How to send a blank message on WhatsApp, Discord, Instagram and more
Pressing the space bar and hitting send does nothing in most chat apps. A blank Unicode character gets through, and it takes about ten seconds.
Short answer: apps refuse to send a message that is only ordinary spaces, so paste a blank Unicode character instead. Copy the Hangul Filler (U+3164) from the invisible character tool, paste it into the chat box and press send. If the app rejects it or the other person sees a square box, use the Braille blank (U+2800). On Discord, typing ** ** (two asterisks, a space, two asterisks) also works without copying anything.
Why the send button stays grey
Almost every chat app "trims" a message before sending it: it removes spaces, tabs and line breaks from the start and the end. If nothing is left, the message counts as empty and the send button stays disabled or does nothing.
Trimming only removes characters the app treats as whitespace. A character such as U+3164 (Hangul Filler) is classed by Unicode as a letter, and U+2800 (Braille pattern blank) as a symbol. Neither is whitespace, so they survive the trim, the message is "not empty", and yet most fonts draw them as a blank gap. That is the whole trick.
Some characters that look promising do not work here. The no-break space (U+00A0) and the em space (U+2003) are whitespace, so most apps strip them just like a normal space. Zero-width characters (U+200B and friends) usually survive the trim, but some apps remove them separately, and a message with zero width can look odd or collapse to nothing in the chat bubble. The reference table of invisible Unicode characters explains the differences.
The general method (any app)
- Open the invisible character page in your phone or computer browser and tap Copy invisible character. U+3164 is now on your clipboard.
- Switch to the chat app, long-press (or right-click) in the message box and choose Paste. The box looks empty, but the cursor moves slightly to the right.
- Press send. You should see an empty bubble.
- If the app will not send it, go back, copy U+2800 Braille pattern blank from the table and try again.
Want a taller or wider blank bubble? Use the generator on the same page to copy several characters in a row, or paste one, press the new-line key and paste another.
App by app
Apps update their filters without notice, so treat this as what usually works rather than a promise. If one character fails, try the next one in the row.
| App | Try first | Fallback | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| U+3164 | U+2800 | Plain spaces are removed. A pasted blank character normally sends as an empty-looking bubble. | |
| Telegram | U+3164 | U+2800 | Works the same way. Telegram also strips leading and trailing spaces. |
| Discord | ** ** | U+3164 | The markdown trick needs no copying; see below. Server bots or AutoMod may delete blank messages. |
| Instagram DMs | U+2800 | U+3164 | Both usually send. On some devices U+3164 shows as a small box. |
| Facebook Messenger | U+3164 | U+2800 | Usually works; the bubble may look very narrow. |
| iMessage / SMS | U+2800 | U+3164 | SMS is limited by the carrier and the receiving phone. Non-Latin characters can switch an SMS to a shorter per-message limit. |
| Slack, Teams | U+2800 | U+3164 | Often accepted; a workspace admin can still see and remove the message. |
Discord: the markdown trick
Discord formats **text** as bold. If you type two asterisks, one space and two asterisks (** **), Discord turns the asterisks into formatting and shows a bold space, which looks like an empty message. The same idea works with underscores for italics: _ _. This is handy on a computer, where copying a special character takes longer than typing five keys.
For a blank message across several lines on Discord, put the markdown trick on each line with Shift+Enter between them.
WhatsApp and Telegram
Both apps trim messages, so the space bar alone never works. Paste U+3164, send, and you get a blank bubble. You can also use a blank character to make a contact name or a group name look empty, but the app may still show the phone number in place of an empty name, so the result varies by device.
In direct messages both characters usually work. In captions and bios, a blank line made of a single invisible character is a common way to add spacing between paragraphs. Your Instagram username cannot be blank, because usernames only allow letters, numbers, full stops and underscores. The display name is a different field and is covered in the invisible name guide.
If it does not work
- The send button stays grey. The app is filtering that character. Try U+2800, then U+115F or U+1160 (other Hangul fillers) from the table.
- The other person sees a box or question mark. Their phone has no font that covers the character. U+2800 is drawn as a blank cell by almost every system, so switch to that.
- Paste does nothing. Some browsers block clipboard access in in-app browsers (for example a link opened inside Instagram). Open the page in Safari or Chrome directly, or select the blank inside the brackets in the table and copy it by hand.
- You are not sure what you copied. Paste into the clipboard tester; it lists the code point and count of every invisible character it finds.
- A keyboard app changes it. Some third-party keyboards rewrite clipboard text. Paste with the system keyboard, or use the paste option in the text field's menu.
Be considerate
A blank message is fine as a joke or a placeholder, but a lot of them in a row is spam. Many Discord servers have rules against blank or zero-width messages, and moderation bots may delete them or mute the sender. In group chats, an empty message also triggers a notification for everyone with nothing to read. Use it sparingly.
Frequently asked questions
Can the other person tell that the message contains a hidden character?
Not by looking at it. If they copy the bubble and paste it into a character inspector, such as the clipboard tester, they will see the code point.
Does a blank message count as a message for read receipts and notifications?
Yes. It is a normal message containing one character, so it triggers notifications, read receipts and chat previews like any other text.
Why does the blank bubble look wider on my phone than on my laptop?
Each device draws the character with its own font. U+3164 and U+2800 have a visible width that differs between fonts, so the bubble size changes slightly.
Can I send a blank message without copying anything?
On Discord, type ** ** (asterisks around a space). Most other apps have no built-in way, so you need to paste a blank character. On a Mac, Option+Space types a no-break space, but most apps strip that too.