Entering Unicode characters in Google Chrome?

I would like sometimes to enter Unicode characters such as a right arrow (→).

Currently, the only way I know is to use the Unicode Input application, but it's about as cumbersome as the Windows Character Map utility.

How can I type Unicode characters directly through the keyboard instead?

Solution 1:

By the way if using Linux, one can use Ctrl+Shift+U then enter the unicode character code. See Wikipedia Alt code. It Also Works On Chrome os

Solution 2:

The Alt + method (e.g., Alt + 2192) is a bit more comfortable, but it may well require a change to Windows registry.

If you frequently need to enter some special characters like arrows, you could use MSKLC to set up a keyboard layout where they can be typed directly and just switch to that layout (perhaps with a simple Ctrl 2 or something like that) when needed. Unfortunately, the most natural choice, the arrow keys, cannot be used there, but you can assign any meanings (in terms of Unicode characters) to normal keys.

Solution 3:

You can use Alt codes - hold down the Alt key and type in a number on the numpad (assuming your keyboard has one). For instance, to get the → symbol, you'd hold down Alt and type 26.

For more information and a list of all possible codes, see here: http://alt-codes.org/