It doesn’t have to cost anything to improve your user experience and make links look more like, well, links. We’re accustomed to a modern navigation experience driven not just by underlined text anymore but by visual cues. We rely on iconography and buttons to get us more quickly from A to B.
So if you can’t (or don’t want to) install an icon library like Font Awesome, and if you’re not using a web part that has the built-in Office UI Fabric icons (such as the Quick Links web part), why not stick to the basics and use Unicode characters? While limited, you still have some great options for quick wins.
Note: These characters appear slightly different in different browsers or when used with pre-existing themes. For example, when writing this post they’re black-and-white, but when published, my styles are applied which give them color. They may also look different on a mobile device than they do on desktop.
Compart has a great listing of all the Unicode symbols you can search and filter. Here are a few examples I selected that could be useful:
☎ Directory
♻ Recycle vs Trash FAQ
♬ Fall Concert Details
☂ Inclement weather procedures
⛱ Vacation Requests
⛟ Track a Delivery
☃ Winter Sale
How to use Unicode characters on your site
To use Unicode characters, you can either:
- Copy and paste the actual symbol -OR-
- In your html, wrap the four-digit number in &#x and ; as follows
♥
Here are many more icons, some of which might have purpose in your organization. You can also download this excel file for easier viewing/customizing.
| ☀ | 2600 | ■ | 25A0 | ☎ | 260E | ▮ | 25AE |
| ☁ | 2601 | □ | 25A1 | ☏ | 260F | ▯ | 25AF |
| ☂ | 2602 | ▢ | 25A2 | ☐ | 2610 | ⇉ | 21C9 |
| ☃ | 2603 | ▣ | 25A3 | ☑ | 2611 | ⇊ | 21CA |
| ☄ | 2604 | ▤ | 25A4 | ☒ | 2612 | ▲ | 25B2 |
| ★ | 2605 | ▥ | 25A5 | ☓ | 2613 | △ | 25B3 |
| ☆ | 2606 | ▦ | 25A6 | ☔ | 2614 | ▴ | 25B4 |
| ☇ | 2607 | ▧ | 25A7 | ☕ | 2615 | ▵ | 25B5 |
| ▨ | 25A8 | ☖ | 2616 | ▶ | 25B6 | ⇏ | 21CF |
| ☉ | 2609 | ▩ | 25A9 | ☗ | 2617 | ▷ | 25B7 |
| ☊ | 260A | ▪ | 25AA | ☘ | 2618 | ▸ | 25B8 |
| ☋ | 260B | ▫ | 25AB | ☙ | 2619 | ▹ | 25B9 |
| ☌ | 260C | ▬ | 25AC | ☚ | 261A | ► | 25BA |
| ☍ | 260D | ▭ | 25AD | ☛ | 261B | ▻ | 25BB |
| ♸ | 2678 | ⏶ | 23F6 | ⚆ | 2686 | ⇕ | 21D5 |
| ♹ | 2679 | ⏷ | 23F7 | ⚇ | 2687 | ← | 2190 |
