Three-Per-Em Space is one third of an em - three of them fit in the width of a single EM Space. Traditional typesetters called it a thick space, and it was the standard gap between words in hand-set metal type.
Click the button above to copy Three-Per-Em 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+2004 |
|---|---|
| Character name | Three-Per-Em Space |
| Unicode category | Zs (Space Separator) |
| Rendered width | Exactly 1/3 em |
| Line breaking | Breaking - a line can wrap here |
| Collapses in HTML | No |
| Survives trim() | Usually yes |
| HTML entity | |
| JavaScript escape | '\u2004' |
| CSS escape | \2004 |
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+2004 THREE-PER-EM SPACE belongs to the family of fractional-em spaces that let typesetters tune spacing in precise, font-independent steps. At one third of an em it sits between the wider EN Space and the narrower Four-Per-Em Space, and in 16px text it renders about 5.3px wide.
In traditional typography this was simply the word space - the default gap a compositor placed between words before justification adjusted it. Today it is used where you want a modest, exact gap that is wider than a hair space but less assertive than a half-em.
The same character can be preserved in one place and silently removed in another. Here is what actually happens to Three-Per-Em Space in the three contexts that matter most.
Does not collapse and is not stretched by justification, so the third-em width holds exactly.
Usually survives trimming, as it is not ASCII whitespace.
Generally preserved, and produces a small but visible gap. Too narrow to be useful for spacing out a display name, too wide to look invisible.
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.
Precise typographic word spacing. It is a design tool rather than a blank-text character.
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 Three-Per-Em 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 Three-Per-Em Space is not right for your use case, one of these probably is.
| Character | Unicode | Width |
|---|---|---|
| Four-Per-Em Space | U+2005 | Exactly 1/4 em |
| Six-Per-Em Space | U+2006 | Exactly 1/6 em |
| Figure Space | U+2007 | Exactly the width of a digit in the current font |
| Punctuation Space | U+2008 | Exactly the width of a period in the current font |
| Thin Space | U+2009 | About 1/5 em, though the exact width is left to the font |
| 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 |
See all 18 Unicode space and invisible characters compared →
Exactly one third of an em, so three of them equal one EM Space. In 16px text that is about 5.3px.
That was its name in metal typesetting, where it was the standard space between words. Relative to the thinner spaces in a compositor's case it was indeed the thick one.
When you need the width to be exact and font-independent. A regular space varies by typeface and stretches during justification; a Three-Per-Em Space is always one third of the font size.
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