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Format Characters

Category: Cf
170 matching code points Major Class: Other (C)

An invisible control character that controls text layout, bidirectional formatting, cursive joining, or boundary detection (e.g., ZWJ, ZWNJ, LRM, RLM, BOM).

Related Other Subcategories
Parent Category: Other (C) ↑
Cc Control Cf Format Cs Surrogate Co Private Use Cn Unassigned
Code Point Label / Abbr Character Name Block Action
U+00AD SHY SOFT HYPHEN Latin-1 Supplement
U+0600 ARABIC NUMBER SIGN Arabic
U+0601 ARABIC SIGN SANAH Arabic
U+0602 ARABIC FOOTNOTE MARKER Arabic
U+0603 ARABIC SIGN SAFHA Arabic
U+0604 ARABIC SIGN SAMVAT Arabic
U+0605 ARABIC NUMBER MARK ABOVE Arabic
U+061C ARABIC LETTER MARK Arabic
U+06DD ARABIC END OF AYAH Arabic
U+070F SYRIAC ABBREVIATION MARK Syriac
U+0890 ARABIC POUND MARK ABOVE Arabic Extended-B
U+0891 ARABIC PIASTRE MARK ABOVE Arabic Extended-B
U+08E2 ARABIC DISPUTED END OF AYAH Arabic Extended-A
U+180E MONGOLIAN VOWEL SEPARATOR Mongolian
U+200B ZERO WIDTH SPACE General Punctuation
U+200C ZERO WIDTH NON-JOINER General Punctuation
U+200D ZERO WIDTH JOINER General Punctuation
U+200E LEFT-TO-RIGHT MARK General Punctuation
U+200F RIGHT-TO-LEFT MARK General Punctuation
U+202A LEFT-TO-RIGHT EMBEDDING General Punctuation
U+202B RIGHT-TO-LEFT EMBEDDING General Punctuation
U+202C POP DIRECTIONAL FORMATTING General Punctuation
U+202D LEFT-TO-RIGHT OVERRIDE General Punctuation
U+202E RIGHT-TO-LEFT OVERRIDE General Punctuation
U+2060 WORD JOINER General Punctuation
U+2061 FUNCTION APPLICATION General Punctuation
U+2062 INVISIBLE TIMES General Punctuation
U+2063 INVISIBLE SEPARATOR General Punctuation
U+2064 INVISIBLE PLUS General Punctuation
U+2066 LEFT-TO-RIGHT ISOLATE General Punctuation
U+2067 RIGHT-TO-LEFT ISOLATE General Punctuation
U+2068 FIRST STRONG ISOLATE General Punctuation
U+2069 POP DIRECTIONAL ISOLATE General Punctuation
U+206A INHIBIT SYMMETRIC SWAPPING General Punctuation
U+206B ACTIVATE SYMMETRIC SWAPPING General Punctuation
U+206C INHIBIT ARABIC FORM SHAPING General Punctuation
U+206D ACTIVATE ARABIC FORM SHAPING General Punctuation
U+206E NATIONAL DIGIT SHAPES General Punctuation
U+206F NOMINAL DIGIT SHAPES General Punctuation
U+FEFF ZERO WIDTH NO-BREAK SPACE Arabic Presentation Forms-B
U+FFF9 INTERLINEAR ANNOTATION ANCHOR Specials
U+FFFA INTERLINEAR ANNOTATION SEPARATOR Specials
U+FFFB INTERLINEAR ANNOTATION TERMINATOR Specials
U+110BD KAITHI NUMBER SIGN Kaithi
U+110CD KAITHI NUMBER SIGN ABOVE Kaithi
U+13430 EGYPTIAN HIEROGLYPH VERTICAL JOINER Egyptian Hieroglyph Format Controls
U+13431 EGYPTIAN HIEROGLYPH HORIZONTAL JOINER Egyptian Hieroglyph Format Controls
U+13432 EGYPTIAN HIEROGLYPH INSERT AT TOP START Egyptian Hieroglyph Format Controls
U+13433 EGYPTIAN HIEROGLYPH INSERT AT BOTTOM START Egyptian Hieroglyph Format Controls
U+13434 EGYPTIAN HIEROGLYPH INSERT AT TOP END Egyptian Hieroglyph Format Controls
U+13435 EGYPTIAN HIEROGLYPH INSERT AT BOTTOM END Egyptian Hieroglyph Format Controls
U+13436 EGYPTIAN HIEROGLYPH OVERLAY MIDDLE Egyptian Hieroglyph Format Controls
U+13437 EGYPTIAN HIEROGLYPH BEGIN SEGMENT Egyptian Hieroglyph Format Controls
U+13438 EGYPTIAN HIEROGLYPH END SEGMENT Egyptian Hieroglyph Format Controls
U+13439 EGYPTIAN HIEROGLYPH INSERT AT MIDDLE Egyptian Hieroglyph Format Controls
U+1343A EGYPTIAN HIEROGLYPH INSERT AT TOP Egyptian Hieroglyph Format Controls
U+1343B EGYPTIAN HIEROGLYPH INSERT AT BOTTOM Egyptian Hieroglyph Format Controls
U+1343C EGYPTIAN HIEROGLYPH BEGIN ENCLOSURE Egyptian Hieroglyph Format Controls
U+1343D EGYPTIAN HIEROGLYPH END ENCLOSURE Egyptian Hieroglyph Format Controls
U+1343E EGYPTIAN HIEROGLYPH BEGIN WALLED ENCLOSURE Egyptian Hieroglyph Format Controls
U+1343F EGYPTIAN HIEROGLYPH END WALLED ENCLOSURE Egyptian Hieroglyph Format Controls
U+1BCA0 SHORTHAND FORMAT LETTER OVERLAP Shorthand Format Controls
U+1BCA1 SHORTHAND FORMAT CONTINUING OVERLAP Shorthand Format Controls
U+1BCA2 SHORTHAND FORMAT DOWN STEP Shorthand Format Controls
U+1BCA3 SHORTHAND FORMAT UP STEP Shorthand Format Controls
U+1D173 MUSICAL SYMBOL BEGIN BEAM Musical Symbols
U+1D174 MUSICAL SYMBOL END BEAM Musical Symbols
U+1D175 MUSICAL SYMBOL BEGIN TIE Musical Symbols
U+1D176 MUSICAL SYMBOL END TIE Musical Symbols
U+1D177 MUSICAL SYMBOL BEGIN SLUR Musical Symbols
U+1D178 MUSICAL SYMBOL END SLUR Musical Symbols
U+1D179 MUSICAL SYMBOL BEGIN PHRASE Musical Symbols
U+1D17A MUSICAL SYMBOL END PHRASE Musical Symbols
U+E0001 LANGUAGE TAG Tags
U+E0020 TAG SPACE Tags
U+E0021 TAG EXCLAMATION MARK Tags
U+E0022 TAG QUOTATION MARK Tags
U+E0023 TAG NUMBER SIGN Tags
U+E0024 TAG DOLLAR SIGN Tags
U+E0025 TAG PERCENT SIGN Tags
U+E0026 TAG AMPERSAND Tags
U+E0027 TAG APOSTROPHE Tags
U+E0028 TAG LEFT PARENTHESIS Tags
U+E0029 TAG RIGHT PARENTHESIS Tags
U+E002A TAG ASTERISK Tags
U+E002B TAG PLUS SIGN Tags
U+E002C TAG COMMA Tags
U+E002D TAG HYPHEN-MINUS Tags
U+E002E TAG FULL STOP Tags
U+E002F TAG SOLIDUS Tags
U+E0030 TAG DIGIT ZERO Tags
U+E0031 TAG DIGIT ONE Tags
U+E0032 TAG DIGIT TWO Tags
U+E0033 TAG DIGIT THREE Tags
U+E0034 TAG DIGIT FOUR Tags
U+E0035 TAG DIGIT FIVE Tags
U+E0036 TAG DIGIT SIX Tags
U+E0037 TAG DIGIT SEVEN Tags
U+E0038 TAG DIGIT EIGHT Tags
U+E0039 TAG DIGIT NINE Tags

