HTML Entity for Question Mark (?)

Beginner

5 min read

Updated: Sep 2026

1 example

Unicode U+003F

HTML Entity for question mark (U+003F) tutorial illustration

Definition

What Is Question Mark?

Question mark (?) is the Unicode character at U+003F in Basic Latin. Official name: QUESTION MARK. HTML5 names it &quest;. In everyday HTML you can type ? on the keyboard.

Remember

Character     ?
Unicode       U+003F
Named entity  &quest;
Hex entity    &#x3F;
Decimal       &#63;
CSS escape    \3F
Not the same  ¿ (&iquest;) · ⁇ (double) · ⁈ (quest+excl)

Prefer typing ? in HTML text. Use &quest;, ?, or ? when you want an explicit entity form.

Reference

Quick Reference

One table for every form you will actually use.

Form	Code	Where it goes
Named entity	`&quest;`	HTML markup
Hex entity	`?`	HTML markup
Decimal entity	`?`	HTML markup
Direct character	`?`	HTML text (preferred)
CSS escape	`\3F`	Stylesheet `content`

When to Use Which

Situation	Use
Ordinary English question / FAQ	Type `?` or use `&quest;`
Spanish inverted question	Inverted question mark (`¿`, ¿)
Double question glyph	Double question mark (⁇)
Question + exclamation in one glyph	Question exclamation mark (⁈)
Generated text via `::before` / `::after`	`content: "\3F"` or `content: "?"`

See it

Live Preview

Question mark rendered alone, in a sentence, and compared with related punctuation.

Glyph ?

Large glyph ?

Sample Ready to learn?

Compared ? ¿ ⁇ ⁈

With entities Named: ? | Hex: ? | Decimal: ?

Code

Complete HTML Example

One page that shows Question mark with named, hex, decimal, CSS escape, and a typed character. Use View Output or open the live editor.

Named + Hex + Decimal + CSS + Typed

Five ways to display ? in HTML and CSS.

html

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
  <meta charset="UTF-8">
  <title>Question Mark (U+003F) in HTML</title>
  <style>
    #point::after {
      content: "\3F";
    }
  </style>
</head>
<body>
  <p>Built with Named: &quest;</p>
  <p>Built with Hex: &#x3F;</p>
  <p>Built with Decimal: &#63;</p>
  <p id="point">Built with CSS: </p>
  <p>Typed: ?</p>
  <p>Sentence: Ready to learn&quest;</p>
</body>
</html>

Try It Yourself

How It Works

1. Named: &quest; is the HTML5 name for U+003F → ?.

2. Hex: ? inserts the same code point. Same visual as named.

3. Decimal: same code point as 63 → ?.

4. CSS: use \3F (or a literal ?) in content. #point::after appends ?.

5. Typed: press ? on the keyboard, or write a sentence like Ready to learn&quest;.

Pitfalls & Tips

Common mistakes when working with Question mark.

Type it

Prefer a real ?

In everyday HTML, type ? directly. Use &quest; when you want the named form for clarity or tooling.

Case

&quest; is case-sensitive

Write &quest;, not &Quest;. Invalid names may show as literal text.

Not inverted question mark

U+00BF (¿) is ¿ — used at the start of Spanish questions.

⁈

Not question exclamation mark

U+2048 (⁈) is a single stacked glyph — not a plain ? followed by !.

CSS vs HTML

Do not mix escapes

\3F belongs in CSS strings. &quest; / ? / ? belong in HTML.

Semicolon

End references

Always finish entities with ; — write &quest;, not &quest.

Compatibility

Browser Support

Question mark (U+003F) and its entity forms (&quest;, ?, ?, CSS \\3F) are supported in all mainstream browsers. As a Basic Latin character, the glyph is available in essentially every text font.

✓ Universal support

Question Mark (?)

Encode with named, hex, decimal, CSS escape, or type the character — same code point everywhere encoding is supported.

100% Browser coverage

Google Chrome Supported

Yes

Microsoft Edge Supported

Yes

Mozilla Firefox Supported

Yes

Apple Safari Supported

Yes

Opera Supported

Yes

Internet Explorer All versions

Yes

U+003F / &quest; Full support

Bottom line: Prefer typing ? in HTML text. Use &quest; / ? / ? when an entity is required, and \\3F only inside CSS content.

Remember

Key Takeaways

Unicode: question mark is U+003F (decimal 63) — glyph ?.
HTML: type ?, or use &quest; / ? / ?.
CSS: use \3F or "?" inside content.
Meaning: ? ≠ inverted ¿ ≠ stacked ⁈.

One line: U+003F → type ? / &quest; / CSS \3F.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I display ? in HTML?

Type ? directly in UTF-8, or use &quest; (named), ? (hex), ? (decimal), or the CSS escape \3F in content.

What is the Unicode value for this mark?

U+003F (QUESTION MARK). Hex 3F, decimal 63. It belongs to the Basic Latin block (U+0000–U+007F).

Can I use the named entity &quest; for the question mark?

Yes. &quest; is the HTML5 named entity for U+003F. It is case-sensitive — &Quest; is not valid.

When should I use U+003F?

Use it for ordinary English questions, FAQs, help labels, and quizzes. Prefer ¿ (¿) for Spanish inverted questions, and other General Punctuation characters for stacked or double forms.

What is the difference between HTML code and CSS entity for U+003F?

HTML entities (&quest;, ?, or ?) go in markup. The CSS escape \3F goes in stylesheet strings (usually content on ::before/::after).

Is U+003F the same as U+00BF or U+2048?

No. U+003F is ? (question mark). U+00BF is ¿ (inverted question mark). U+2048 is ⁈ (question exclamation mark).

Did you know?

Question mark is Unicode U+003F (decimal 63) — glyph ? (QUESTION MARK) in Basic Latin. HTML5 names it &quest;. In normal text you can type ? directly. Related forms include inverted question mark (¿, ¿) and question exclamation mark (⁈).

Next: Question Mark Big

Continue to the next HTML entity in this tutorial series.

Question Mark Big tutorial →

About the author

Mari Selvan M P 🔗

Developer, cloud engineer, and technical writer

Experience 12 years building web and cloud systems
Focus Full Stack Development, AWS, and Developer Education

I write practical tutorials so students and working developers can learn by doing—from databases and APIs to deployment on AWS.

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