How to use emoji in Windows
Ah, smileys. Although they first appeared on phones back in 1997, it wasn’t until they were added to iOS in 2011 that they really started to take off. Android arrived two years later, and the rest is history.
You’ve probably been using emoji ever since when laughing at a funny joke, expressing your love for something, or simply adding more meaning to a conversation. More recently, you could use them to respond to certain messages and even emails – at least in Outlook.
But while your use of emoji may be almost exclusively for phones and tablets, it doesn’t have to be. Both Windows 10 and Windows 11 allow you to access built-in emoji even though not all apps support them. Here’s how to get started.
How to use emoji in Windows
We are using Windows 11 for the purposes of this guide. On Windows 10, it looks a little different, but the method is nearly identical.
Open any app that supports emoji.
Eniron Koopman / Foundry
The preinstalled Notepad (shown above), Sticky Notes, and many sites in Microsoft Edge (or any other web browser) are fine. Try the steps in this article if you’re not sure.
Launch the emoji bar
Eniron Koopman / Foundry
Click anywhere you can type (and want to add an emoji), then use Windows key + semicolon or Windows key + period to open the emoji panel. Click on any of the 12 you see to add them immediately.
Find your emoticons
Eniron Koopman / Foundry
To see more emoticons, click the smiley icon at the top of the panel. You will then be presented with a screen similar to the one above, allowing you to select a specific category or search for something specific. Just click on any you want to add.
In the people category, you will find six different skin tones to choose from.
Eniron Koopman / Foundry
On Windows 11, you can also add GIFs from the same panel. Just click the GIF icon, not the emoji icon, then search for something on the Tenor GIF keyboard.
Eniron Koopman / Foundry
However, they are not as widely supported as emoji and are only available through third-party apps on Windows 10.
To speed things up, most apps turn multiple keyboard shortcuts into specific emojis. A colon and a closed bracket for a smiley face, a colon and an open bracket for a sad face, and a colon and a capital P for a tongue sticking out face are the most common, but there may be more in the apps you use.
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