How to Make a Heart Symbol

A heart drawn with candies

Soon after the mass introduction of the Internet, chatrooms, forums and instant messaging became popular vehicles for communication. Along with the new medium came novel symbols for communication. Pleasure could be expressed with a simple :), a mere colon and parentheses. Inverted, these symbols could express disappointment, :(. A wealth of other symbols and meanings were created, too, including surprise, sunshine and spades. One of the more popular was a heart symbol, which could be drawn with two simple keystrokes.

Things You'll Need

• Keyboard

Instructions

1. Hold down "Shift" while pressing the ">" key, which is found three keys to the side of the right-hand "Shift" key.

2. Release the "Shift" key and press the "3" key, which can be found at the top of the keyboard above the "W" and "E" keys.

3. Press "Enter" to send your heart symbol immediately if you're using instant messenger. Some programs will automatically convert the "<3" symbol into an emoticon heart. Forums and email clients are less likely to perform this conversion.

Tips & Warnings

• Alternatively, some programs allow you to draw an emoticon heart by holding the "Alt" key and pressing "3." If your program recognizes this command, it will automatically draw a graphic heart, rather than the "<3" symbol.

References

• Squidoo: How to Make Keyboard Symbols Using the "Alt" Key