Scan Urdu text for hidden bidirectional characters that can change how it reads or hide unexpected content.
Quick Answer
The Urdu Bidi Character Detector scans your text for the invisible bidirectional characters defined by Unicode, such as the right-to-left mark, the embeddings, the overrides, and the isolates. It tells you whether any are present, how many, and exactly where. Everything runs in your browser.
Detect Bidi Characters
Paste text to check for hidden bidirectional characters.
Detection report
- Bidi characters
- 0
- Total characters
- 0
- Kinds
- 0
- Overrides
- 0
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Tap a star to rate the Urdu Bidi Character Detector.
What the Urdu Bidi Character Detector Does
The Urdu Bidi Character Detector scans a piece of text for bidirectional format characters, the invisible marks that Unicode uses to control direction. It reports whether any are present, counts them, names each one, and shows where it sits in the text.
Because these characters are invisible, they are easy to miss, and a detector is the reliable way to know they are there.
Everything runs on your own device. Your text is never uploaded or stored, so it stays private while you scan it.
How to Detect Bidi Characters
- Paste your text. Enter or paste the text you want to check.
- Read the verdict. See at once whether any bidi characters are present.
- Check the list. See each character named, with its code point and position.
- Copy or download. Copy the report, or save it as a text file.
Which Characters It Finds
The detector looks for the Unicode bidirectional format characters: the left-to-right and right-to-left marks, the Arabic letter mark, the left-to-right and right-to-left embeddings, the pop formatting character, the two overrides, and the isolates with their pop. These are the characters that steer the Bidirectional Algorithm.
Why They Matter
These characters can be useful, for example a mark that fixes the direction of a lone number. They can also be a problem, since an override can make text read differently from how it is stored, which has been used to disguise file names and code. Knowing they are present is the first step.
The Marked-Up Copy
The detector can show a copy of your text with each bidi character replaced by a visible tag, such as the name in brackets. This lets you see exactly where an invisible character sits between the letters you can read.
A Worked Example
Text:
Loading example…
Detection report:
Loading example…
The live detector is preparing this example…
The result above comes from the same function the tool uses, so it reflects real behavior. Press Load Example to try it.
Who Uses This Detector
Developers and security reviewers use it to check pasted text and code. Editors use it to clean documents. Anyone unsure about hidden characters uses it to find them.
Accuracy and Limits
The detector finds the Unicode bidirectional format characters by their code points, exactly. It reports the ones that are present; it does not judge whether they were added on purpose. To remove them, use the bidi control character cleaner.
Good to know: ordinary Urdu letters are naturally right-to-left and are not flagged, since they are not format characters.
Your Data Stays Private
The detector runs fully in your browser with standard web technology. Your text is not uploaded or stored, and it is not sent to any analytics service. Only your star rating is sent, to record the tool’s rating. When you close the page, your text is gone.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does the Urdu Bidi Character Detector do?
It scans text for the invisible bidirectional format characters and reports whether any are present, how many, and where.
Which characters does it find?
The Unicode bidi format characters: the marks, the embeddings, the pop formatting character, the overrides, and the isolates.
Are Urdu letters flagged?
No. Ordinary Urdu letters are naturally right-to-left content, not format characters, so they are not flagged.
Why do hidden bidi characters matter?
They can fix the direction of a number, or, in the case of an override, make text read differently from how it is stored.
How do I remove them?
Use the bidi control character cleaner, which takes them out and returns clean text.
Is my data safe?
Yes. Everything runs in your browser. Your text is never uploaded, saved, or shared.
Is this tool free?
Yes, it is completely free and needs no account to use.
Does it work on mobile?
Yes. It works on phones, tablets, and computers.
Explore More Free Urdu Unicode and RTL Tools
Inspectors, detectors, cleaners, and normalizers built for real Urdu Unicode text.
Open the Urdu Tools hubSources and standards
- The Unicode Standard and code charts (Arabic block U+0600, Arabic Supplement, Presentation Forms). unicode.org/charts
- UAX #9, Unicode Bidirectional Algorithm (RTL, marks, isolates, overrides). unicode.org/reports/tr9
- UAX #15, Unicode Normalization Forms (NFC, NFD, NFKC, NFKD). unicode.org/reports/tr15
- MDN Web Docs, String.prototype.normalize and code point methods. developer.mozilla.org
This free tool scans text for the invisible Unicode bidirectional format characters, reporting whether any are present, how many, and where. It finds them by their code points and does not judge intent. To remove them, use the bidi control character cleaner. Your star rating is stored on the site.