CHAR()

Returns the single-byte character with the specified integer code, as defined by the character set and encoding of the default collation of the current database.

Signature

CHAR ( integer_expression )

Parameters

  • integer_expression — An integer from 0 through 255. `CHAR` returns a `NULL` value for integer expressions outside this input range or not representing a complete character.

Examples

SELECT CHAR(65) AS sixty_five;
sixty_five
----------
A
SELECT CHAR(65) AS [65], CHAR(66) AS [66],
CHAR(97) AS [97], CHAR(98) AS [98],
CHAR(49) AS [49], CHAR(50) AS [50];
A|B|a|b|1|2

Run against SQL Server 16.0.4265.3 on 2026-09-13. This is the output we got, not the documentation’s.

Available on

  • SQL Server 2017 and later
  • Azure SQL Database
  • Azure SQL Managed Instance
  • Azure Synapse Analytics
  • Analytics Platform System (PDW)
  • Microsoft Fabric warehouse
  • Fabric SQL database

Want to run this against your own SQL Server server from an iPhone, iPad or Mac? These are ours — every connection goes straight from the device to your database, with no account and no server of ours in between.

NavidogEvery engine we support, in one app

Signature and description adapted from the Microsoft SQL documentation, used under the CC BY 4.0. SQL Server and Azure are trademarks of the Microsoft group of companies. This page is not affiliated with Microsoft.