Where bubble letters come from
Bubble letters are enclosed characters from Unicode: letters and numbers drawn inside a circle, a square or brackets. They were added so things like list markers and labels could be typed, which is why they paste into any app that takes text.
White bubbles cover A to Z, a to z and 0 to 20. Black bubbles and squares only exist for capital letters, so those styles show your text in capitals.
Picking a style
Each style has a different weight:
- Bubble (Ⓗⓘ): the lightest look, and the only one with small letters.
- Black bubble (🅗🅘): bold and easy to spot, capitals and digits.
- Square (🄷🄸) and black square (🅷🅸): a boxy, sign-like look.
- In brackets (⒣⒤): small letters and the numbers 1 to 9.
Why some squares turn into emoji
The black squares for A, B, O and P are also emoji (🅰 🅱 🅾 🅿, used for blood types). Many phones draw those four in colour, so a word in black squares can look uneven. If that bothers you, use black bubbles instead.
Using bubble text well
Bubble letters stand out, so keep them for one short word: a name, a label like “ⓃⒺⓌ”, or a tag in a highlight title. Whole sentences are slow to read and look cluttered on a phone.
Screen readers read each bubble as “circled letter”, and search won't find bubble text as normal words. Keep your name and keywords in plain letters too.
Frequently asked questions
How do I type bubble letters?
Phone keyboards don't have them. Type your text here, copy the bubble version and paste it where you need it.
Why are my small letters turned into capitals?
Black bubbles and both kinds of square only exist for capital letters in Unicode. The white bubble style is the one with small letters.
Do bubble letters work on Instagram and TikTok?
Yes, in your display name, bio, captions and comments. Usernames only allow plain letters, numbers, underscores and full stops.
Why do some letters show in colour?
The black squares for A, B, O and P are emoji as well as letters, so most phones draw them in red with white letters.