Ever needed to say "the squiggly line" or "that slashy thing" out loud? This is what every symbol on your keyboard is actually called, plus what each one is commonly used for, from the tilde (~) to the pipe (|).

📄 Download the printable keyboard symbols reference (PDF)

A one-page printable naming guide for keyboard symbols. → Download the keyboard symbols reference (PDF)

Keyboard symbol names

Symbol Name(s) Common use
~ Tilde Home directory, approximate, negation
``` Backtick / grave accent Code spans, shell
! Exclamation mark / bang Not, emphasis
@ At sign Email, mentions
# Hash / pound / octothorpe Tags, comments, headings
$ Dollar sign Currency, variables, line end (regex)
% Percent Percentage, modulo
^ Caret / circumflex Exponent, start (regex)
& Ampersand And
* Asterisk / star Multiply, wildcard, bold
( ) Parentheses / round brackets Grouping
- Hyphen / minus / dash Subtract, ranges
_ Underscore Spaces in names, italics
= Equals sign Assignment, equality
+ Plus sign Add
[ ] Square brackets Arrays, character sets
{ } Braces / curly brackets Blocks, objects
\ Backslash Escape, Windows paths
| Pipe / vertical bar Or, shell pipe, tables
; Semicolon Statement end
: Colon Key-value, ratios
' Apostrophe / single quote Strings, contractions
" Double quote Strings, quotations
, Comma Lists, separators
. Period / full stop / dot Sentence end, decimals, any char (regex)
/ Forward slash Divide, paths, dates
< > Angle brackets / chevrons Comparison, HTML tags
? Question mark Query, optional (regex)

Frequently asked questions

What is the ~ symbol called? The tilde. On computers it often means "home directory" (in Unix paths) or "approximately"; in some languages it marks negation.

What is the # symbol called? The hash, pound sign, or octothorpe. It is used for tags (hashtags), comments in many languages, and headings in Markdown.

What is the * symbol called? The asterisk or star. It means multiplication, acts as a wildcard in searches, and makes text bold in Markdown.

What is the | symbol called? The pipe or vertical bar. It means "or" in many contexts, pipes output between commands in a shell, and separates columns in Markdown tables.