The line symbol most people want is ─, Box drawings light horizontal, U+2500: a straight line text symbol that joins up when repeated. The 60 rows add uprights, heavy and double lines, dashes, slants, dashed and wavy lines.
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Lines that join and lines that do not
The box-drawing lines ─ ━ ═ and │ ┃ ║ reach the edges of their cell, so ──── prints as one unbroken rule. The em dash and the horizontal bar stop short in many fonts and leave gaps. For a long rule, copy a ready-joined row from Straight across and paste it as often as you need.
| on the keyboard, ∣ the maths sign and ǀ the click letter look alike but are three different characters.
Box-drawing lines were made for fixed-width fonts; in other fonts the joins may not meet exactly.
Questions and answers
What is the Alt code for a line?
With Num Lock on, hold Alt and type 196 on the number pad for ─ and 179 for │. The double lines ═ and ║ are 205 and 186. For dashes, Alt+0151 gives the em dash and Alt+0150 the en dash –.
What is the difference between an em dash, an en dash and a horizontal bar?
The em dash is as wide as a capital M and is used in pairs round a remark. The en dash – is half as wide, for ranges such as 9–5. The horizontal bar, U+2015, is longer still; Unicode also calls it the quotation dash.
How do I make a long straight line in text?
Paste ─ several times, or copy Four thin lines, ────, and paste it again. Box-drawing lines meet end to end, so the result reads as one rule. Underscores ____ also work but sit at the bottom of the line.
All 60 line symbols
Start here 10
═Box drawings double horizontalU+2550. Two thin lines together. Alt+205.
║Box drawings double verticalU+2551. Two thin uprights. Alt+186.
━Box drawings heavy horizontalU+2501. The heavy box-drawing line.
┃Box drawings heavy verticalU+2503. The heavy box-drawing upright.
╱Box drawings light diagonal upper right to lower leftU+2571. A thin diagonal rising to the right, from corner to corner of the cell.
─Box drawings light horizontalU+2500. The thin box-drawing line. Alt+196. Several in a row join into one unbroken line in most fonts.
│Box drawings light verticalU+2502. The thin box-drawing upright. Alt+179.
—Em dashU+2014. The em dash, as wide as the letter M. Alt+0151, Option+Shift+hyphen. NamesList notes it is used in pairs round a remark.
|Vertical lineU+007C. The pipe key on a keyboard. NamesList gives it the aliases vertical bar and pipe.
〰Wavy dashU+3030. The wavy dash. Many phones draw it as an emoji.
Show all 60 line symbols (50 more)
Straight across 17
‗Double low lineU+2017. Two lines at the bottom.
–En dashU+2013. The en dash, half an em, for ranges such as 9–5. Alt+0150, Option+hyphen.
‒Figure dashU+2012. A dash as wide as a digit, for phone numbers such as 555‒0123.
════Four double linesMade of U+2550. Four double lines that join into one.
━━━━Four heavy linesMade of U+2501. Four heavy box lines that join into one thick rule.
────Four thin linesMade of U+2500. Four light box lines that join into one. Paste it twice for a longer rule.
―Horizontal barU+2015. A long bar. NamesList gives it the alias quotation dash: a long dash that introduces quoted speech.
⎯Horizontal line extensionU+23AF. NamesList says it is used to extend arrows, so it joins end to end with no gap.
⎺Horizontal scan line-1U+23BA. The top of four scan lines from old terminals.
⎻Horizontal scan line-3U+23BB. Scan line 3, a little lower.
⎼Horizontal scan line-7U+23BC. Scan line 7.
⎽Horizontal scan line-9U+23BD. Scan line 9, at the bottom.
_Low lineU+005F. The underscore on every keyboard.
‾OverlineU+203E. A line along the top. NamesList gives it the alias spacing overscore.
⏤StraightnessU+23E4. A short straight bar. NamesList also calls it direct current symbol form one.
⸻Three-em dashU+2E3B. Three em dashes long, for a word left out.
⸺Two-em dashU+2E3A. Two em dashes long. NamesList gives it the alias omission dash.
Straight up 10
¦Broken barU+00A6. An upright with a gap in the middle. Alt+0166. NamesList also calls it parted rule.
∣DividesU+2223. The maths sign divides, as in 3 ∣ 6. NamesList also gives such that.
‖Double vertical lineU+2016. Two uprights as punctuation. NamesList notes that pairs of them mark the norm of a matrix.
❚Heavy vertical barU+275A. A heavy bar from the Dingbats block.
ǀLatin letter dental clickU+01C0. A letter, not punctuation: the dental click, written c in Zulu spelling.
⎸Left vertical box lineU+23B8. An upright on the left edge of the cell.
❘Light vertical barU+2758. A light bar from the Dingbats block.
∥Parallel toU+2225. The maths sign parallel to.
⎹Right vertical box lineU+23B9. An upright on the right edge of the cell.
⏐Vertical line extensionU+23D0. Used to extend arrows upward, so it joins top to bottom.
Slanted 6
⧹Big reverse solidusU+29F9. A big backslash.
⧸Big solidusU+29F8. A big forward slash.
╳Box drawings light diagonal crossU+2573. Both diagonals crossed.
╲Box drawings light diagonal upper left to lower rightU+2572. A thin diagonal falling to the right.
∕Division slashU+2215. The maths division slash.
⁄Fraction slashU+2044. The fraction slash, as in 1⁄2. Option+Shift+1.
Dashed 11
┉Box drawings heavy quadruple dash horizontalU+2509. A heavy line in four dashes.
┅Box drawings heavy triple dash horizontalU+2505. A heavy line in three dashes.
╌Box drawings light double dash horizontalU+254C. A thin line broken into two dashes.
╎Box drawings light double dash verticalU+254E. An upright in two dashes.
┈Box drawings light quadruple dash horizontalU+2508. A thin line broken into four dashes.
┊Box drawings light quadruple dash verticalU+250A. An upright in four dashes.
┄Box drawings light triple dash horizontalU+2504. A thin line broken into three dashes.
┆Box drawings light triple dash verticalU+2506. An upright in three dashes.
﹍Dashed low lineU+FE4D. A dashed line at the bottom of the cell.
﹉Dashed overlineU+FE49. A dashed line at the top of the cell.
┈┈┈┈Four dashed linesMade of U+2508. A dotted-looking rule made of four dashed pieces.
Wavy 6
⁓Swung dashU+2053. The swung dash, a long wave level with the letters.
∼Tilde operatorU+223C. The tilde operator, as in x ∼ y.
⌇Wavy lineU+2307. A wavy line standing upright.
﹏Wavy low lineU+FE4F. A wave at the bottom of the cell, the mouth in many kaomoji.
﹋Wavy overlineU+FE4B. A wave at the top of the cell.
⸾Wiggly vertical lineU+2E3E. A wiggly upright line.