Skull and Crossbones (☠)
The skull and crossbones ☠ is Unicode U+2620, the poison and pirate emblem. Press Copy to put it on your clipboard.
- Unicode
U+2620- HTML
☠- Word
2620 Alt+X
How to type the skull and crossbones (☠)
The quickest way is to press Copy above and paste. To type ☠ yourself, use the method for your device below.
Windows
- In Word or Outlook, type 2620 and press Alt + X. Alt + X converts the hex code before the cursor into the character, and back again.
- Press Win + . to open the emoji panel, then search for “skull and crossbones”.
Mac
- Press Control + Command + Space to open the Character Viewer, search for skull and crossbones and double-click it.
- With the Unicode Hex Input keyboard enabled (System Settings → Keyboard → Input Sources), hold Option and type 2620.
Linux & ChromeOS
- Press Ctrl + Shift + U, type 2620, then press Enter or Space. Works in GTK and IBus apps (GNOME, Firefox, Chrome, LibreOffice) and on ChromeOS.
iPhone & iPad
- Open the emoji keyboard and search for “skull and crossbones” to insert ☠️, the colour emoji. For the plain text ☠, copy it from this page.
- Copy ☠ from this page, then go to Settings → General → Keyboard → Text Replacement and add it with a shortcut such as ;skul. The shortcut then turns into the symbol as you type, in every app.
Android
- In Gboard, tap the emoji key and search for “skull and crossbones” to insert ☠️. For the plain text ☠, copy it from this page.
- Copy ☠ here, then open Gboard settings → Dictionary → Personal dictionary and add it with a shortcut.
Microsoft Word
- Type 2620, then press Alt + X.
- Insert → Symbol → More Symbols. Set “from” to Unicode (hex), type 2620 in “Character code” and click Insert.
Google Docs
- Insert → Special characters, then search for “skull and crossbones” or draw it in the box.
Excel & Google Sheets
- Enter
=UNICHAR(9760)in a cell. It works in Excel 2013 and later and in Google Sheets.
HTML
- Write
☠or☠in your HTML.
What does ☠ mean?
☠ is the skull and crossbones. It has long warned of deadly danger: the GHS hazard pictogram for acute toxicity is a skull and crossbones on a red-bordered diamond, and bottles of poison carried it long before that. It is also the emblem of pirates’ Jolly Roger flags, and online it is a joking “I’m dead” reaction.
Common uses
- Poison and toxicity warnings
- Pirate, Halloween and gaming themes
- Chat reactions: that was so funny ☠
Skull and Crossbones 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 point | U+2620 | |
|---|---|---|
| HTML decimal | ☠ | |
| HTML hex | ☠ | |
| CSS content | content: "\2620"; | |
| JavaScript | "\u2620" | |
| Python | "\u2620" | |
| Python (by name) | "\N{SKULL AND CROSSBONES}" | |
| Java / C# | "\u2620" | |
| UTF-8 bytes | E2 98 A0 | |
| UTF-16 | 2620 | |
| URL encoded | %E2%98%A0 |
☠ 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.
| Char | Name | When to use it |
|---|---|---|
SkullU+1F480 | Skull emoji without crossbones, the more common “dead from laughing” reaction. | |
Skull and crossbonesU+2620 U+FE0F | The emoji form of the same character. | |
BiohazardU+2623 | Biohazard sign, for infectious material. |
Symbols similar to ☠
Click to copy, or open a symbol for its codes. See the full cool symbols collection.
☠ character properties
- Official Unicode name
- SKULL AND CROSSBONES
- Also known as
- skull symbol, poison symbol, jolly roger, pirate symbol
- Code point
- U+2620
- 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
- Has an emoji form: ☠️ (add U+FE0F)
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between ☠ and 💀?
☠ is a skull with crossed bones, traditionally meaning poison or pirates. 💀 is a plain skull emoji. Both are used online to mean something was so funny you “died”.
Is there an alt code for the skull and crossbones?
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 2620 then Alt + X in Word, or find it in Character Map.
How do I type the skull and crossbones 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 “skull and crossbones” and double-click it, or copy it from this page.
What is the HTML code for the skull and crossbones?
☠ 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 skull and crossbones?
☠ is U+2620, officially named SKULL AND CROSSBONES, in the Miscellaneous Symbols block. It has been part of Unicode since version 1.1 (1993).