What does ⬅️ Left Arrow mean?
An arrow pointing left, west on the compass. It often means “back”: the previous message, the last step, or the way you came. People also use it to point at someone in a group photo, or to say “this one” beside an option in a list. As a key name it stands for Left in gaming and keyboard-shortcut instructions.
⬅️ Left Arrow is an emoji from the Symbols category (arrows), added in Emoji 0.6 in 2010. People use it in messages about cardinal, direction and west.
Example messages
⬅️ Left Arrow on Apple, Google, Microsoft & more
The code is the same everywhere, but every company draws its own artwork. This is how Left Arrow looks on each platform.
More arrows emojis
See all 21 →Left Arrow emoji: questions & answers
How do I copy and paste the Left Arrow emoji?
Press the Copy button at the top of this page and ⬅️ is copied to your clipboard. Then paste it anywhere with Ctrl+V, Cmd+V or a long press on your phone. In Slack, Discord and GitHub you can also type the shortcode :arrow_left:.
When was the Left Arrow emoji added?
⬅️ Left Arrow was added in Emoji 0.6, released in 2010. It is supported on all current versions of iOS, Android, Windows and macOS.
Why does ⬅️ look different on my phone?
Every platform draws its own artwork for Left Arrow. The underlying code (U+2B05 U+FE0F) is the same everywhere, so the person you send it to always gets the same emoji, just in their device’s style. Compare the designs in the platform section above.