Inverted Exclamation Mark
U+00A1Latin-1 Supplement
Also known as upside-down exclamation markopening exclamation markSpanish exclamation mark
Copy and paste ¡. The Inverted Exclamation Mark character has Unicode code point U+00A1 and decimal HTML code ¡.
Symbol codes
- Unicode
U+00A1- Alt Code
Alt+0161- HTML Code
¡- CSS Code
\A1- HTML Entity
¡- HEX Code
¡
Technical properties
Unicode 18.0.0
- Code point
- U+00A1
- Decimal
- 161
- Unicode name
- INVERTED EXCLAMATION MARK
- Block
- Latin-1 Supplement · U+0080–U+00FF
- General category
- Other Punctuation (Po)
- Script
- Common
- Introduced
- Unicode 1.1
- JavaScript
- "\u00A1"
Appears in
About Inverted Exclamation Mark
The inverted exclamation mark is opening punctuation placed at the start of an exclamation or exclamatory clause in Spanish.
¡ is encoded in Unicode as code point U+00A1 (decimal 161). Its official Unicode name is INVERTED EXCLAMATION MARK.
It belongs to the Latin-1 Supplement block (U+0080–U+00FF), its General Category is Other Punctuation (Po), and it was added in Unicode 1.1, released in 1993. Its script value is Common: it is shared across writing systems rather than belonging to one.
Common uses
- Opening an exclamation in Spanish
- Marking where an exclamatory clause begins inside a longer sentence
Examples
- Spanish exclamation
- ¡Qué sorpresa!
Sources: Unicode Character Database 18.0.0, the HTML Standard’s list of named character references, and Unicode’s code page mappings.
How to type or insert Inverted Exclamation Mark
- Any device
- Select Copy symbol, then paste with Ctrl+V, or ⌘+V on a Mac.
- Windows Alt code
- With Num Lock on, hold Alt, type 0161 on the numeric keypad, then release Alt.
- Microsoft Word
- Type
00A1, then press Alt+X. - Mac keyboard
- Option+1 on the U.S. keyboard layout.
- macOS Character Viewer
- Press Control+⌘+Space and search for “inverted exclamation mark”.
- iPhone keyboard
- On the numbers and symbols keyboard, touch and hold !, then slide to ¡.
- Linux (GTK and IBus)
- Press Ctrl+Shift+U, type
00a1, then press Space. - HTML
¡or¡. In a UTF-8 page you can also paste the character itself.- CSS
content: "\A1";in a::beforeor::afterrule.- JavaScript
"\u00A1"
Common questions about Inverted Exclamation Mark
What is the Inverted Exclamation Mark?
The inverted exclamation mark is opening punctuation placed at the start of an exclamation or exclamatory clause in Spanish. In Unicode it is U+00A1, officially named INVERTED EXCLAMATION MARK. It is also known as upside-down exclamation mark, opening exclamation mark, and Spanish exclamation mark.
When do you use ¡ in Spanish?
Spanish opens every exclamation with ¡ and closes it with !, as in ¡Qué sorpresa! When only part of a sentence is exclamatory, the ¡ goes where the exclamation starts: Llegaste tarde, ¡otra vez!
How do I copy and paste the Inverted Exclamation Mark?
Select Copy symbol at the top of this page, then paste with Ctrl+V on Windows and Linux or ⌘+V on a Mac. On a phone, tap Copy symbol, then touch and hold where you want it and choose Paste. ¡ pastes as ordinary text, so it works in documents, messages, and code.
How do I type the Inverted Exclamation Mark on Windows?
Turn on Num Lock, hold Alt, type 0161 on the numeric keypad, then release Alt. In Microsoft Word, type 00A1 and press Alt+X to turn the code into ¡. In any app, open Character Map from the Start menu, search for “inverted exclamation mark”, then select and copy the character.
How do I type the Inverted Exclamation Mark on a Mac?
Press Option+1 (U.S. keyboard layout). Press Control+⌘+Space to open the Character Viewer, search for “inverted exclamation mark”, and double-click the result to insert it.
How do I type the Inverted Exclamation Mark on an iPhone or Android phone?
On an iPhone, open the numbers and symbols keyboard, touch and hold !, then slide to ¡. The simplest way is to copy it from this page and paste it where you need it. If you use it often, save it as a text shortcut: on iPhone, go to Settings > General > Keyboard > Text Replacement; with Gboard on Android, go to Gboard settings > Dictionary > Personal dictionary.
Can I use the Inverted Exclamation Mark in Word, Google Docs, and social media?
Yes. ¡ is a standard Unicode character, so you can paste it into Microsoft Word, Google Docs, emails, and posts or bios on Instagram, X, Facebook, and TikTok. In Google Docs you can also choose Insert > Special characters and search for “inverted exclamation mark”. In Word, choose Insert > Symbol > More Symbols, set from to Unicode (hex), and enter 00A1 as the character code.
Is the Inverted Exclamation Mark an emoji?
No. ¡ is a text symbol, not an emoji. It takes the color and size of the surrounding text, and its exact shape depends on the font.
Why does the Inverted Exclamation Mark show as a box or question mark?
An empty box or a question mark means the font on that device has no glyph for ¡. The character is still there: it appears correctly wherever a font covers Unicode’s Latin-1 Supplement block, and free font families such as Google Noto cover nearly all of Unicode.
What are the HTML and CSS codes for the Inverted Exclamation Mark?
In HTML, write ¡ (decimal) or ¡ (hexadecimal), or the named entity ¡. In CSS, use content: "\A1"; in a ::before or ::after rule, and in JavaScript "\u00A1". See all HTML codes.