SymbolHub

Snowman Symbol (☃)

The snowman symbol ☃ is Unicode U+2603, the snowman with falling snow. Press Copy to put it on your clipboard.

Unicode
U+2603
HTML
☃
Word
2603 Alt+X

How to type the snowman 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 2603 and press Alt + X. Alt + X converts the hex code before the cursor into the character, and back again.
  2. Press Win + . to open the emoji panel, then search for “snowman”.

Mac

  1. Press Control + Command + Space to open the Character Viewer, search for snowman and double-click it.
  2. With the Unicode Hex Input keyboard enabled (System Settings → Keyboard → Input Sources), hold Option and type 2603.

Linux & ChromeOS

  1. Press Ctrl + Shift + U, type 2603, 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 ;snow. 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 2603, then press Alt + X.
  2. Insert → Symbol → More Symbols. Set “from” to Unicode (hex), type 2603 in “Character code” and click Insert.

Google Docs

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

Excel & Google Sheets

  1. Enter =UNICHAR(9731) 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 snowman with snow falling around it, and it has been in Unicode since version 1.1 in 1993. It suits winter greetings, holiday newsletters and seasonal menus. In weather symbols it can mean heavy snow, although most forecasters use ❄ for that.

Unicode later added ⛄, a snowman without snow, which is the character most emoji keyboards insert. Developers know ☃ for another reason: it became a playful test character, because it is in the Basic Multilingual Plane but outside Latin-1, so it quickly reveals whether a program handles UTF-8 correctly. You can still see it used in test strings and URL examples.

Snowman 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+2603
HTML decimal☃
HTML hex☃
CSS contentcontent: "\2603";
JavaScript"\u2603"
Python"\u2603"
Python (by name)"\N{SNOWMAN}"
Java / C#"\u2603"
UTF-8 bytesE2 98 83
UTF-162603
URL encoded%E2%98%83

☃ 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
Snowman Without Snow
U+26C4		Snowman without snow, the usual snowman emoji.
Snowflake
U+2744		Snowflake, the general symbol for snow.

Symbols similar to ☃

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

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☃ character properties

Official Unicode name
SNOWMAN
Also known as
snowman sign, snowman with snow
Code point
U+2603
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 snowman with falling snow; ⛄ is the snowman alone. On phones, ⛄ is the one on the emoji keyboard.

Why do programmers use the snowman character?

It is a memorable non-ASCII character that needs three bytes in UTF-8 (E2 98 83), so it is handy for checking that text encoding works end to end.

Is there an alt code for the snowman 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 2603 then Alt + X in Word, or find it in Character Map.

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

What is the HTML code for the snowman 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 snowman symbol?

☃ is U+2603, officially named SNOWMAN, in the Miscellaneous Symbols block. It has been part of Unicode since version 1.1 (1993).