What is the difference between NFC, NFD, NFKC and NFKD?

NFC composes canonical sequences where possible, so an e plus a combining acute accent becomes the single code point é when Unicode defines that composed form. NFD does the reverse and decomposes canonical characters into base letters plus combining marks, which is useful when you need to strip accents or inspect exactly where a mark came from. NFKC and NFKD add compatibility folding on top of that. They can turn fullwidth Ａ into A, circled ① into 1, and the ﬁ ligature into fi, so they are useful for search keys and dedupe, but they may lose appearance-level distinctions that you might want to preserve in the original text.

Why do two strings that look identical compare as different?

Unicode often has more than one valid encoding for the same visible text. For example, é may be stored as U+00E9 or as U+0065 followed by U+0301, and many editors or operating systems choose different forms when copying filenames or names. A byte-for-byte equality check sees those encodings as different even though the browser renders them the same. Normalize both strings to the same form, usually NFC for storage or NFKC for a search key, and inspect the code-point table when you need to prove where they differ.

How does this tool handle invalid or malformed Unicode?

JavaScript strings are UTF-16, so malformed input usually means a lone high or low surrogate code unit that is not paired into a real code point. Instead of throwing, the tool marks that row as malformed, reports the surrogate code unit, and still lets you inspect the rest of the text. This is useful when debugging corrupted logs, partial database exports, or escaped data that was sliced in the middle of an emoji. Normalization output remains available, but the warning tells you the source text should be repaired before it becomes a production key.

Does normalization remove accents or invisible characters?

Normalization alone does not mean "remove". NFD and NFKD expose accents as combining mark code points, but they do not delete those marks; you would still filter combining marks afterwards if accent stripping is your goal. Invisible format characters such as zero-width joiner or direction controls are also not automatically removed by NFC or NFD. Use the inspector table to find their exact U+ values, then remove them deliberately in your own cleanup step.

Is pasted text uploaded or stored?

No. Code-point inspection, character-name lookup, category detection and normalization all run in the current browser tab with built-in JavaScript APIs and small local lookup tables. The component makes no external API calls. Short text can be stored in the share URL so a link reopens the same view. Very large input is kept out of the URL, and you should also avoid sharing URLs that contain private names, tokens, messages or customer data.

Explain why two copied usernames do not match

Paste both values and compare their code-point rows. One may contain a decomposed accent, a zero-width joiner, or a Cyrillic letter that looks like Latin. Normalize to NFC or NFKC, then copy the form your username check should use.

Prepare text for search indexing and dedupe

Before importing a CSV column, run suspicious names or product labels through NFKC and inspect what changed. Fullwidth letters, circled digits and ligatures collapse to searchable equivalents while the table shows which original code points caused the mismatch.

Debug corrupted emoji or malformed exports

If an emoji was sliced in the middle, the inspector reports the lone UTF-16 surrogate instead of hiding the problem. You can still inspect nearby characters and decide whether to repair, drop, or re-export the broken row.

Unicode Inspector and Normalizer: code points, names, categories, NFC, NFD, NFKC and NFKD

Inspect code points, names, categories, UTF-8 bytes and normalize text to NFC, NFD, NFKC or NFKD entirely in your browser.

Runs locally
Category Text
Best for Removing repetitive cleanup work from everyday writing and operations.

Input text

Paste text to inspect code points and compare NFC, NFD, NFKC and NFKD normalization.

UTF-16 units0

code points0

UTF-8 bytes0

malformed0

Output form

Canonical composition: compose base letters and marks when Unicode has a single code point.

Normalized output

Code point inspector

0 code points

No code points to display yet.

What this tool does

Browser-side Unicode inspector and normalizer for developers, editors and localization teams who need to see what a string actually contains. Paste text to inspect each code point with its U+ value, decimal value, best available character name, general category, Unicode block, UTF-8 bytes, UTF-16 code units, JavaScript escape and HTML entity. The same input is normalized into NFC, NFD, NFKC and NFKD so you can compare composed accents, decomposed combining marks, fullwidth forms, ligatures and other compatibility characters before copying the exact output you need.

The tool flags malformed UTF-16 lone surrogates instead of crashing, keeps very large pasted text out of the share URL, limits the visible inspection table for performance, and never calls an external API. It is built for debugging invisible characters, search and dedupe mismatches, imported CSV text, PDF copy-paste artifacts, usernames, slugs and multilingual content pipelines.

Tool details

Input: Text; The page exposes text boxes, numeric controls, file pickers, or structured inputs depending on the tool.
Output: Live result + Copy; The result area focuses on usable output, with copy, download, or preview actions when supported.
Privacy: Browser-side processing; The main tool logic does not call an external API, so inputs normally stay in the current tab.
Save / share: Shareable URL state; Key settings are encoded in the URL so another person can reopen the same setup.
Performance budget: Initial JS <= 24 KB; No WASM budget is declared, keeping the tool quick to open on mobile.
Best fit: Text · Developer; Category and role tags drive related tools, internal links, and quick fit checks.

How to use

1. Input

Paste or drop your content into the tool panel.
2. Process

Click the button. All processing is local in your browser.
3. Copy / Download

Copy the result or download to disk in one click.

How Unicode Inspector and Normalizer fits into your work

Use it to clean, compare, reshape, or extract plain text before it goes into a document, CMS, spreadsheet, or prompt.

Text jobs

Removing repetitive cleanup work from everyday writing and operations.
Making text easier to compare, paste, publish, or feed into another tool.
Working with content locally when the text is private or unfinished.

Text checks

Scan for unintended whitespace, duplicate lines, and lost punctuation.
For long text, test the first few lines before applying the whole change.
Copy the final output only after checking the preview.

Good next steps

These links move the current task into a more complete workflow.

Real-world use cases

Explain why two copied usernames do not match
Paste both values and compare their code-point rows. One may contain a decomposed accent, a zero-width joiner, or a Cyrillic letter that looks like Latin. Normalize to NFC or NFKC, then copy the form your username check should use.
Prepare text for search indexing and dedupe
Before importing a CSV column, run suspicious names or product labels through NFKC and inspect what changed. Fullwidth letters, circled digits and ligatures collapse to searchable equivalents while the table shows which original code points caused the mismatch.
Debug corrupted emoji or malformed exports
If an emoji was sliced in the middle, the inspector reports the lone UTF-16 surrogate instead of hiding the problem. You can still inspect nearby characters and decide whether to repair, drop, or re-export the broken row.

Common pitfalls

Normalizing display text only to NFKC and discarding the original. Keep the original for display when appearance matters, and store a separate normalized search key.
Assuming one visible glyph is one code point. Emoji sequences, flags and accented letters can span several code points, so compare the inspector rows before slicing strings.
Treating malformed UTF-16 as harmless. A lone surrogate is a sign that data was truncated or decoded incorrectly, and it should be repaired before it becomes an identifier.

Privacy

The inspector and normalizer run locally in the browser. Short text can be encoded into the URL for shareable examples, but large pasted input is kept local and the component never sends the text to an API.

FAQ

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Unicode Inspector and Normalizer: code points, names, categories, NFC, NFD, NFKC and NFKD

Code point inspector

What this tool does

Tool details

How to use

1. Input

2. Process

3. Copy / Download

How Unicode Inspector and Normalizer fits into your work

Text jobs

Text checks

Good next steps

Real-world use cases

Explain why two copied usernames do not match

Prepare text for search indexing and dedupe

Debug corrupted emoji or malformed exports

Common pitfalls

Privacy

FAQ

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