How to Type Emojis on Windows, Mac, iPhone & Android: Complete Guide

How to Access Emojis on Every Platform

Most people only know one way to type emojis — tapping the smiley face on their phone keyboard. But every device has powerful emoji features you might not know about. This guide covers every platform.

Windows 10 & 11

Keyboard Shortcut

Press Windows Key + . (period) or Windows Key + ; (semicolon)

This opens the emoji picker with search, categories, recent emojis, GIFs, kaomoji, and symbols. It works in any text field — browsers, Word, Notepad, Slack, everything.

Pro Tips for Windows

• Type to search: Just start typing after opening the picker (e.g., "heart" to find ❤️)
• The "Kaomoji" tab has text emoticons like (╯°□°)╯︵ ┻━┻
• The "Symbols" tab includes special characters (™, ©, §, etc.)
• Recent emojis appear at the top for quick access

macOS

Keyboard Shortcut

Press Control + Command + Space (⌃⌘Space)

This opens the Character Viewer with full emoji search and browsing. You can also access it from the menu bar.

Pro Tips for Mac

• Click the smiley face icon in the menu bar (enable in System Settings > Keyboard)
• The Character Viewer also has symbols, arrows, math operators, and special characters
• You can drag and drop emojis from the viewer into any app
• Type emoji names in Spotlight (⌘Space) to find and copy them

iPhone & iPad

How to Access

Tap the smiley face icon (😊) or globe icon (🌐) on the keyboard to switch to the emoji keyboard.

Pro Tips for iOS

• Search: Tap the search field at the top of the emoji keyboard to find specific emojis by name
• Skin tones: Long-press any human emoji to choose from 6 skin tone options
• Predictive emojis: Type a word like "love" and the predictive bar suggests ❤️
• Emoji replacement: After typing a message, switch to emoji keyboard — highlighted words can be tapped to replace with emojis
• Memoji: Create custom animated emojis based on your face (iPhone X and later)

Android

How to Access

Tap the smiley face icon on Gboard (Google Keyboard) or your default keyboard. On Samsung, tap the emoji button next to the space bar.

Pro Tips for Android

• Gboard search: Tap the search icon in the emoji picker and type to find emojis
• Emoji Kitchen: On Gboard, combine two emojis to create custom mashups (e.g., 😍 + 🐱 = a cat with heart eyes)
• Stickers: Gboard's sticker suggestions auto-generate based on your typed text
• Skin tones: Long-press human emojis for skin tone options, just like iOS

Chrome Browser (Any OS)

Right-click in any text field and select "Emoji & Symbols" or "Emoji" from the context menu. This works on Windows, Mac, and Chrome OS.

Linux

Install an emoji picker:

• GNOME: Press Ctrl + . (GNOME 3.34+) for built-in emoji picker
• KDE: Use Spectacle's emoji picker or install Emote
• Terminal: Install emote — a GTK3 emoji picker for Linux

Quick Copy-Paste Method (Any Device)

The fastest way on any device: Visit bestemojis.com, search for the emoji you need, click to copy, and paste anywhere. Works on every device, every browser, every app.