Urdu, Arabic-Indic or English Digits? How to Keep Numbers Consistent

Published by Shoaib Ahmed · November 2026

A number can look right and still be wrong. Urdu text can contain three different sets of digits, and in most fonts several of them look the same. This guide shows which digits are different, why a document with mixed digits fails in ways you cannot see, which style to choose, and how to convert them safely.

Three digit sets

What you can see and what you cannot

We drew all three sets in two common Urdu fonts, Noto Nastaliq Urdu and Noto Naskh Arabic. In both, the digits 4, 5 and 6 are clearly different in the Urdu and Arabic-Indic sets, and 7 is also different in the Nastaliq font. The other digits (0, 1, 2, 3, 8 and 9) look the same in the two sets.

That is the trap. The number ۱۲۳ can be typed with Urdu digits (U+06F1, U+06F2, U+06F3) or with Arabic-Indic digits (U+0661, U+0662, U+0663), and you cannot tell which by looking. A mixed number such as ۱٢٣ looks perfectly normal.

Why it matters

Programs compare characters, not shapes. In a quick test in a browser, “۱۲۳” and “١٢٣” are not equal, and the standard number conversion of “۱۲۳” returns NaN, which means “not a number”. In practice a search for one set will not find the other, a sort can put them apart, and a form or a spreadsheet that expects a number may refuse them. Programs differ, so test the one you rely on. You usually find out only when something fails.

How mixing happens

Digits come from your keyboard layout, from the websites and PDFs you copy from, and from the people who edit the file. A single document can end up with English, Urdu and Arabic-Indic digits at once without anyone choosing it.

How to find out what you have

For 4, 5, 6 and 7 you can see it. For the rest you need a tool. The Urdu text cleaner has a Check my text button that counts the Arabic-Indic digits in a text, so you know whether there is a problem before you change anything.

Which style to use

• Forms, invoices, bank slips, identity numbers and phone numbers: English digits (0 to 9) are usually the safe choice, because systems, printers and most readers expect them.
• Urdu prose, books and poetry: Urdu digits (۰ to ۹) fit the script, as long as the whole document uses them.
• Arabic-Indic digits in Urdu text: avoid them. They are what an Arabic keyboard or an Arabic source produces, and the 4, 5 and 6 look foreign to many Urdu readers.
• Whatever you choose, use it everywhere: dates, amounts, page numbers and phone numbers included. These are judgments, not rules, so follow your institution’s form if it asks for something else.

Converting safely

The cleaner has three digit options. Here they are on one sentence, counted by the tool itself:

The first option changes only the wrong set (٤٥٦ became ۴۵۶) and leaves everything else alone. The other two change every digit, so use them only when the whole document should follow one style. “All digits to Urdu digits” also changes digits that belong to codes and English names: “Windows 10 پر ٤٥٦ ہے” becomes “Windows ۱۰ پر ۴۵۶ ہے”, and a phone number written in English digits would change too. Read the result before you copy it.

Amounts in words

The number to Urdu words tool accepts English, Urdu and Arabic-Indic digits, so a mixed number does not stop it. For the amounts themselves, how to write amounts in words in Urdu covers lakh, crore and the checks that matter on a cheque.

Questions people ask

Which digits does my keyboard type?

It depends on the layout and the device. Type 4, 5 and 6 and compare them with the table above.

Does the counter count Urdu digits?

Yes. The word and character counter counts a number written in any of the three sets as a word.

Read next

Numbers also behave oddly inside right-to-left lines. How to type Urdu in Microsoft Word explains phone numbers and dates in Word, and what Unicode means for Urdu explains why look-alike characters are different characters.

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