Thin Space is the standard narrow space of professional typography. It is the gap that belongs between a number and its unit, inside a set of initials, and around the punctuation marks that French typesetting spaces out.
Click the button above to copy Thin Space, then paste it wherever you need it. Nothing will appear on your clipboard preview - that is expected, because the character is blank.
| Unicode code point | U+2009 |
|---|---|
| Character name | Thin Space |
| Unicode category | Zs (Space Separator) |
| Rendered width | About 1/5 em, though the exact width is left to the font |
| Line breaking | Breaking - a line can wrap here |
| Collapses in HTML | No |
| Survives trim() | Usually yes |
| HTML entity | |
| JavaScript escape | '\u2009' |
| CSS escape | \2009 |
Need these values in another format? The HTML space characters converter turns any Unicode whitespace character into HTML entities, JavaScript escapes and CSS escapes.
U+2009 THIN SPACE is conventionally about a fifth of an em, but unlike the per-em spaces its width is not fixed by a strict fraction - Unicode leaves the precise value to the font designer, and most draw it between a sixth and a fifth of an em.
It is the most widely used of the narrow spaces because it is the one style guides actually call for. Scientific writing uses it between a value and its unit; typographers use it inside initials so that J. R. R. does not sprawl; and it is common as a thousands separator where a comma would be ambiguous to an international audience.
The same character can be preserved in one place and silently removed in another. Here is what actually happens to Thin Space in the three contexts that matter most.
Does not collapse and is not stretched by justification.
Usually survives trimming, as it is not ASCII whitespace.
Generally preserved, but narrow enough that most readers will not consciously notice it.
Not sure what is in a string you already have? Paste it into the invisible character detector to see every hidden character with its code point, or use remove invisible characters to strip them out.
Professional typography - units, initials and number formatting. If the pair must never split across a line, use Narrow No-Break Space instead.
If what you actually need is text that looks completely empty - a blank WhatsApp message, an empty Instagram highlight name, a blank comment or a Free Fire name space - then Hangul Filler is the character to use, because it is not classified as whitespace and survives the trimming that removes Thin Space.
Different apps prefer different Unicode characters. Start with these combinations.
Best first choice: Hangul Filler (U+3164). Alternatives: Zero Width Space and No-Break Space.
Best first choice: Hangul Filler. Alternative for tighter formatting: Zero Width Space.
Start with Hangul Filler. If the game rejects it, try Space or No-Break Space.
Use No-Break Space for preventing line breaks, EN Space and EM Space for wider spacing, and Thin Space or Hair Space for finer adjustments. For code-ready values and conversion, see HTML Space Characters.
Width is the fastest way to choose between these characters. If Thin Space is not right for your use case, one of these probably is.
| Character | Unicode | Width |
|---|---|---|
| Hair Space | U+200A | The narrowest visible space - typically about 1/10 em or less |
| Narrow No-Break Space | U+202F | Narrow, similar to Thin Space |
| Medium Mathematical Space | U+205F | Exactly 4/18 em - two ninths of the font size |
| Hangul Filler | U+3164 | Renders blank; width varies by platform, often zero or narrow |
| Ideographic Space | U+3000 | Exactly 1 em - full-width, matching a CJK character |
| Left-To-Right Mark | U+200E | Zero - it is a formatting mark, not a space |
| Right-To-Left Mark | U+200F | Zero - it is a formatting mark, not a space |
| Space | U+0020 | Font-dependent, typically about 1/4 em |
| No-Break Space | U+00A0 | Same width as a regular space in the current font |
| Zero Width Space | U+200B | Zero - it occupies no horizontal space at all |
See all 18 Unicode space and invisible characters compared →
Around one fifth of an em, though Unicode does not fix the exact value. Most fonts draw it between a sixth and a fifth of the font size.
Yes - it is the standard recommendation in scientific and technical writing. Use a Narrow No-Break Space if you also need to guarantee the value and unit stay on the same line.
Hair Space is narrower. Thin Space is the practical working space of typography; Hair Space is the finest adjustment available, used to nudge characters apart by the smallest visible amount.
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