Ligature Generator

Type a line and copy it with ff, fi, fl and st joined, or take a pasted line apart.

Ligature Generator

Your text type or paste plain text

Sample below. Your text takes its place.

Direction: Plain text to Ligature text

Sample Everyday joins

oﬃce ﬆaﬀ ﬂy oﬀ to ﬁnd a good ﬂat

Same text, other sets

Every pair Unicode has oﬃce ﬆaﬀ ﬂy oﬀ to ﬁnd a gꝏd ﬂatStayed as typed: o c e a y t n d and 1 more. The table has no entry for them.

More options

Check it fits: limit characters

Letter for letter, from the table under the tool. A character with no entry stays exactly as you typed it. The way back says when two letters share one code.

Next step See the line in many Unicode alphabets Go medieval with blackletter

All 72 joins

Everyday joins: ff, fi, fl, ffi, ffl and st 18

All capitals: FF stays apart Kept as typed. Unicode has no ff ligature with a capital in it, so these letters stay apart.
All capitals: FFI stays apart Kept as typed. Unicode has no ffi ligature with a capital in it, so these letters stay apart.
All capitals: FFL stays apart Kept as typed. Unicode has no ffl ligature with a capital in it, so these letters stay apart.
All capitals: FI stays apart Kept as typed. Unicode has no fi ligature with a capital in it, so these letters stay apart.
All capitals: FL stays apart Kept as typed. Unicode has no fl ligature with a capital in it, so these letters stay apart.
All capitals: ST stays apart Kept as typed. Unicode has no st ligature with a capital in it, so these letters stay apart.
Ff stays Ff Kept as typed. Unicode has no ff ligature with a capital in it, so these letters stay apart.
Ffi stays Ffi Kept as typed. Unicode has no ffi ligature with a capital in it, so these letters stay apart.

Show all 72 joins (64 more)

Everyday joins: ff, fi, fl, ffi, ffl and st, continued

Ffl stays Ffl Kept as typed. Unicode has no ffl ligature with a capital in it, so these letters stay apart.
Fi stays Fi Kept as typed. Unicode has no fi ligature with a capital in it, so these letters stay apart.
Fl stays Fl Kept as typed. Unicode has no fl ligature with a capital in it, so these letters stay apart.
Latin small ligature ff U+FB00. Two f joined at the crossbar. Small letters only. Unicode gives it a compatibility decomposition, so software can fold it back to f and f. Written for "ff".
Latin small ligature ffi U+FB03. Three letters in one character: two f and an i. Small letters only. Unicode gives it a compatibility decomposition, so software can fold it back to f and f and i. Written for "ffi".
Latin small ligature ffl U+FB04. Three letters in one character: two f and an l. Small letters only. Unicode gives it a compatibility decomposition, so software can fold it back to f and f and l. Written for "ffl".
Latin small ligature fi U+FB01. The best-known ligature. In many typefaces the dot of the i collides with the hood of the f, so the pair is drawn as one shape. Small letters only. Unicode gives it a compatibility decomposition, so software can fold it back to f and i. Written for "fi".
Latin small ligature fl U+FB02. An f joined to the l after it. Small letters only. Unicode gives it a compatibility decomposition, so software can fold it back to f and l. Written for "fl".
Latin small ligature st U+FB06. An s tied to the t after it. Small letters only. Unicode gives it a compatibility decomposition, so software can fold it back to s and t. Written for "st".
St stays St Kept as typed. Unicode has no st ligature with a capital in it, so these letters stay apart.

