The classic Windows Character Map doesn't receive much attention from the average user, but that doesn't minimize its usefulness. However, its classic interface presents some limitations that sometimes make searching for specific symbols difficult. If you're interested in a much more flexible and easy-to-use alternative, you should get a copy of BabelMap.
Sooner or later we find ourselves needing to reproduce a symbol or letter that isn't available on our keyboard. One of the most common shortcuts is to take that symbol from somewhere else and let the magic of copy and paste do the rest. In other cases, it's enough to know the associated ANSI code. For example, there was a time when it was quite rare to find the letter ñ on keyboards, but ALT+164 and ALT+165 solve that problem. Something similar happened with the at sign, invoked via ALT+64. For the rest, a visit to the Character Map is necessary.
It's one of the "oldest" tools that accompanies Windows, and although we always appreciate legacy support, its interface reflects its age. Navigating inside the Character Map isn't the most comfortable thing in the world, and the descriptions are limited. Fortunately, there are some very robust alternatives out there, and one of our favorites is BabelMap, which received its last update on March 30, 2020, raising Unicode support to version 13.0.
BabelMap allows us to search for symbols by name, code, and special filters, has an integrated tool to export characters to images, and presents advanced information about each one, including the original date of introduction and its history through Unicode versions.
The complete software is contained in an .exe file that sits above 18 megabytes, and has no external dependencies, which allows it to run on operating systems as far back as Windows 2000 (and on the official page there are previous builds for Windows 9x).
In previous editions, BabelMap had some issues with false positives, but in this latest version only Comodo's engine raises an alert within VirusTotal. I downloaded two copies of BabelMap on two different systems, and none of the installed antimalware had any complaints. Finally, BabelMap is free for personal "and" commercial use, but its developer accepts donations.
Official website and download: Click here.
https://old.neoteo.com/mausr-identificar-encontrar-simbolo-unicode/
