Exotic spaces
IDEOGRAPHIC SPACE (U+3000)
A full-width space, exactly as wide as a CJK character. It is the space key on a Japanese, Chinese or Korean input method in full-width mode.
- Codepoint
U+3000- Also written as
u3000\u3000　- Category
- Exotic spaces
- Removed by default
- No
- Governing option
- Spaces
-s - Can be load-bearing
- No
Copy and paste U+3000
To copy and paste IDEOGRAPHIC SPACE (U+3000), press the button: the character itself goes to your clipboard, and Ctrl+V (Cmd+V on a Mac) pastes it anywhere you can type.
Where it comes from
CJK text of every kind, including indentation at the start of a Japanese paragraph, and from anyone whose IME was in full-width mode when they hit the space bar.
Why it matters
In Latin text it looks like a wide space and behaves like an unknown character: it breaks `split(" ")`, form validation and search. In CJK text it is the correct space and removing it damages the layout.
Before and after
A full-width space between two Latin words: wider than expected, and not U+0020.
The character is shown as a labelled chip so you can see where it sits. In your text it draws nothing at all.
When it is legitimate
Throughout CJK typography: paragraph indentation, spacing between names, alignment in vertical text.
How to remove it
Turn on Spaces (`-s`) and it is replaced with an ordinary space. Think before doing that to Japanese or Chinese text.
Working in a file rather than a paste? The document report for .docx, .odt and .html finds it inside the file, together with hidden runs and tracked changes, without you having to open it. If the question is what the rest of the writing does rather than what this one character does, measure sentence-length variation and see where each habit sits, with no score and no claim about who wrote the text.
Is it an AI watermark?
Not a watermark
No. It is the ordinary space of CJK writing. In Latin text it means someone had a full-width IME on.
No connection to machine-generated text. It comes from software, from a keyboard, or from a person.
Questions
Should I normalise it in Japanese text?
Usually not. It is the correct space for CJK, and replacing it with an ASCII space changes the visual rhythm of the line.
Why do forms reject my input?
Many validators trim ASCII whitespace only. A leading ideographic space is not trimmed, so the field looks empty-but-not-empty to the validator.
Check your own text
Paste anything into the cleaner to see every hidden character it contains, with position, codepoint and what happens to each one. Nothing is uploaded.
Check your own textClean it in Chrome as you pasteClean it on your Mac with one keystrokeAll characters