I learned: MacOS has a Unicode Hex Input keyboard
Posted by jpluimers on 2023/05/25
A while ago, I learned that MacOS has had a Unicode Hex Input keyboard since ages.
It is not installed by default, so you have to manually add it:
- Start the
System Preferences.app - Open the
Keyboardicon - Choose the
Input Sourcestab - Click the plus (
+) icon - Search for Unicode or Hex to get so
Unicode Hex Inputis the only entry in the list - Click the
Addbutton - Choose the
Keyboardtab - Enable Show keyboard and emoji viewers in menu bar
Now in the menu bar, you can select the Unicode Hex Input.
After that, when holding the Option key, any 4-digit Unicode sequence will get you a Unicode character.
From [Wayback/Archive] How to SIMPLY insert thin spaces using a … – Apple Community:
enable Hex Unicode Input, and then while holding down the option key, press 2+0+0+9, the unicode number for thin space. You will see it insert. Unicode and HTML codes for thin space here.To enable Unicode Hex Input:System Preferences > Language & Text > Input Sources tab > ✓ Unicode Hex Input
From this, I found it back in Unicode input: Hexadecimal input in MacOS – Wikipedia
Hex input of Unicode must be enabled. In Mac OS 8.5 and later, one can choose the Unicode Hex Input keyboard layout; in OS X (10.10) Yosemite, this can be added in Keyboard → Input Sources.
Holding down ⌥ Option, one types the four-digit hexadecimal Unicode code point and the equivalent character appears; one can then release the ⌥ Option key.[9] Characters outside of the BMP (the Basic Multilingual Plane) exceed the four-digit limit of the Unicode hex input mechanism but can be entered by using surrogate pairs: holding down the ⌥ Option key while entering the first surrogate, the +, the second surrogate, then releasing the Option key.
–jeroen
The Wiert Corner - irregular stream of stuff 
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