Emacs: Find Character Name, Font, Position, Codepoint, Encoding, Etc

By Xah Lee. Date: 2022-10-07. Last updated: 2025-08-13.

What is describe-char

Alt+x describe-char

Show info about the character under cursor.

The info includes:

Char's position in buffer.
Char's Codepoint (decimal, octal, hexadecimal)
Char Name
Encoding used for the character
Font used
Elisp: Syntax Class of the character from Elisp: Syntax Table

Show Cursor Position

emacs cursor position 2025-08-13

Find Character Codepoint, Character Name

emacs unicode codepoint 2022-10-07 — describe-char, showing info about the right arrow → character. 2022-10-07

Get Codepoint of ASCII Control Character

emacs describe-char CR 2021-12-09 — describe-char, showing ASCII control character CR.

Find Font Used for the Character Under Cursor

emacs describe-char 2021-09-25 TyYb — describe-char, showing current font used of a character.

Find Syntax Class of a Character

emacs describe char syntax class 2022-10-07 — describe-char output, showing syntax table class. 2022-10-07

Elisp: Syntax Table

Check Character's Unicode Property

For example, check if a character is a unicode letter.

Place cursor on (or before) the char, then Alt+x describe-char , then read the line “general-category”. 〔see Emacs: Insert Unicode Character〕

emacs describe-char 2022-02-19

Jump to a Cursor Position

Alt+x goto-char: Move cursor to a given position.

Emacs and Unicode [id-d9b3]

File Encoding

Unicode Font Setup

Emacs, font setup