Symbols in Usernames: Where They Work ⋆
Tap a symbol to copy it. Paste it into a display name or a bio — the @username takes letters only.
Tip · press and hold to pick several at once
Safe almost anywhere 19
Counted twice 4
Plain in most apps 9
Want this as an app?
Every set offline, right in your keyboard. Drop your email and I'll tell you when it's out — nothing else, ever.
How to use symbols in names
Every app gives you two names, and only one of them takes symbols. The @username is an address: on TikTok it is 2–24 letters, numbers, underscores and periods; on Discord 2–32 lowercase letters, numbers, underscores and periods; a YouTube handle is 3–30 letters or numbers plus _ - . and ·; Instagram’s help mentions only periods, numbers and underscores. The name people actually read is where symbols go. TikTok’s name takes up to 30 characters and can be changed once every 7 days; Discord’s display name takes special characters, spaces and emoji, 1 to 32 of them, and you can change it any time; WhatsApp’s name takes 25 characters. Instagram’s help lists no rules for the name field, except that a Meta Verified name can’t contain symbols.
Bios take symbols almost everywhere; what runs out is room. Instagram allows 150 characters, TikTok’s help says 80, a Discord About Me holds 190, and WhatsApp’s About is an emoji plus 50 characters. Characters like those in the second group look like one but often count as two, so leave a little spare. Ready-made layouts are on bio templates, and a line that looks empty is on invisible characters. Games are stricter and publish no lists: Free Fire names are on skull symbols, Mobile Legends on MLBB names, and Roblox refuses symbols in both of its names, which is why Roblox names are made of letters.
Two things can change a symbol after you paste it. A box means the reader’s device has no font for that character — Unicode calls it a missing glyph, or “tofu” — so for a name that must look the same on older phones, stay with the first group. And some symbols, such as ♥ or ☀, come in two looks: an invisible character after them asks for the text style (U+FE0E) or the colour emoji (U+FE0F). Everything in the third group carries the text-style one, which keeps it in your text colour in most apps. To restyle the letters of the name itself, use the fancy text generator.
Questions
Can I put symbols in my Instagram or TikTok username?
No. The @username is an address and takes only letters, numbers, periods and underscores — TikTok spells this out, and Instagram’s help mentions the same three extras. Put symbols in your name instead: TikTok’s name holds up to 30 characters.
Why does a symbol show up as a box?
The device showing it has no font for that character, so it draws an empty box in its place — Unicode calls this “tofu”. This page hides what your own device can’t draw, but someone on an older phone may still see a box. The first group is the safest for a name others have to read.
Why does my symbol turn into a coloured emoji on iPhone?
Some characters, like ♥ ☀ ☠, have both a text and an emoji look, and an invisible variation selector after them picks one: U+FE0E for text, U+FE0F for emoji. Copy the version from the third group, which carries the text selector. If an app still shows colour, use a symbol from the first group — those have no emoji look at all.
Why was my name or bio cut off?
It went over the limit: 150 characters in an Instagram bio, 80 in a TikTok bio by TikTok’s help, 190 in a Discord About Me, 30 in a TikTok name, 25 in a WhatsApp name. Symbols like 𐙚 or ୨୧ look like one character but often count as two, so drop one and try again.
Why won’t Free Fire, Mobile Legends or Roblox take my symbols?
Games check names their own way, and Garena and Moonton publish no list of allowed characters, so a symbol that works in one game is refused in another. Roblox goes further and refuses every symbol in usernames and display names. Remove symbols one at a time until the name goes through.