Every other pair Unicode has 45

Latin capital letter aa U+A732. The capital form, for AA typed in capitals.
Latin capital letter aa, typed Aa U+A732. Aa at the start of a word takes the capital form too, since the pair has no form with one capital.
Latin capital letter ae U+00C6. The capital form, for AE typed in capitals.
Latin capital letter ae, typed Ae U+00C6. Ae at the start of a word takes the capital form too, since the pair has no form with one capital.
Latin capital letter ao U+A734. The capital form, for AO typed in capitals.
Latin capital letter ao, typed Ao U+A734. Ao at the start of a word takes the capital form too, since the pair has no form with one capital.
Latin capital letter au U+A736. The capital form, for AU typed in capitals.
Latin capital letter au, typed Au U+A736. Au at the start of a word takes the capital form too, since the pair has no form with one capital.
Latin capital letter av U+A738. The capital form, for AV typed in capitals.
Latin capital letter av, typed Av U+A738. Av at the start of a word takes the capital form too, since the pair has no form with one capital.
Latin capital letter ay U+A73C. The capital form, for AY typed in capitals.
Latin capital letter ay, typed Ay U+A73C. Ay at the start of a word takes the capital form too, since the pair has no form with one capital.
Latin capital letter d with small letter z U+01F2. The form for the start of a name: a capital D with a small z. Written for "Dz".
Latin capital letter dz U+01F1. The capital form, for DZ typed in capitals.
Latin capital letter l with small letter j U+01C8. The form for the start of a name: a capital L with a small j. Written for "Lj".
Latin capital letter lj U+01C7. The capital form, for LJ typed in capitals.
Latin capital letter Middle-Welsh ll U+1EFA. The capital form, for LL typed in capitals.
Latin capital letter Middle-Welsh ll, typed Ll U+1EFA. Ll at the start of a word takes the capital form too, since the pair has no form with one capital.
Latin capital letter n with small letter j U+01CB. The form for the start of a name: a capital N with a small j. Written for "Nj".
Latin capital letter nj U+01CA. The capital form, for NJ typed in capitals.
Latin capital letter oo U+A74E. The capital form, for OO typed in capitals.
Latin capital letter oo, typed Oo U+A74E. Oo at the start of a word takes the capital form too, since the pair has no form with one capital.
Latin capital letter tz U+A728. The capital form, for TZ typed in capitals.
Latin capital letter tz, typed Tz U+A728. Tz at the start of a word takes the capital form too, since the pair has no form with one capital.
Latin capital letter vy U+A760. The capital form, for VY typed in capitals.
Latin capital letter vy, typed Vy U+A760. Vy at the start of a word takes the capital form too, since the pair has no form with one capital.
Latin capital ligature ij U+0132. The capital form, for IJ typed in capitals.
Latin capital ligature ij, typed Ij U+0132. Ij at the start of a word takes the capital form too, since the pair has no form with one capital.
Latin capital ligature oe U+0152. The capital form, for OE typed in capitals.
Latin capital ligature oe, typed Oe U+0152. Oe at the start of a word takes the capital form too, since the pair has no form with one capital.
Latin small letter aa U+A733. One of Unicode's medievalist additions. In Unicode since version 5.1. Written for "aa".
Latin small letter ae U+00E6. A letter in its own right, also called ash. Unicode lists Danish, Norwegian, Icelandic, Faroese, Old English and French among its uses, and gives it no decomposition. In Unicode since version 1.1. Written for "ae".
Latin small letter ao U+A735. One of Unicode's medievalist additions. In Unicode since version 5.1. Written for "ao".
Latin small letter au U+A737. One of Unicode's medievalist additions. In Unicode since version 5.1. Written for "au".
Latin small letter av U+A739. One of Unicode's medievalist additions. In Unicode since version 5.1. Written for "av".
Latin small letter ay U+A73D. One of Unicode's medievalist additions. In Unicode since version 5.1. Written for "ay".
Latin small letter dz U+01F3. Unicode files it under phonetic and historic letters and folds it back to d and z. In Unicode since version 1.1. Written for "dz".
Latin small letter lj U+01C9. One of the Latin digraphs Unicode holds to match Serbian Cyrillic letters. It folds back to l and j. In Unicode since version 1.1. Written for "lj".
Latin small letter Middle-Welsh ll U+1EFB. One of Unicode's medievalist additions. Wikipedia records that it was used in medieval Welsh. In Unicode since version 5.1. Written for "ll".
Latin small letter nj U+01CC. One of the Latin digraphs Unicode holds to match Serbian Cyrillic letters. It folds back to n and j. In Unicode since version 1.1. Written for "nj".
Latin small letter oo U+A74F. One of Unicode's medievalist additions. Wikipedia records it writing a long o in medieval Nordic languages. In Unicode since version 5.1. Written for "oo".
Latin small letter tz U+A729. Unicode files it under Mayanist additions. In Unicode since version 5.1. Written for "tz".
Latin small letter vy U+A761. One of Unicode's medievalist additions. In Unicode since version 5.1. Written for "vy".
Latin small ligature ij U+0133. Unicode notes it for Dutch and folds it back to i and j. In Unicode since version 1.1. Written for "ij".
Latin small ligature oe U+0153. Also called ethel. Unicode lists French and Old English among its uses, and gives it no decomposition. In Unicode since version 1.1. Written for "oe".

