Right Arrow Curving Up Emoji

The right arrow curving up (⤴️) is an arrow that moves right then bends upward. It's one of those emojis that means different things depending on who's using it. In texting, it usually means "things are looking up," "rising," or "redirect your attention above." In formatted posts, it serves as a visual "see above" pointer. In organic chemistry, a curved arrow like this tracks electron movement in reaction mechanisms — a notation invented by Sir Robert Robinson in 1922 that every chem student dreads. And if you look closely, the shape resembles the Return/Enter key symbol (↵ flipped), connecting it to one of computing's most fundamental actions: hitting Enter to submit. It's a low-profile emoji — not flashy, not heavily memed — but it fills a specific niche: upward momentum with a curved trajectory, implying you didn't start by going up. You pivoted.

⤴️ shows up in three contexts. First: optimism and progress. "My grades this semester ⤴️" or "things are finally ⤴️" — signaling improvement or positive change. Second: text formatting. People use it as a "see above" pointer in threaded conversations, pointing back to a previous message or quote. Third: data and charts. When discussing stock prices, crypto, or metrics that are trending upward, ⤴️ adds a visual cue. "Arrow emoji" searches nearly doubled from 51 to 93 since 2020, reflecting the broader trend of people using arrow emojis for text formatting across platforms. ⤴️ doesn't get the spotlight, but it rides the wave.

Curved arrows have a rich history beyond emoji. In organic chemistry, the curved arrow notation was invented by Sir Robert Robinson in 1922 to show how electrons move during chemical reactions. Double-barbed arrows show electron pair movement; single-barbed arrows show single electrons. Every chemistry student learns this system — and many hate it. On typewriters, the Return key (which moves the carriage back and starts a new line) was represented by a curved arrow symbol (↵). When keyboards transitioned to computers, the Enter key inherited a similar shape. The ⤴️ emoji is essentially this motion reversed: instead of curving down to return, it curves up to advance. Unicode encoded it at U+2934 in Unicode 3.2 (2002), part of the Supplemental Arrows-B block (U+2900–U+297F) — a dedicated block for arrows with special shapes. It joined Emoji 1.0 in 2015.

Encoded in Unicode 3.2 (2002) as U+2934 ARROW POINTING RIGHTWARDS THEN CURVING UPWARDS. Part of the Supplemental Arrows-B block (U+2900–U+297F). Added to Emoji 1.0 in 2015. Its sibling ⤵️ (U+2935, curving down) lives in the same block.

• •⤴️ lives in the Supplemental Arrows-B Unicode block, which contains 128 specialized arrow characters. Most will never become emoji — they exist for mathematical and technical documents.
• •Sir Robert Robinson invented curved arrow notation for chemistry in 1922. He won the Nobel Prize in 1947. Every organic chemistry student since has cursed his name while drawing electron-pushing mechanisms.
• •The Return key symbol (↵) on keyboards is essentially ⤴️ flipped. Both represent a curved path change — one returns to the start of a line, the other redirects upward.

• •U+2934 + U+FE0F for the emoji. Lives in Supplemental Arrows-B (U+2900–U+297F), not the main Arrows block.
• •The shortcode varies: Slack uses :arrow_heading_up::arrow_heading_up:, some platforms use :right_arrow_curving_up::right_arrow_curving_up:. Check your target.
• •Its sibling ⤵️ (U+2935) is in the same block. If you're building a direction picker, they belong together.

See the full Emoji Developer Tools guide for regex patterns, encoding helpers, and more.