SymbolHub

Quarter Note (♩)

The quarter note ♩ is Unicode U+2669, the one-beat note, called a crotchet in British English. Press Copy to put it on your clipboard.

Unicode
U+2669
HTML
♩
Word
2669 Alt+X

How to type the quarter note (♩)

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 2669 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 Quarter Note, 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 quarter note and double-click it.
  2. With the Unicode Hex Input keyboard enabled (System Settings → Keyboard → Input Sources), hold Option and type 2669.

Linux & ChromeOS

  1. Press Ctrl + Shift + U, type 2669, 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 ;quar. 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 2669, then press Alt + X.
  2. Insert → Symbol → More Symbols. Set “from” to Unicode (hex), type 2669 in “Character code” and click Insert.

Google Docs

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

Excel & Google Sheets

  1. Enter =UNICHAR(9833) 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 the quarter note, or crotchet: a filled note head with a plain stem. In most time signatures it is the beat itself, so four of them fill a bar of 4/4.

That is why ♩ appears in tempo markings. Printed scores write ♩ = 120 to mean 120 quarter-note beats per minute, and metronome apps and DAW manuals copy the same notation. It is also handy in music-teaching worksheets and forum posts, where you want to name a note value without an image. There is no alt code for it; in Word, type 2669 and press Alt + X.

Quarter Note 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+2669
HTML decimal♩
HTML hex♩
CSS contentcontent: "\2669";
JavaScript"\u2669"
Python"\u2669"
Python (by name)"\N{QUARTER NOTE}"
Java / C#"\u2669"
UTF-8 bytesE2 99 A9
UTF-162669
URL encoded%E2%99%A9

♩ 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
Eighth Note
U+266A		Eighth note (quaver), half a beat. It has a flag on the stem.
Musical Symbol G Clef
U+1D11E		The treble clef, which sets the pitch of the staff rather than a note length.

Symbols similar to ♩

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

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♩ character properties

Official Unicode name
QUARTER NOTE
Also known as
crotchet, quarter note symbol, one beat note
Code point
U+2669
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 does ♩ = 120 mean?

It is a metronome marking: play at 120 quarter-note beats per minute.

Is a crotchet the same as a quarter note?

Yes. Crotchet is the British name and quarter note the American name for the same one-beat note ♩.

Is there an alt code for the quarter note?

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 2669 then Alt + X in Word, or find it in Character Map.

How do I type the quarter note 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 “quarter note” and double-click it, or copy it from this page.

What is the HTML code for the quarter note?

♩ 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 quarter note?

♩ is U+2669, officially named QUARTER NOTE, in the Miscellaneous Symbols block. It has been part of Unicode since version 1.1 (1993).