diff --git a/README.asciidoc b/README.asciidoc
index 762b33483..45579cace 100644
--- a/README.asciidoc
+++ b/README.asciidoc
@@ -267,6 +267,16 @@ Press {sc_input_unicode_character} to start the unicode input widget, shown belo
 
 image::unicode.png?raw=true[Unicode input widget, showing selection of unicode characters by name]
 
+In Code mode, you enter a unicode character by typing in the hex code for the
+character and pressing enter, for example, type in 2716 and press enter to get
+✖. You can also choose a character from the list of recently used characters by
+typing a leading period and then the two character index and pressing Enter.
+
+In Name mode you instead type words from the character name and use the arrow
+keys/tab to select the character from the displayed matches. You can also type
+a leading period and the index for the match if you dont like to use arrow
+keys.
+
 == URL hints
 
 kitty has a _hints mode_ to click URLs visible on the screen by using only the keyboard.