Shrug Emoticon — Copy and Paste
200 unique shrug emoticons, from the classic ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ to every arm and face variation.
About the shrug emoticon
The shrug — ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ — is the most copied emoticon on the internet. It says “who knows”, “not my problem”, and “I have stopped trying” all at once, which is why it works as a complete reply with no words attached. This page holds 200 unique variations built from different arms, faces, and decorations.
How the shrug is built
Four parts: the left arm ¯\_, a bracket, the face, and the right arm _/¯. The ツ in the middle is the Japanese katakana character “tsu” — it has no facial meaning in Japanese at all, it was simply adopted because its shape looks like a smiling face. Swap any part and you get a new shrug, which is exactly what the variations on this page do.
The backslash problem
On Reddit, Discord, and anywhere else that uses markdown, a single backslash is an escape character — so ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ often arrives missing its left arm. There are two fixes. Double the backslash so it survives the parser, or pick one of the bracket-armed variations on this page, like ┐(ツ)┌ or ╮(ツ)╭, which have no backslash to strip. Our Reddit guide walks through the escaping in detail.
Typing it without copying
Nobody types the shrug character by character. If you use it constantly, set a text-replacement shortcut: on iPhone go to Settings → General → Keyboard → Text Replacement and map “shrug” to the pasted emoticon; Android offers the same under personal dictionary. After that, typing shrug expands into the full face anywhere on your phone.
Where it works
The shrug renders correctly in WhatsApp, Discord, Telegram, Instagram, Slack, X, and most game chats. In very narrow comment columns the long version can wrap awkwardly — use a compact variation from the top of this page in those places. Build a custom one in the shrug generator.
FAQ
How do I type the shrug emoticon?
Copy it from this page — it cannot be typed directly. For repeat use, save it as a text-replacement shortcut on your phone so typing “shrug” expands into the face.
Why does my shrug lose an arm?
Markdown platforms like Reddit and Discord treat the backslash as an escape character. Double the backslash, or use a bracket-armed variation instead.
What does ツ mean?
It is the Japanese katakana character “tsu”. It carries no facial meaning in Japanese — it was adopted purely because its shape resembles a face.
How many shrug variations are here?
200 unique shrugs, combining different arm styles, faces, and decorations.