One half

Meaning and uses

The one half fraction as a single character. Recipes and measurements use it, as in 1½ cups, and it is neater than typing 1/2.

Unicode details

½ is the Unicode character named VULGAR FRACTION ONE HALF, code point U+00BD, in the Latin-1 Supplement block. It was added in Unicode 1.1 in 1993, and Unicode classes it as a number (general category No).

It is not an emoji, so it keeps the colour and size of the text around it.

Tap a code to copy it:

How to type ½

• On any device, tap the copy button above, then paste with a long press on a phone, Ctrl+V on Windows or Cmd+V on a Mac.
• In Microsoft Word on Windows, type 00BD and then press Alt+X to turn the code into ½.
• On a Mac, press Control+Cmd+Space to open the Character Viewer, then search for “vulgar fraction one half”.
• On Linux, most desktops accept Ctrl+Shift+U, then 00bd, then Space or Enter.
• In HTML, use ½ or ½. In a CSS content property, use "\00BD".