How to Use Emoji in Windows
How to Use Emoji in Windows
Ah, the emojis. Although they first came to phones in 1997, it wasn’t until they were added to iOS in 2011 that they really started to take off. Android followed two years later, and the rest is history.
Since then, you probably use emoji, whether it’s to laugh at a funny joke, express your love for something, or just add more meaning to a conversation. More recently, you have been able to use them to react to specific messages and even emails – on Outlook anyway.
But while your use of emoji is almost exclusive to phones and tablets, it doesn’t have to be that way. Windows 10 and Windows 11 let you access built-in emojis, although not all apps support them. Here’s how to start.
How to use emoji on Windows
We are using Windows 11 for the purposes of this tutorial. It looks slightly different on Windows 10, but the method is almost identical.
Open any app that supports emojis
Anyron Copeman / Foundry
The pre-installed Notepad (shown above), Sticky Notes, and many sites in Microsoft Edge (or any web browser) do this. Try the steps in this article if you are unsure.
Launch emoji panel
Anyron Copeman / Foundry
Click anywhere you can type (and want to add an emoji), then use Windows key + semicolon or Windows key + period to launch the emoji panel. Click on any of the 12 you see to add them immediately.
Find your emoji(s)
Anyron Copeman / Foundry
For more emojis, click the smiley face icon at the top of the panel. You will then be presented with a screen like above, allowing you to choose a specific category or search for something specific. Just click on the ones you want to add.
In the people category, you will find six different skin tones to choose from.
Anyron Copeman / Foundry
In Windows 11, you can also add GIFs from the same panel. Just click the GIF icon instead of the emoji, then search for anything on the Tenor GIF keyboard.
Anyron Copeman / Foundry
However, these are not supported in as many places as emojis and are only available through third-party apps on Windows 10.
To make things even faster, most apps turn a few keyboard shortcuts into specific emojis. A colon and closed bracket for a smiley face, a colon and open bracket for a sad face, and a colon and capital P for a face with a sticking out tongue are the most common, but there may be more on apps that you use.
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