Listed and never used 9

Ampersand U+0026. Unicode notes that it began as a ligature of e and t, the Latin word et. Swapping it in would turn two letters into the word and, so the page never does.
Latin small letter db digraph U+0238. A d and a b sharing one bowl. Unicode files it under additions for Africanist linguistics.
Latin small letter dz digraph U+02A3. A d and a z as one letter, from the IPA extensions. The page uses the digraph letter dz above and leaves this one to phonetic writing.
Latin small letter ls digraph U+02AA. An l and an s as one letter, from the IPA extensions.
Latin small letter lz digraph U+02AB. An l and a z as one letter, from the IPA extensions.
Latin small letter qp digraph U+0239. A q and a p sharing one bowl. Unicode files it under additions for Africanist linguistics.
Latin small letter sharp s U+00DF. The German Eszett. Unicode notes that its shape can be based on a ligature of long s with s or z. It is a letter of German spelling, so the page never swaps it in for ss.
Latin small letter ts digraph U+02A6. A t and an s as one letter, from the IPA extensions. A sign of phonetic writing, so the page leaves the ts of its and cats alone.
Latin small ligature long s t U+FB05. A long s joined to a t. Nobody types a long s today, so nothing here turns into it.

How this list was compiled: Every character, name, block, age and decomposition is from the Unicode Character Database, version 18.0.0 (https://www.unicode.org/Public/18.0.0/ucd/UnicodeData.txt, https://www.unicode.org/Public/18.0.0/ucd/Blocks.txt, https://www.unicode.org/Public/18.0.0/ucd/DerivedAge.txt), and the notes on what a character is for are from https://www.unicode.org/Public/18.0.0/ucd/NamesList.txt; each was checked against those files. Everyday joins holds the six Latin ligatures of the block Alphabetic Presentation Forms that can be typed today, each with rows that keep a capital F or S apart, because the ligatures are small letters only. Every pair Unicode has adds fifteen more pairs in small, capital and start-of-name forms. Nine characters are listed and never swapped in, because they would change a spelling or belong to phonetic writing. That the dot of the i collides with the hood of the f, that ꝏ served medieval Nordic languages and ỻ medieval Welsh, and that ligatures started to go out of use in the 20th century, are as recorded in https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ligature_(writing). All checked on 2026-09-30. Licence: own work (facts from the Unicode Character Database, Unicode License v3, and from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0, restated in this site's own words)

How it works

This ligature generator swaps pairs of letters for the one character Unicode has for them, so the f and i of find become ﬁ. It changes characters, not a typeface. Some apps strip or block these characters, and screen readers may read them badly.

Read the full guide

Everyday joins first

Everyday joins uses the six ligatures Unicode keeps from old printing: ff, fi, fl, ffi, ffl and st. They are small letters only, so a capital F stays apart. Every pair Unicode has adds æ, œ and ĳ, three digraph letters and nine medieval joins such as ꝏ for oo, which fewer fonts can draw.

Taking a line apart

Swap reads ligatures back into separate letters, which helps when pasted text will not search. Wikipedia records why ﬁ exists at all: in many typefaces the dot of the i collides with the hood of the f, so the two are combined into a single shape.

A search for find will not match ﬁnd, because the ligature is one character. Keep a plain copy of anything you need to search.
Unicode has no fj, ft or tt ligature, so fjord, aft and butter stay as typed.
The ampersand began as a joined e and t. It is listed and never swapped in, because it would change your spelling.

Questions and answers

Is this a ligature font?

No. A font with ligatures joins letters by itself as it draws them. This page swaps the letters for separate characters: the ﬁ you copy is U+FB01 Latin small ligature fi, in whatever font the reader has.

Which ligatures does Unicode have for English?

Seven, in the block Alphabetic Presentation Forms: ff, fi, fl, ffi, ffl and st, plus one for long s and t. Each has a compatibility decomposition, so software can fold it back into plain letters.

Why are ligatures rare now?

Wikipedia records that ligatures started to go out of use in the 20th century because of their complexity, that sans serif typefaces generally avoid them, and that early computer software had no way to substitute them.

Is æ a ligature or a letter?

In Unicode, a letter: U+00E6 Latin small letter ae, also called ash, with Danish, Norwegian, Icelandic and Old English among its uses. It has no decomposition, so nothing folds it back to a and e.