Copy something you can't see.
Blank characters for empty usernames, empty messages and clean line breaks. Pick the one that matches what you need; they behave differently.
Paste something to see which invisible characters it contains.
Zero Width Space
U+200B ​ Zero widthBest for: Line breaks in Instagram captions, splitting hashtags, hidden separators
Takes up no space at all, but tells the software it may break a line here. The most common “invisible character”. Some games reject names made only of it because they trim it as whitespace.
Hangul Filler
U+3164 ㅤ Takes space, invisibleBest for: Blank usernames in Fortnite, PUBG, Free Fire, Roblox, Discord
A Korean placeholder letter that draws nothing but is not treated as whitespace, so name fields accept it. This is the character most “blank name” guides rely on.
Braille Pattern Blank
U+2800 ⠀ Takes space, invisibleBest for: Empty Discord messages, blank lines in chat apps
The braille cell with no dots raised. It is a letter, not a space, so it survives trimming, and it is visible on almost every device as nothing.
No-Break Space
U+00A0 Visible spaceBest for: Keeping two words together, padding in HTML
Looks like a space but prevents a line break. Many apps do trim it at the start or end of a field, so it is a poor choice for blank names.
Zero Width Non-Joiner
U+200C ‌ Zero widthBest for: Stopping letters from joining in Arabic and Persian; hidden markers
Used properly in Persian and Indic text to keep letters from forming a ligature. Elsewhere it is simply an invisible character.
Zero Width Joiner
U+200D ‍ Zero widthBest for: Building combined emoji (👨👩👧), forcing letters to join
Tells two characters to join. It is what glues family and profession emoji together. Pasting it alone into text is invisible but can affect neighbouring emoji.
Word Joiner
U+2060 ⁠ Zero widthBest for: Preventing a line break without adding width
The opposite of a zero-width space: invisible and forbids a break. Good for keeping a hashtag on one line.
Zero Width No-Break Space (BOM)
U+FEFF  Zero widthBest for: Legacy uses only
Historically used as a byte order mark at the start of files. Avoid it for anything else; it can corrupt scripts and CSV files when pasted.
Em Space
U+2003   Visible spaceBest for: Wide visible gaps in bios and captions
A space as wide as the letter M. Visible as a gap, not invisible, but useful for spacing text where multiple normal spaces get collapsed.
Mongolian Vowel Separator
U+180E ᠎ Zero widthBest for: Older blank-name tricks
Was once whitespace and is now a format character. Support varies, so prefer the Hangul filler.
How invisible characters work
Unicode contains characters whose job is to control how text is laid out rather than to draw a shape. Zero-width spaces mark places a line may break, joiners glue letters together, and fillers stand in for a letter that is missing. None of them draw anything, so to a person they look like nothing at all. But to the software they are real characters, which is why a name made of them is not “empty” and passes the check that rejects blank names.
The catch is that apps differ in which of these they trim. Most strip characters they classify as whitespace from the start and end of a field, which removes zero-width spaces and no-break spaces. Letters such as the Hangul filler and the braille blank are never whitespace, so they survive. That is why the recommendation for usernames is different from the one for line breaks.
Common uses
- Blank game names in Fortnite, Free Fire, PUBG Mobile and Among Us: paste one Hangul filler as the name. Some games require at least two characters; paste it twice.
- Empty WhatsApp or iMessage messages: paste a braille blank and send.
- Instagram spacing: a zero-width space on each empty line keeps the gap between paragraphs in captions and bios.
- Discord: a braille blank sends an apparently empty message, and one at the start of a message stops Discord from treating a leading character as a command or formatting.
- Splitting a hashtag or URL so a platform does not turn it into a link: insert a zero-width space inside it.
Frequently asked questions
Which invisible character should I use for a blank username? +
The Hangul Filler (U+3164) works in the most games and apps because it is a letter rather than a space, so the name field does not trim it. If it is rejected, try the Braille Pattern Blank (U+2800). Zero-width space is often stripped because it counts as whitespace.
How do I send an empty message on WhatsApp? +
Copy the Hangul Filler or Braille Blank above, paste it into the message box and send. WhatsApp blocks messages that contain only spaces, but these characters are not spaces.
How do I add line breaks to an Instagram caption or bio? +
Instagram removes trailing spaces, which is why blank lines often collapse. Put a single zero-width space (U+200B) or a Braille Blank on each empty line and the spacing is kept.
Can I check if text contains hidden characters? +
Paste it into the test box above. It reports how many invisible characters it contains and which ones. This is useful for spotting tracking characters or copy-paste glitches.
Is it safe to use invisible characters? +
In names and messages, yes. Do not paste them into code, spreadsheets or passwords: they are easy to overlook and cause errors that are very hard to find.