Square text generator

The two boxed sets live in Unicode’s Enclosed Alphanumeric Supplement: outlined capitals run from U+1F130 to U+1F149 and solid ones from U+1F170 to U+1F189. Neither set has small letters or digits, which is why “Sale ends 5pm” comes out as 🅂🄰🄻🄴 🄴🄽🄳🅂 5🄿🄼.

Wide letters are square in another sense. Chinese, Japanese and Korean text sets each character in a square cell, and full-width Latin letters take up a whole cell so they line up with the characters around them. They keep lowercase and numbers, and the generator also swaps each space for a full-width one, so the gaps between words grow.

Some sites build square text from a different set: the regional indicator symbols, 26 letters from 🇦 to 🇿 that usually appear in boxes when they stand alone. They exist to make flags. When two sit side by side and match a country code, apps join them into one flag, so 🇺 followed by 🇸 shows as 🇺🇸.

Typed as words, that causes surprises. CAT in regional indicators can come out as 🇨🇦 followed by a lone 🇹, because C and A spell Canada’s code. This generator uses the squared capitals instead, which never combine, so if flags appear in square text you copied from elsewhere, that’s the reason.

Tip: To stop regional indicator letters from pairing up, put a space between each one.

The same block holds whole words in squares: 🆕 🆓 🆗 🆒 🆘 🆙 🆚 🆔 🆑 🆖. They are emoji, so they appear in colour, and each one is a single character. For a label, 🆕 is tidier than 🄽🄴🅆, and a screen reader usually announces it once, by its emoji name (“NEW button”), instead of box by box.

Numbers in boxes come from emoji too. The keycaps 0️⃣ to 9️⃣ are each a digit followed by two invisible characters, a variation selector and U+20E3, the combining enclosing keycap, while 🔟 is a single character. Copy them whole, or the box can drop off and leave a plain digit.

There is also a combining enclosing square, U+20DE, which draws a box around whatever character comes before it, as in A⃞. Font support for it is patchy, so the box often lands off-centre or overlaps the next letter.

• Use them for one short label at the start of a line, like 🅂🄰🄻🄴 or 🄻🄸🅅🄴, not for a sentence. Every letter is a capital in its own box, and a long run is slow to read.
• Keep times, prices and dates plain. Digits don’t convert, so 5🄿🄼 mixes two sizes anyway.
• In the solid set, avoid words with A, B, O or P, or test them on a second phone. Adding the text-style selector U+FE0E after 🅰 🅱 🅾 🅿 asks for the plain black square, but not every app honours it.
• Write the word in plain letters as well if it carries information, since a screen reader may read each box as a separate symbol.
• If your audience uses older devices, choose wide letters: they have been in Unicode since its early versions and show almost everywhere.