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Does macOS have a way to enter Unicode characters with more than four hex digits? The flags, for example, are ligatures, each with two five-digit code points. They are supported by macOS fonts, appearing as expected when I paste them into this question in Safari or into TextEdit (from Wikipedia). And they resize properly with the font.

Flags: 🇦🇺 🇨🇦 🇨🇭 🇨🇳 🇩🇪 🇪🇸 🇫🇷 🇬🇧 🇮🇱 🇮🇹 🇯🇵 🇰🇳 🇰🇷 🇳🇴 🇳🇵 🇵🇸 🇶🇦 🇷🇺 🇸🇸 🇺🇸

Flags, of course, I can paste from Wikipedia. But in the past, there have been others where I knew the code but had no copy source.

The proctalgic workaround is to create a numeric HTML entity in a file, open it in Safari, and copy-paste.

I could also expand the Unicode Hex Input IM, but that's not exactly fun, either.

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  • Did you ever get an answer to this? Not sure why they don't just make it easy.
    – chrismacp
    Commented May 27, 2022 at 9:06
  • The answer was posted and accepted two years ago, and is still shown below.
    – WGroleau
    Commented May 27, 2022 at 18:15

1 Answer 1

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Normally you would use the MacOS Character Viewer (Edit > Emoji & Symbols) to input these, rather than copy/pasting from some external source. The non-expanded, popover, version of the Character Viewer can be operated from the keyboard alone, via the search box, down arrow, and enter key.

If you want enter codes directly from the keyboard, you should be able to type each 5 digit code point using the 8 character utf-16 hex equivalent via the Unicode Hex Input Source, as described in this earlier answer.

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  • As stated in the question, I want to do FIVE-digit code points, which Unicode Hex Input will not do. I would prefer a keyboard method, but Character Viewer is better than nothing. On IOS, Emoji keyboard is an unwieldy abomination. It does have the flags on it, but I don't think it has any code points that are not images. OK, I guess I should have read the comments, too on the other one. Weird to have Unicode specify five digits and not mention a four-digit code for the same thing. Not the most fun answer, but at least it's an answer.
    – WGroleau
    Commented Jul 29, 2017 at 15:35
  • Oops, it's an eight-digit code, not four. So I have to do sixteen digits. Bummer.
    – WGroleau
    Commented Jul 29, 2017 at 15:41
  • @WGroleau Yes, just going to the Emoji/Flags section of the Character Viewer is so much easier than keyboard input. This can also be done via the keyboard alone if you have the small version of Character Viewer active.
    – Tom Gewecke
    Commented Jul 29, 2017 at 15:46
  • How does one switch between large and small versions? Having frequently used on top would be perfect! Especially since I didn't ask how to do emoji; I asked how to do any five-digit codepoint.
    – WGroleau
    Commented Jul 29, 2017 at 15:49
  • @WGroleau you click on the small icon in the top right corner. Character Viewer can do any 5 digit codepoint via the Unicode category at the left of the expanded version or via the search box.
    – Tom Gewecke
    Commented Jul 29, 2017 at 15:52

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