358 symbols tested in subject lines – iPhone, Hotmail & more [incl. Cheat sheet]

Many have been debating the use of symbols for months, now. To my knowledge however, one question remains: Which symbols are safe to use, and which ones trigger colorful emojis on iPhones/iPads and in Hotmail/Outlook.com? I put it to the test on emailmarketing.de last week. Here is a summary plus a little add-on.

The (rather) safe symbols list

Here’s my selection of symbols:

■ □ ▢ ▣ ▤ ▥ ▦ ▧ ▨ ▩ ▪ ▫ ▬ ▭ ▮ ▯ ▰ ▱ ▲ △ ▴ ▵ ▶ ▷ ▸ ▹ ► ▻ ▼ ▽ ▾ ▿ ◀ ◁ ◂ ◃ ◄ ◅ ◆ ◇ ◈ ◉ ◊ ○ ◌ ◍ ◎ ● ◐ ◑ ◒ ◓ ◔ ◕ ◖ ◗ ◘ ◙ ◚ ◛ ◜ ◝ ◞ ◟ ◠ ◡ ◢ ◣ ◤ ◥ ◦ ◧ ◨ ◩ ◪ ◫ ◬ ◭ ◮ ◯ ✁ ✂ ✃ ✄ ✆ ✇ ✈ ✉ ✌ ✍ ✎ ✏ ✐ ✑ ✒ ✓ ✔ ✕ ✖ ✗ ✘ ✙ ✚ ✛ ✜ ✝ ✞ ✟ ✠ ✡ ✢ ✣ ✤ ✥ ✦ ✧ ✩ ✪ ✫ ✬ ✭ ✮ ✯ ✰ ✱ ✲ ✳ ✴ ✵ ✶ ✷ ✸ ✹ ✺ ✻ ✼ ✽ ✾ ✿ ❀ ❁ ❂ ❃ ❄ ❅ ❆ ❇ ❈ ❉ ❊ ❋ ❍ ❏ ❐ ❑ ❒ ❖ ❘ ❙ ❚ ❛ ❜ ❝ ❞ ❡ ❢ ❣ ❤ ❥ ❦ ❧ ❶ ❷ ❸ ❹ ❺ ❻ ❼ ❽ ❾ ❿ ➀ ➁ ➂ ➃ ➄ ➅ ➆ ➇ ➈ ➉ ➊ ➋ ➌ ➍ ➎ ➏ ➐ ➑ ➒ ➓ ➘ ➙ ➚ ➛ ➜ ➝ ➞ ➟ ➠ ➡ ➢ ➣ ➤ ➥ ➦ ➧ ➨ ➩ ➪ ➫ ➬ ➭ ➮ ➯ ➲ ➳ ➴ ➵ ➶ ➷ ➸ ➹ ➺ ➻ ➼ ➽ ➾ ☀ ☁ ☂ ☃ ☄ ★ ☆ ☇ ☈ ☉ ☊ ☋ ☌ ☍ ☎ ☏ ☐ ☑ ☒ ☓ ☖ ☗ ☚ ☛ ☜ ☝ ☞ ☟ ☠ ☡ ☢ ☣ ☤ ☥ ☦ ☧ ☨ ☩ ☪ ☫ ☬ ☭ ☮ ☯ ☰ ☱ ☲ ☳ ☴ ☵ ☶ ☷ ☸ ☹ ☺ ☻ ☼ ☽ ☾ ☿ ♀ ♁ ♂ ♃ ♄ ♅ ♆ ♇ ♈ ♉ ♊ ♋ ♌ ♍ ♎ ♏ ♐ ♑ ♒ ♓ ♔ ♕ ♖ ♗ ♘ ♙ ♚ ♛ ♜ ♝ ♞ ♟ ♠ ♡ ♢ ♣ ♤ ♥ ♦ ♧ ♨ ♩ ♪ ♫ ♬ ♭ ♮ ♯ ♰ ♱

Why did I choose specifically those?

Well, I generally thought I’d test the Unicode blocks Miscellaneous Symbols, Dingbats, and Geometric shapes. They contain some of the most appropriate and interesting ones to use in email subject lines. So I extracted all the codes from Wikipedia, put the whole list step by step into a subject field within Outlook 2010, and sieved out the ones that showed an error. The erroneous ones obviously didn’t work in Outlook 2007/2010/2013.

Next, I send some tests to Gmail and other email clients, in order to sieve out more. The final results are shown above. So if you want to experiment with symbols, you should pick one from these. They are of course not 100% save across all possible email clients (see e.g. these two screenshots). But it’s better than picking something out of the dark.

iPhone & Hotmail: triggering colored graphics

Next, I wondered what symbols would trigger graphics in the subject lines on iPhones and within Hotmail. In fact, several customers already asked that. And I wasn’t aware of any list on the WWW. (Did I miss something?)

The following screenshots disclose that secret. You see the results on iPhone and iPad on the left, Hotmail and Outlook.com on the right. Compare them with the list above to see, which symbols have been converted by the rendering engines:

Cool stuff, isn’t it? Why not try out…

the airplane for travel offers
the pencil for dates to write down
the phone for announcing a service call
the scissors for visualizing coupon cut lines

One last thing to remember: Don’t stuff your subject lines with random symbols. Many are not supported on every device. For example, Outlook 2003 and Lotus don’t show any of them. In addition, below you’ll find two screenshots of the results on an Android 2.2 (left) and on a BlackBerry 5 OS (right). The results don’t satisfy either:

Download the symbol cheat sheet

Comparing a list of about 350 symbols with four screenshots may be a bit confusing and complicated. To make things clearer, I created a little Cheat sheet.

The sheet contains a table showing our safe symbols, emoji graphics on iPhone and in Hotmail (if one is triggered), and support on BlackBerry and Android. It’s a poster – print it out and pin it next to your monitor, when you start experimenting.

The sheet is also free to download. Well, sort of. Forgive me to ask for your email address in exchange. But hey, I’ll only use it to send you weekly round up with readworthy email marketing articles, which I stumbled upon. No ads, just for fun. If you don’t like it, you can always unsubscribe.