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How to use emojis on macOS
In This Article
Want to level up your online conversations and inject some personality into your messages? Emoji could be the answer! While they’re easily accessible oniPhoneandAndroid,Macusers often wonder how to access them. Well, fret not, because we have the solution for you.
Inserting emojis into your text on a Mac is a piece of cake, and we’ll let you in on a little secret: there’s a nifty keyboard shortcut that brings up an iOS-style emoji picker in almost any app across macOS. So, whether you’re itching to add some flair to a tweet or spice up an iMessage, we’ve got you covered.
Here’s how to effortlessly insert emojis on your Mac, one (or ten) at a time!
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What you’ll need:
The Short Version
Step1
Select the text field you’d like to insert emoji into
The first step is a rather simple one; select the text field you’d like to insert emoji into. The good news is that emoji work in most apps on macOS, including Messages and Notes, and can be used in Safari too – just not as a part of a URL.
Step2
Press Control + Option + Space Bar
On your Mac keyboard, press Control + Option + Space Bar at the same time to access the emoji picker. You can also use this option to insert special characters not usually present on keyboards.
Step3
Scroll through and select your chosen emoji
From the mini-window that appears next to your text field, scroll through and click on the emoji you’d like to insert. You can also search for emoji by name if you know what it’s called.
Step4
Repeat as necessary
Emoji are a bit like chocolates – the more, the better. With that said, you can repeat this process as many times as you’d like to insert a line of emoji to help express your feelings digitally!
Troubleshooting
It’s possible that the app or website in question doesn’t support the emoji picker – we’ve had issues using it in Google Docs, for example. If you’re certain that it should work in the app in question, try restarting your Mac – that has fixed emoji-related issues for us in the past.
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Lewis is the Mobile Editor of Trusted Reviews with plenty of phone experience, from the Nokia 3210 to the iPhone 14 Pro Max. He has been in the tech industry writing about phones, headphones, tablets,…
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Why trust our journalism?
Founded in 2003, Trusted Reviews exists to give our readers thorough, unbiased and independent advice on what to buy.
Today, we have millions of users a month from around the world, and assess more than 1,000 products a year.
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
