Complete ASCII Character Table & Reference

All 256 ASCII characters (0-255) with codes, names, and copy functionality. Includes control characters, letters, numbers, symbols, and extended ASCII.

Showing 256 ASCII characters

ETX
End of Text
#3
control
ENQ
Enquiry
#5
control
BEL
Bell
#7
control
BS
Backspace
#8
control
LF
Line feed
#10
control
FF
Form feed
#12
control
SO
Shift Out
#14
control
SI
Shift In
#15
control
CAN
Cancel
#24
control
SUB
Substitute
#26
control
ESC
Escape
#27
control
!
Exclamation mark
#33
punctuation
"
Double quotes
#34
punctuation
#
Hash symbol
#35
symbols
$
Dollar symbol
#36
currency
%
Percent sign
#37
symbols
&
Ampersand
#38
symbols
'
Single quote
#39
punctuation
*
Asterisk
#42
symbols
,
Comma
#44
punctuation
-
Hyphen
#45
punctuation
.
Period Dot
#46
punctuation
0
Number 0
#48
numbers
1
Number 1
#49
numbers
2
Number 2
#50
numbers
3
Number 3
#51
numbers
4
Number 4
#52
numbers
5
Number 5
#53
numbers
6
Number 6
#54
numbers
7
Number 7
#55
numbers
8
Number 8
#56
numbers
9
Number 9
#57
numbers
:
Colon
#58
punctuation
;
Semicolon
#59
punctuation
?
Question mark
#63
punctuation
@
At symbol
#64
symbols
\
Backslash
#92
symbols
_
Underscore
#95
symbols
`
Grave accent
#96
symbols
~
Tilde
#126
symbols
DEL
Delete
#127
control
¢
Cent Sign
#162
currency
£
Pound Sign
#163
currency
¥
Yen Sign
#165
currency
¦
Broken Bar
#166
symbols
¨
Diaeresis
#168
symbols
¬
Not Sign
#172
symbols
¯
Macron
#175
symbols
µ
Micro Sign
#181
symbols
¸
Cedilla
#184
symbols

How to Type ASCII Characters using your keyboard

Mac Methods

Character Viewer
Press Control + Command + Space
Browse and insert special characters
Option key combinations
Hold Option + letter key for accented characters
Example: Option + e, then e = é
Unicode hex input
Enable in System Preferences → Keyboard → Input Sources
Hold Option and type hex code

Windows Methods

Alt codes
Hold Alt and type decimal code on numeric keypad
Example: Alt + 176 = ° (must use numeric keypad)
Character Map
Search "Character Map" in Start menu
Find and select your character, then copy and paste
Symbol panel
Press Win + ; to open emoji/symbol panel
Click the Ω symbol tab for special characters

💡 Pro tip: Click any character to copy it instantly to your clipboard!

Brief History of ASCII

ASCII (American Standard Code for Information Interchange) revolutionized digital communication when it was first published as a standard in 1963. Developed by the American Standards Association, ASCII created a universal language for computers to represent text characters using just 7 bits, encoding 128 unique characters including letters, numbers, punctuation, and control characters.

The original ASCII standard (codes 0-127) included 95 printable characters and 33 control characters. This foundation enabled the first standardized text communication between different computer systems, making ASCII the backbone of early internet protocols, email systems, and programming languages.

The IBM PC Revolution (1981)

A pivotal moment came in 1981 when IBM released the original PC with Code Page 437 - the first widely-adopted 8-bit character encoding. This system extended ASCII to 256 characters (codes 0-255), adding international characters (á, ñ, ü), box-drawing characters (─, │, ┌, └), mathematical symbols (±, ÷, ≡), and legal symbols (©, ®).

Fun Fact: The box-drawing characters you see in ASCII art (like └─┘) were originally designed for creating text-based user interfaces before graphical operating systems existed!

Unicode vs Classic ASCII Numbering

While Unicode (introduced in 1991) has largely replaced ASCII for international text processing, many ASCII art tools still use the classic IBM Code Page 437 numbering:

Unicode Standard
© Copyright: U+00A9 (169)
® Registered: U+00AE (174)
Modern web, mobile apps
IBM CP437 (Our System)
© Copyright: Code 184
® Registered: Code 169
Retro computing, ASCII art

Why ASCII Characters Matter Today

Despite being over 60 years old, ASCII characters continue to play a crucial role in modern digital communication:

Programming and web development
ASCII art and text-based graphics
System administration interfaces
Social media bio symbols
Email signatures and terminal art
Retro computing and digital art

From Discord text art to Instagram bio symbols, these timeless characters bridge the gap between simplicity and expression in our increasingly complex digital world. Whether you're using Unicode decimal codes or the classic IBM character positions, you're participating in a 60-year tradition of digital creativity.

ASCII Character Categories Explained

Control Characters (0-31, 127)
Non-printable characters used for text control and formatting
Standard ASCII (32-126)
Letters, numbers, punctuation, and basic symbols
Extended ASCII (128-255)
International characters, graphics, and special symbols
Graphics Characters
Box drawing, blocks, shades for creating ASCII art
Mathematical Symbols
Math operators, fractions, superscripts, and equations
International Characters
Accented letters, currency symbols, and diacritical marks
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