HTML Entity for White Smiling Face (☺)

Beginner

5 min read

Updated: Sep 2026

1 example

Unicode U+263A

HTML Entity for white smiling face (☺) tutorial illustration

Definition

What Is White Smiling Face?

White smiling face (☺) is Unicode U+263A (WHITE SMILING FACE) in the Miscellaneous Symbols block. It is a classic outline smiley — useful for friendly UI cues, vintage emoticon looks, and positive messaging. HTML5 has no named entity for this character.

Remember

Character     ☺
Unicode       U+263A
Hex entity    &#x263A;
Decimal       &#9786;
Named entity  (none)
CSS escape    \263A
Not the same  ☻ U+263B (black smiling face)

All of these produce the same glyph: ☺. Prefer typing ☺ in UTF-8 when you can; use ☺ / ☺ or CSS for generated content.

Reference

Quick Reference

One table for every form you will actually use.

Form	Code	Where it goes
Direct character	`☺`	HTML text (UTF-8) — preferred
Hex entity	`☺`	HTML markup
Decimal entity	`☺`	HTML markup
CSS escape	`\263A`	Stylesheet `content`
Named entity	—	Not defined in HTML5

When to Use Which

Situation	Use
Outline / white smiley	`☺` or type `☺`
Filled / black smiley	☻ (U+263B)
Classic frown pair	☹ (U+2639)
Icon via CSS	`content: "\263A"` on `::before`
Looking for a named entity	None for U+263A — use numeric form or type `☺`

See it

Live Preview

White smiling face in study contexts.

Large glyph ☺

Friendly cue Thanks! ☺

Smile / frown pair ☺ ☹

Accessible label Happy

With entities Hex: ☺ | Decimal: ☺

Code

Complete HTML Example

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

Hex + Decimal + CSS + Typed

Four ways to produce ☺ in a single document (no named entity).

html

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
  <meta charset="UTF-8">
  <title>White Smiling Face (☺) in HTML</title>
  <style>
    #point::after {
      content: "\263A";
    }
  </style>
</head>
<body>
  <p>White smiling face using Hex Code: &#x263A;</p>
  <p>White smiling face using HTML Code: &#9786;</p>
  <p id="point">White smiling face using CSS Entity: </p>
  <p>Typed directly: ☺</p>
</body>
</html>

Try It Yourself

How It Works

1. Hex: U+263A → ☺ in HTML. The browser turns it into ☺.

2. Decimal: same code point as 9786 → ☺. Same result as hex.

3. CSS: use \263A in content (not an HTML entity). #point::after appends that ☺ after the paragraph text.

4. Typed ☺: fine in UTF-8 source. There is no named entity for this symbol.

Pitfalls & Tips

Common mistakes when working with white smiling face (☺).

☻

Not the black smiley

☺ is outline. For the filled form use ☻ (U+263B).

Emoji

Not modern smile emoji

🙂 and similar emoji use different code points (often in the Emoticons block), not U+263A.

Named?

No &smile; for this glyph

&smile; is U+2323 (a different smile symbol). For ☺ use ☺ or ☺.

a11y

Say “Happy” or “Smiling”

Screen readers may not announce the smiley clearly. Pair the glyph with visible or visually hidden text.

Fonts

Check symbol coverage

Some UI fonts omit U+263A. Prefer fonts with solid Miscellaneous Symbols support.

Semicolon

End references

Always finish with ; — write ☺, not &#9786.

Compatibility

Browser Support

White smiling face (U+263A) and its entity forms (☺, ☺, CSS \\263A) are supported in all mainstream browsers. Glyph quality depends on font support for Miscellaneous Symbols.

✓ Universal support

White Smiling Face (☺)

Type ☺, or encode with hex, decimal, or CSS escape — same glyph 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+263A / entities Full support

Bottom line: Prefer a typed ☺ or ☺ / ☺ for markup. Use \\263A only inside CSS content.

Remember

Key Takeaways

Unicode: white smiling face is U+263A (decimal 9786).
HTML: prefer typing ☺, or use ☺ / ☺.
CSS: use \263A inside content for generated icons.
Watch out: no named entity for U+263A; ☺ ≠ ☻; &smile; is a different character.

One line: U+263A → type ☺ / ☺ / ☺ / CSS \263A.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I display white smiling face (☺) in HTML?

Use ☺ (hex), ☺ (decimal), or the CSS escape \263A in the content property. All render ☺. You can also paste ☺ directly if your file is UTF-8. There is no named HTML entity.

What is the Unicode value for white smiling face?

U+263A (hex 263A, decimal 9786). Unicode names it WHITE SMILING FACE. It belongs to the Miscellaneous Symbols block (U+2600–U+26FF).

Is there a named HTML entity for ☺ (U+263A)?

No. HTML5 does not define a named entity for this symbol. Use ☺ or ☺ in markup, or \263A in CSS. (Note: &smile; is a different character, U+2323.)

How is ☺ different from ☻ or 🙂?

☺ (U+263A) is the classic outline smiling face. ☻ (U+263B) is black smiling face. 🙂 (U+1F642) is the modern slightly smiling face emoji. They are different code points.

What is the difference between HTML code and CSS entity for ☺?

HTML entities (☺ or ☺) go in markup. The CSS escape \263A is used in stylesheets (usually in the content property of ::before/::after). Both render ☺.

When should I use the white smiling face?

Use ☺ for vintage smileys, friendly UI cues, and classic emoticon looks. Prefer ☻ for the filled form, or modern emoji when you want colorful emoji presentation. Pair the glyph with visible text for accessibility.

Did you know?

White smiling face is Unicode U+263A (decimal 9786) in the Miscellaneous Symbols block — official name WHITE SMILING FACE. HTML5 has no named entity for it. It is a classic outline smiley — not the same as ☻ (black smiling face) or modern emoji such as 🙂.

Next: White Spade Suit

Learn the HTML entity for white spade suit (♤).

Continue 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.

AWS Certified Developer – Associate (Credly)

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