Mac?

There is no single Option shortcut for ☾ on the US layout. Press Control + Command + Space to open the Character Viewer, search for “moon” and double-click it, or copy it from this page.

What is the HTML code for the crescent moon symbol?

☾ has no named HTML entity. Use the numeric reference ☾ or ☾, or paste the character directly into a UTF-8 page.

What is the Unicode for the crescent moon symbol?

☾ is U+263E, officially named LAST QUARTER MOON, in the Miscellaneous Symbols block. It has been part of Unicode since version 1.1 (1993).