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Left Right arrow ↔ in Outlook, Excel, PowerPoint and Word

31 August 2020

Type the Left Right arrow ↔ into Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint or Outlook. Both in Office for Windows and Office for Mac.

How Left Right arrow ↔ looks in different fonts.

Here’s some examples of how Left Right arrow ↔ looks in common Office fonts.

Left Right arrow ↔ codes

These are the important code numbers or values you’ll need to enter the Left Right arrow or ↔

Decimal: 8596 Hex: 2194

Web:  &#8596; or &#x2194;

(web codes aren’t used in Microsoft Office, we’ve included them for the sake of completeness.)

Word and Outlook

The Left Right arrow ↔ sign does NOT have an inbuilt shortcut in Word.

Use the standard Word Alt + X symbol shortcut 2194 + Alt + X

Once in a document you can copy it to AutoCorrect and make your own shortcut.

Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook

Insert | Symbols | Symbol and look for the Left Right arrow symbol.

As you can see, there are other useful arrow symbols around the same Unicode area.

Windows

In Windows there are several shortcuts to enter the Left Right arrow ↔ character into any program, but they use a numeric keypad, not the number row above the letters.

Alt + 8596

Windows Character Map

The Windows Character Map accessory in all Windows releases

Character Map has a search feature, something missing from the Insert | Symbol in Office.

MacOS and Office for Mac inserting characters

On a Mac, to enter the Left Right arrow ↔ symbol:

Command + Control + Spacebar shortcut to open the Character Viewer.
Choose ‘Arrows’ from the left list then scroll down to the section ‘Leftwards Rightwards Arrows’.

Despite the name Character Viewer, the Apple system tool will also insert characters into any program, including Office for Mac.

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