Character.FromNumber Function in Power Query M (4 Examples)

Character.FromNumber returns the character whose Unicode code point matches a given number. Available in Excel (Power Query), Power BI Desktop, and Power BI Service.

If you have a number like 65 and you want the character it stands for, which is A, this is the function you reach for.

Table of Contents

Syntax of Character.FromNumber Function

Character.FromNumber(number as nullable number) as nullable text

where

number (required, nullable number). The Unicode code point to convert into a character. Pass null and you get null back.

Returns: a one-character text value for the supplied code point. If number is null, it returns null.

In plain terms, you give it a number and it hands back the single character that number represents.

Example 1: Convert a code point to a character

Convert the code point 65 into its character.

Character.FromNumber(65)

Result: A

The code point 65 is the letter A, so that is what comes back.

Example 2: Label table rows with letters A, B, C, D

A common use is turning a row position into a letter label.

Say you have a SurveyOptions table with the choices people can pick.

Here is the starting data:

Choice
Coffee
Tea
Juice
Water

Add a zero-based index, then build the label inside Table.AddColumn with Character.FromNumber(65+[Position]):

let
    Source = Excel.CurrentWorkbook(){[Name="SurveyOptions"]}[Content],
    Indexed = Table.AddIndexColumn(Source,"Position",0,1,Int64.Type),
    AddLabel = Table.AddColumn(Indexed,"OptionLabel",each Character.FromNumber(65+[Position]),type text),
    Removed = Table.RemoveColumns(AddLabel,{"Position"})
in
    Removed

The result pairs each choice with a letter:

Choice	OptionLabel
Coffee	A
Tea	B
Juice	C
Water	D

Since 65 is the code point of A, 65+0 gives A, 65+1 gives B, and so on down the rows. If your positions live in a list rather than a table, you can do the same thing with List.Transform.

Example 3: Round-trip a character through its code point

Character.FromNumber is the inverse of Character.ToNumber, so the two can be chained to recover the original character.

Say you have a GradeBands table with single-letter grades.

Here is the starting data:

Grade
B
D
F

Use Character.ToNumber to get each code point, then Character.FromNumber to rebuild the letter:

let
    Source = Excel.CurrentWorkbook(){[Name="GradeBands"]}[Content],
    AddCode = Table.AddColumn(Source,"CodePoint",each Character.ToNumber([Grade]),Int64.Type),
    AddBack = Table.AddColumn(AddCode,"Recovered",each Character.FromNumber([CodePoint]),type text)
in
    AddBack

The Recovered column matches the original Grade column:

Grade	CodePoint	Recovered
B	66	B
D	68	D
F	70	F

Character.ToNumber("B") gives 66, and Character.FromNumber(66) gives B back, so the round trip lands where it started.

Example 4: Convert a low code point to a control character

Low code points map to invisible control characters rather than printable text.

Character.FromNumber(9)

Result: "#(tab)"

The code point 9 is the tab character. It produces a real character, but nothing visible in a cell, so the M engine shows it as the escape sequence "#(tab)".

Things to keep in mind with Character.FromNumber

The input is a Unicode code point, not just ASCII. 65 gives A, but you can also pass 8226 for a bullet or 169 for the copyright symbol. Hex literals work too, like 0x1F600.
Control characters are invisible. Code points 0 to 31 are control characters such as tab (9), line feed (10), and carriage return (13). They come back as a real character but show up as escapes like "#(tab)", "#(lf)", or "#(cr)" instead of rendering.
The inverse is Character.ToNumber. Use Character.ToNumber to find a code point and Character.FromNumber to rebuild the character. The two round-trip, as shown in Example 3.
Code points above U+FFFF return a surrogate pair. Astral-plane values like the emoji 0x1F600 come back as a two-unit UTF-16 surrogate pair, which M displays as "#(0001F600)".
null passes through. Because the parameter is nullable, Character.FromNumber(null) returns null instead of throwing, which is handy when a column has blanks.
Out-of-range code points throw. A number outside the valid Unicode range (negative, or above 1114111) raises an Expression.Error.

Common questions about Character.FromNumber

What is the difference between Character.FromNumber and Text.From?

Text.From(65) turns the number 65 into the text "65", the digits themselves, much like Number.ToText does. Character.FromNumber(65) turns the code point 65 into the character A. One gives you the number as a string, the other gives you the character that number represents.

How do I insert a line break into a Power Query value?

Use Character.FromNumber(10) for a line feed, or Character.FromNumber(13)&Character.FromNumber(10) for a Windows CRLF. Concatenate it between text pieces, for example [Line1]&Character.FromNumber(10)&[Line2].

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