Unicode Block Distribution

Format characters are distributed across 14 Unicode blocks.

Tags 97
Explore block → 57.1%
General Punctuation 25
Explore block → 14.7%
Egyptian Hieroglyph Format Controls 16
Explore block → 9.4%
Arabic 8
Explore block → 4.7%
Musical Symbols 8
Explore block → 4.7%
Shorthand Format Controls 4
Explore block → 2.4%
Specials 3
Explore block → 1.8%
Arabic Extended-B 2
Explore block → 1.2%
Kaithi 2
Explore block → 1.2%
Latin-1 Supplement 1
Explore block → 0.6%
Syriac 1
Explore block → 0.6%
Arabic Extended-A 1
Explore block → 0.6%
Mongolian 1
Explore block → 0.6%
Arabic Presentation Forms-B 1
Explore block → 0.6%

Script & Writing System Distribution

Format characters span 7 writing systems.

Common 140
Explore script → 82.4%
Egyptian_Hieroglyphs 16
Explore script → 9.4%
Arabic 8
Explore script → 4.7%
Inherited 2
Explore script → 1.2%
Kaithi 2
Explore script → 1.2%
Syriac 1
Explore script → 0.6%
Mongolian 1
Explore script → 0.6%

Technical Classification & Regex Reference

Normative Classification Semantics

In the Unicode Character Database, General_Category is the primary normative classification assigned to every code point. As noted in Unicode Standard Annex #44, this property reflects a character’s primary linguistic or functional usage, but does not capture every contextual use in real-world typography.

Regular Expression Matching

In modern regular expression engines (PCRE, Python, ECMAScript, Java, Rust, .NET), match characters belonging to this category with:

\p{Cf} // Matches any Format
Standards Provenance: Property data derived from the official Unicode Character Database (General_Category (Cf)), Unicode Standard Version 18.0.
Data Sources Unicode Consortium UAX #44 ↗
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