Stacked lines meaning 'menu' in two places: one is a control on screen, the other a key you can press.
The hamburger is three plain stacked lines on screen and opens the main navigation. The menu key is a physical key, drawn as a small panel of lines with a pointer beside it, and opens the context menu for whatever is selected — the keyboard equivalent of a right-click. The shared stacked-lines motif is the only thing they have in common.
Both use stacked horizontal lines to stand for a menu; one is a physical keyboard key, the other a control on screen.
Drawn from the visual attributes recorded for each symbol. Only traits the two records disagree about are listed.
| Trait | Hamburger menu | Menu key symbol |
|---|---|---|
| Built from | lines and dots | squares, lines and dots |
| Symmetry | bilateral | none |
| Hamburger menu | Menu key symbol | |
|---|---|---|
| Physical or on screen | On screen | A key on the keyboard |
| Opens | Main navigation | Context menu for the selection |
| Pointer in the drawing | No | Yes |
| Equivalent to | Tapping a navigation button | Right-clicking |
| Relationship (from Symbolwise's records) | Commonly confused with Menu key symbol — Both use stacked horizontal lines to stand for a menu; one is a physical keyboard key, the other a control on screen. | Commonly confused with Hamburger menu — Both use stacked horizontal lines to stand for a menu; the menu key is a physical keyboard key, the hamburger a touch target on screen. |
Unicode Code Chart: Miscellaneous Symbols (U+2600–U+26FF)
The Unicode Consortium · retrieved 2026-07-30
Authoritative for the character's code point, name and block only. Unicode assigns identity; it does not define what a symbol means in use.
Wikipedia · retrieved 2026-07-31
Tertiary reference. Used for widely-agreed identity and origin summary, not for contested detail or exact dates.
Wikipedia · retrieved 2026-08-01
Tertiary reference. Used for widely-agreed identity, origin and current use, not for contested detail or exact dates.
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