←
← Left Arrow
The left arrow (←) points backwards — used for “back”, for assignment in pseudocode, and as the reverse of →.
Also known as: left arrow, arrow pointing left, leftwards arrow, back arrow symbol.
Codes
| Symbol | ← | |
| Unicode | U+2190 | |
| HTML entity (named) | ← | |
| HTML entity (decimal) | ← | |
| HTML entity (hex) | ← | |
| CSS | \2190 | |
| LaTeX | \leftarrow | |
| Windows Alt code | Alt + 27 |
How to type ← (Left Arrow)
WindowsAlt + 27
Hold Alt and type 27 on the numeric keypad, then release Alt (or type 2190 then Alt + X in Word).
Mac
No default keystroke. Open Character Viewer (Control + Cmd + Space) and search “leftwards arrow”, or copy ← above.
Microsoft Word2190, Alt + X
Type 2190, then press Alt + X to convert it to ←. (Typing <-- and a space also autocorrects to a long left arrow.)
Google Docs
Insert → Special characters, then search “leftwards arrow”.
LaTeX\leftarrow
Use \leftarrow in math mode. \gets is a synonym that reads better for assignment, and \Leftarrow gives the double arrow ⇐.
Usage
- ← marks a back or previous step in interfaces and diagrams, and is the reverse of → (U+2192).
- In pseudocode, ← is the assignment arrow: x ← x + 1 means “set x to x plus 1”, avoiding the ambiguity of = between assignment and equality.
- Which arrow do you want? ← (U+2190) is the plain arrow. ⇐ (U+21D0) is the double arrow, meaning “is implied by” in logic — a different claim from ←, not a decorative variant. ⟵ (U+27F5) is simply a longer version for typesetting.
- The Alt code sits in the low range: ↑ is Alt + 24, ↓ is Alt + 25, → is Alt + 26 and ← is Alt + 27 — a legacy of the original IBM PC character set.