| ♺ | 267A | ⏸ | 23F8 | ⚈ | 2688 | ↑ | 2191 |
| ♻ | 267B | ⏹ | 23F9 | ⚉ | 2689 | → | 2192 |
| ♼ | 267C | ⏺ | 23FA | ⚊ | 268A | ↓ | 2193 |
| ♽ | 267D | ⎐ | 2390 | ↔ | 2194 | ⇚ | 21DA |
| ♾ | 267E | ⎑ | 2391 | ↕ | 2195 | ⇛ | 21DB |
| ♿ | 267F | ⎒ | 2392 | ↖ | 2196 | ⇜ | 21DC |
| ⚀ | 2680 | ↗ | 2197 | ⇝ | 21DD | ⚜ | 269C |
| ⚁ | 2681 | ⎔ | 2394 | ↘ | 2198 | ⇞ | 21DE |
| ⚂ | 2682 | ⎖ | 2396 | ⚐ | 2690 | ↙ | 2199 |
| ⚃ | 2683 | ⎗ | 2397 | ⚑ | 2691 | ↚ | 219A |
| ⚄ | 2684 | ⎘ | 2398 | ⚒ | 2692 | ↛ | 219B |
| ⚅ | 2685 | ⎙ | 2399 | ⚓ | 2693 | ↜ | 219C |
| ⛌ | 26CC | ⛏ | 26CF | ⛒ | 26D2 | ⛕ | 26D5 |
| ⛍ | 26CD | ⛐ | 26D0 | ⛓ | 26D3 | ⛖ | 26D6 |
| ⛚ | 26DA | ⛞ | 26DE | ⛡ | 2.60E+02 | ⛤ | 2.60E+05 |
| ⇮ | 21EE | ⌕ | 2315 | ⇴ | 21F4 | ⇵ | 21F5 |
| ☪ | 262A | ◊ | 25CA | ♀ | 2640 | ◘ | 25D8 |
| ☫ | 262B | ○ | 25CB | ♁ | 2641 | ◙ | 25D9 |
| ◌ | 25CC | ♂ | 2642 | ♐ | 2650 | ◮ | 25EE |
| ◍ | 25CD | ♃ | 2643 | ♑ | 2651 | ◯ | 25EF |
| ☮ | 262E | ◎ | 25CE | ♄ | 2644 | ♒ | 2652 |
| ☯ | 262F | ● | 25CF | ♅ | 2645 | ♓ | 2653 |
| ☸ | 2638 | ◐ | 25D0 | ♆ | 2646 | ♔ | 2654 |
| ☹ | 2639 | ◑ | 25D1 | ♇ | 2647 | ♕ | 2655 |
| ◒ | 25D2 | ♈ | 2648 | ♖ | 2656 | ⏄ | 23C4 |
| ☻ | 263B | ◓ | 25D3 | ♉ | 2649 | ◧ | 2.50E+08 |
| ☼ | 263C | ◔ | 25D4 | ♊ | 264A | ◨ | 2.50E+09 |
| ☽ | 263D | ◕ | 25D5 | ♋ | 264B | ◩ | 2.50E+10 |
| ☾ | 263E | ◖ | 25D6 | ♌ | 264C | ◪ | 25EA |
| ☿ | 263F | ◗ | 25D7 | ♍ | 264D | ◫ | 25EB |
| ↫ | 21AB | ⚰ | 26B0 | ↹ | 21B9 | ⛲ | 26F2 |
| ⚣ | 26A3 | ↬ | 21AC | ⚱ | 26B1 | ↺ | 21BA |
| ⚤ | 26A4 | ↭ | 21AD | ⚲ | 26B2 | ↻ | 21BB |
| ⚥ | 26A5 | ↮ | 21AE | ⚳ | 26B3 | ⛵ | 26F5 |
| ⚦ | 26A6 | ↯ | 21AF | ⚴ | 26B4 | ⛶ | 26F6 |
| ↰ | 21B0 | ⚵ | 26B5 | ⛷ | 26F7 | ⛃ | 26C3 |
| ↱ | 21B1 | ⚶ | 26B6 | ⛸ | 26F8 | ⛄ | 26C4 |
| ↲ | 21B2 | ⚷ | 26B7 | ⛹ | 26F9 | ⛅ | 26C5 |
| ⚸ | 26B8 | ⛺ | 26FA | ⛆ | 26C6 | ♲ | 2672 |
| ↴ | 21B4 | ⚹ | 26B9 | ⛻ | 26FB | ⛇ | 26C7 |
| ⚬ | 26AC | ↵ | 21B5 | ⚺ | 26BA | ⛼ | 26FC |
| ⚭ | 26AD | ↶ | 21B6 | ⚻ | 26BB | ⇄ | 21C4 |
| ⚮ | 26AE | ↷ | 21B7 | ⚼ | 26BC | ⇅ | 21C5 |
| ⚯ | 26AF | ↸ | 21B8 | ⚽ | 26BD | ⇆ | 21C6 |
| ⛢ | 2.60E+03 | ⛨ | 2.60E+09 | ⛫ | 26EB | ⛯ | 26EF |
| ⛣ | 2.60E+04 | ⛩ | 2.60E+10 | ⛭ | 26ED | ⛰ | 26F0 |
| ⇨ | 2.10E+09 | ⇳ | 21F3 | ⇼ | 21FC | ⇽ | 21FD |
| ⇲ | 21F2 | ⍟ | 235F | ⏴ | 23F4 | ⏵ | 23F5 |
