U+2002 · CHARACTER REFERENCE
En Space
Copy U+2002, the typographic En Space. Compare its medium gap in different font families and check the code point your destination keeps.
Copy En Space
Ready. The single-character button copies only U+2002.
U+20021 Unicode code pointThis field starts with one U+2002. The demo button copies the complete labelled example. Controls in the figures below never change what these copy buttons send.
See the gap your current font actually draws.
U+0020U+2002U+2003En Space is designed for a half-em gap, while Em Space uses a full-em gap. Rendered spacing is font-specified; the current measurements are observations, not a universal pixel rule. See the Unicode character chart for the half-em definition and Chapter 6 for font-specified widths.
The N comparison measures that glyph separately in the same font. Its advance can differ from the En Space. Likewise, an En Space need not be smaller than a normal word space in every font.
Where an En Space is useful.
- A medium separator in a text line
- Use one En Space for an intentional typographic pause when ordinary word spacing is too small for your design. Compare the actual destination font before repeating it.
- A smaller alternative to Em Space
- U+2002 and U+2003 give different typographic gap sizes. For fine spacing rather than a medium pause, compare Thin Space.
- Columns, indentation or responsive alignment
- Use your editor’s tabs and paragraph settings, or CSS layout on a web page. A repeated En Space is text; it cannot keep columns aligned across fonts and screen sizes.
Use normal word spaces for ordinary prose unless a typographic style requires otherwise. An En Space can be trimmed or converted by a destination, so it is not a dependable way to force an empty form value.
Similar gaps can have different identities.
| Character | Spacing / wrapping | Choose it for |
|---|---|---|
| En Space · U+2002 | Medium typographic gap; can break | An intentional half-em-style separation. |
| Em Space · U+2003 | Wider typographic gap; can break | A broader pause in the same font. |
| En Quad · U+2000 | Related typographic width; separate code point | Recognizing legacy or already-present text; NFC maps it to U+2002. |
| No-Break Space · U+00A0 | Word-space-like gap; normally no-break | Keeping a short word pair together. |
| Narrow No-Break Space · U+202F | Narrow gap; normally no-break | A narrow gap where wrapping should be suppressed. |
U+2002 is not a zero-width control or a no-break space. A similar-looking En Quad is also not an identical original code point; the processing example below shows why normalization can make them compare differently.
Verify the saved gap before editing it.
- Copy the exact character or the labelled demo.
The single button supplies one U+2002. The A B button supplies three code points. In a plain text message use the copied character; an HTML reference such as
 needs an HTML parser. - Inspect what the destination saved.
Copy the saved text back into the checker. Expand its all-character breakdown and find
U+2002. En Space is not currently in the checker’s flagged set, so a zero flagged count does not mean it is absent. - Choose a deliberate repair.
If U+2002 is retained but looks different, check the font and layout. If an unwanted En Space remains, preview exact find/replace in an editor and replace it with U+0020. Deleting it joins the neighboring text; compatibility normalization can also change other characters.
Our normalizer does not specifically convert U+2002, and the remover has no En Space-specific rule. Use the checker’s full code-point list to identify it, then an editor for that exact replacement.
En Space and En Quad take different processing paths.
Input: "A\u2002B" → 3 code points
.trim() → "A\u2002B" (interior gap kept)
.normalize("NFC") → "A\u2002B" (still En Space)
.normalize("NFKC") → "A B" (gap becomes U+0020)
Edge-only: "\u2002".trim() → "" (0 code points)
En Quad: "\u2000".normalize("NFC") → "\u2002"U+2000 has a canonical mapping to U+2002; U+2002 has a compatibility mapping to U+0020. Those are distinct transformations in UnicodeData. The count can stay at three even though the stored gap changes.
For an exact-match problem, compare code points in the original and saved strings. Neither equal character counts nor equal-looking gaps prove the strings are identical. JavaScript trim() is an edge operation; it does not remove this interior gap on its own.
Use   in HTML; copy the character for text.
EN SPACE · Zs (Space Separator)U+2002 · 8194   or  "\u2002""\2002"E2 80 82U+2002 → U+0020In HTML source,   is converted to U+2002, as listed in the HTML character-reference table. In a plain text field those six visible characters may remain literal text; the copy button supplies the actual space.
A CSS string escape belongs inside a quoted string, such as a content value. It produces rendered content; for a stored-text separator, insert the actual character instead.
En Space FAQ
How wide is an En Space?
An en is half an em as a typographic unit. U+2002 is designed as an En Space, but its rendered advance is font-specified. The font comparison reports this browser’s current measurement, not a guaranteed width for every destination.
Is an En Space the width of the letter N?
No such match is guaranteed. The N glyph has its own advance in the selected font. Compare the actual gap and glyph measurements rather than using the name as a sizing rule.
Are En Space and En Quad the same character?
They have different code points: U+2002 and U+2000. Unicode canonical normalization NFC maps En Quad to En Space. Compatibility normalization NFKC then maps this spacing to ordinary U+0020.
Does En Space keep words on the same line?
U+2002 is a breaking typographic space. Choose a no-break space when you need a visible gap that normally keeps a short pair together, and check the destination’s layout rules.
Why does the checker show zero flagged characters?
The checker’s flagged set does not currently include U+2002. Its all-character breakdown still lists the code point. Zero flagged characters is not proof that the text contains only ordinary spaces.
Can I paste   into a message?
A plain text message may retain the literal six-character reference. Use the character copy button for actual U+2002. The reference   becomes En Space when parsed as HTML source.
Sources for U+2002
Character properties checked against Unicode 18.0.0. Figures show this browser’s current rendering; your destination may use different fonts, layout and input rules.