What UNICHAR does
UNICHAR turns a Unicode number into a text character. Use it to put a symbol in a formula or identify a specific character for replacement, such as a nonbreaking space in imported text.
Unicode assigns each character a code point—a number that identifies it. Unlike CHAR, which uses your computer's character set, UNICHAR uses Unicode numbers. This avoids the Windows-versus-Mac character-set difference when you need a particular character.
Practical examples
Return a letter or symbol from its number
Enter this formula in an empty cell:
=UNICHAR(65)The result is A. To return the Greek capital letter omega, use:
=UNICHAR(937)The result is Ω. Both results are text, even though the argument is a number.
Add a check mark to a label
To build a label with a check mark followed by the word Done, enter:
=UNICHAR(10003)&" Done"The result is ✓ Done. For a heavier check mark, =UNICHAR(10004) returns ✔. These are text symbols, not clickable checkboxes; see inserting check marks in Excel for other methods.
Replace a nonbreaking space before trimming a key
A nonbreaking space can look like an ordinary space while preventing a text match. To create a reproducible example, enter this in A2:
=" "&"A-104"&UNICHAR(160)A2 contains an ordinary leading space, A-104, and a trailing nonbreaking space (U+00A0). UNICHAR(160) supplies that final character explicitly.
In B2, enter:
=TRIM(SUBSTITUTE(A2,UNICHAR(160)," "))The result is A-104, with no leading or trailing spaces. SUBSTITUTE changes the nonbreaking space to an ordinary space; TRIM then removes the spaces at both ends. TRIM alone leaves the nonbreaking space behind, as Microsoft's TRIM documentation explains.
Use this repair when those spaces are unwanted. It targets U+00A0; it does not remove every invisible character. The VLOOKUP text troubleshooting guide shows how to clean both lookup keys and source data.
Common mistakes and notes
Use decimal numbers, not hexadecimal labels
Unicode charts often show hexadecimal codes such as U+2713 for ✓. UNICHAR needs the decimal value 10003. Entering 2713 requests a different character.
Zero and invalid codes return errors
=UNICHAR(0) returns #VALUE!, as do numeric values outside the allowed range. Microsoft documents #N/A for partial surrogate codes—an incomplete part of a Unicode encoding—and invalid data types.
Character codes and fonts do different jobs
UNICHAR selects the character; the cell's font determines how it appears. Use a font that includes the symbol. A check mark returned by UNICHAR does not require Wingdings.
CHAR(160) is not a portable substitute
Microsoft's CHAR documentation distinguishes Windows and Macintosh character sets. Use UNICHAR(160) when you specifically need Unicode's nonbreaking space rather than assuming CHAR(160) produces it on every platform.