| ⇇ | 21C7 | ☜ | 261C | ▼ | 25BC | ♰ | 2670 |
| ⇈ | 21C8 | ☝ | 261D | ▽ | 25BD | ♱ | 2671 |
| ☞ | 261E | ▾ | 25BE | ☬ | 262C | ⌛ | 231B |
| ☟ | 261F | ▿ | 25BF | ☭ | 262D | ♳ | 2673 |
| ⇋ | 21CB | ☠ | 2620 | ◀ | 25C0 | ⛈ | 26C8 |
| ⇌ | 21CC | ☡ | 2621 | ◁ | 25C1 | ⛽ | 26FD |
| ⇍ | 21CD | ☢ | 2622 | ◂ | 25C2 | ⛾ | 26FE |
| ⇎ | 21CE | ☣ | 2623 | ◃ | 25C3 | ⛿ | 26FF |
| ☤ | 2624 | ◄ | 25C4 | ☺ | 263A | ⛬ | 26EC |
| ⇐ | 21D0 | ☥ | 2625 | ◅ | 25C5 | ⛛ | 26DB |
| ⇑ | 21D1 | ☦ | 2626 | ◆ | 25C6 | ⇾ | 21FE |
| ⇒ | 21D2 | ☧ | 2627 | ◇ | 25C7 | ⛑ | 26D1 |
| ⇓ | 21D3 | ☨ | 2628 | ◈ | 25C8 | ⌙ | 2319 |
| ⇔ | 21D4 | ☩ | 2629 | ◉ | 25C9 | ⌚ | 231A |
| ⚔ | 2694 | ↝ | 219D | ⚢ | 26A2 | ⇹ | 21F9 |
| ⇖ | 21D6 | ⚕ | 2695 | ↞ | 219E | ⇺ | 21FA |
| ⇗ | 21D7 | ⚖ | 2696 | ↟ | 219F | ♴ | 2674 |
| ⇘ | 21D8 | ⚗ | 2697 | ↠ | 21A0 | ⛉ | 26C9 |
| ⇙ | 21D9 | ⚘ | 2698 | ↡ | 21A1 | ⛊ | 26CA |
| ⚙ | 2699 | ↢ | 21A2 | ⚧ | 26A7 | ⛧ | 2.60E+08 |
| ⚚ | 269A | ↣ | 21A3 | ⚨ | 26A8 | ⛥ | 2.60E+06 |
| ⚛ | 269B | ↤ | 21A4 | ⚩ | 26A9 | ⛦ | 2.60E+07 |
| ↥ | 21A5 | ⚪ | 26AA | ↳ | 21B3 | ⇿ | 21FF |
| ⚝ | 269D | ↦ | 21A6 | ⚫ | 26AB | ⛔ | 26D4 |
| ⇟ | 21DF | ⚞ | 269E | ↧ | 21A7 | ⇶ | 21F6 |
| ⇠ | 2.10E+01 | ⚟ | 269F | ↨ | 21A8 | ⇷ | 21F7 |
| ⇡ | 2.10E+02 | ⚠ | 26A0 | ↩ | 21A9 | ⇸ | 21F8 |
| ⇢ | 2.10E+03 | ⚡ | 26A1 | ↪ | 21AA | ⇦ | 2.10E+07 |
| ⛘ | 26D8 | ⛜ | 26DC | ⛟ | 26DF | ⇧ | 2.10E+08 |
| ⛙ | 26D9 | ⛝ | 26DD | ⛠ | 2.60E+01 | ⇻ | 21FB |
| ⛪ | 26EA | ⛮ | 26EE | ⛱ | 26F1 | ♵ | 2675 |
| ⇯ | 21EF | ⇰ | 21F0 | ⇱ | 21F1 | ♶ | 2676 |
| ♎ | 264E | ◬ | 25EC | ♜ | 265C | ♷ | 2677 |
| ♏ | 264F | ◭ | 25ED | ♝ | 265D | ⛎ | 26CE |
| ♞ | 265E | ⇥ | 2.10E+06 | ⇣ | 2.10E+04 | ⛋ | 26CB |
| ♟ | 265F | ⏍ | 23CD | ⇤ | 2.10E+05 | ⛗ | 26D7 |
| ⏀ | 23C0 | ♨ | 2668 | ⏎ | 23CE | ♠ | 2660 |
| ⏁ | 23C1 | ♩ | 2669 | ⏏ | 23CF | ♡ | 2661 |
| ⏂ | 23C2 | ⇭ | 21ED | ⇩ | 2.10E+10 | ♢ | 2662 |
| ⏃ | 23C3 | ♫ | 266B | ⇪ | 21EA | ♣ | 2663 |
| ♤ | 2664 | ⇫ | 21EB | ⇬ | 21EC | ♥ | 2665 |
| ♗ | 2657 | ⏅ | 23C5 | ♬ | 266C | ♦ | 2666 |
| ♘ | 2658 | ⏆ | 23C6 | ⌖ | 2316 | ♧ | 2667 |
| ♙ | 2659 | ⏇ | 23C7 | ⌗ | 2317 | ♪ | 266A |
| ♚ | 265A | ⏈ | 23C8 | ♮ | 266E | ⚿ | 26BF |
| ♛ | 265B | ⏉ | 23C9 | ⌘ | 2318 | ⛀ | 26C0 |
| ⚾ | 26BE | ⛴ | 26F4 | ⛂ | 26C2 | ♭ | 266D |
| ⛳ | 26F3 | ⛁ | 26C1 | ♯ | 266F |