Keyboard symbol · Loops or a circle

⎋ Escape key symbol

Our drawing, not Apple’s or Microsoft’s artwork.

⎋ is the Escape key, printed as Esc on most keyboards. It cancels or closes; in shortcuts it takes part in force quit on a Mac and Task Manager on Windows.

The symbol: ⎋
Name on a Mac: Esc (Escape)
Name on a Windows PC: Esc
Unicode: U+238B BROKEN CIRCLE WITH NORTHWEST ARROW
In HTML: ⎋
Where the key is: Top-left corner of the keyboard.

What Apple says

Esc (Escape) ⎋ Apple Support, Mac keyboard shortcuts, list of modifier-key symbols under Using keyboard shortcuts
Option-Command-Esc Force quit an app. Apple Support, Mac keyboard shortcuts, Option-Command-Esc

On a Windows PC

Ctrl+Shift+Esc Open Task Manager. Microsoft Support, Keyboard shortcuts in Windows, Desktop and other general Windows keyboard shortcuts
Ctrl+Esc Open the Start menu. Microsoft Support, Keyboard shortcuts in Windows, Desktop and other general Windows keyboard shortcuts

The character: U+238B BROKEN CIRCLE WITH NORTHWEST ARROW

To type or paste it anywhere, copy this: ⎋. It is U+238B in Unicode, named BROKEN CIRCLE WITH NORTHWEST ARROW, shown in the code chart Unicode Consortium, Code chart: Miscellaneous Technical, U+2300 to U+23FF, U+238B

The Unicode names list annotates this character: escape. Unicode Consortium, NamesList.txt, The Unicode Standard 18.0.0 (character names and annotations), U+238B

In the ISO keyboard standard

The Unicode names list places ⎋ in its block of keyboard symbols from ISO/IEC 9995-7, so this is the standard’s own drawing for Escape. Unicode Consortium, NamesList.txt, The Unicode Standard 18.0.0 (character names and annotations), block headers “Keyboard symbols from ISO/IEC 9995-7” and annotations

The standard itself: ISO/IEC (catalogue entry), ISO/IEC 9995-7:2009 Information technology — Keyboard layouts for text and office systems — Part 7: Symbols used to represent functions, catalogue entry

Other symbols of the same shape

⌘ CommandU+2318 🌐 Fn / GlobeU+1F310

More keyboard symbols

⌥ OptionU+2325 ⌃ ControlU+2303 ⇧ ShiftU+21E7 ⇪ Caps LockU+21EA ⇥ TabU+21E5 ⌫ Delete (Backspace)U+232B ⌦ Forward DeleteU+2326 ⏎ ReturnU+23CE ⏏ EjectU+23CF ⇞ Page UpU+21DE ⇟ Page DownU+21DF ⇱ HomeU+21F1 ⇲ EndU+21F2

Sources

Each line in quotation marks is copied from the page named, read on the date shown. Unicode names and code points are copied from the Unicode names list and code charts.

Microsoft Support: Keyboard shortcuts in Windows (applies to Windows 11 and Windows 10). Used here: Desktop and other general Windows keyboard shortcuts. support.microsoft.com Checked 2026-09-29.
Unicode Consortium: NamesList.txt, The Unicode Standard 18.0.0 (character names and annotations) (Unicode 18.0.0). Used here: U+238B; block headers “Keyboard symbols from ISO/IEC 9995-7” and annotations. www.unicode.org Checked 2026-09-29.
ISO/IEC (catalogue entry): ISO/IEC 9995-7:2009 Information technology — Keyboard layouts for text and office systems — Part 7: Symbols used to represent functions (2009, with Amendment 1 of 2012). Used here: catalogue entry. www.iso.org Checked 2026-09-29.
Apple Support: Mac keyboard shortcuts (published September 14, 2026). Used here: list of modifier-key symbols under Using keyboard shortcuts; Option-Command-Esc. support.apple.com Checked 2026-09-29.
Unicode Consortium: Code chart: Miscellaneous Technical, U+2300 to U+23FF (Unicode 18.0.0 charts). Used here: U+238B. www.unicode.org Checked 2026-09-29.