Emoji are the smiley-face characters you can add to text and chat messages, and those symbols are included with OS X and iOS. All you need to know is where to look. All we ask is that you use your Emoji responsibly.
To find Emoji on your Mac, enable the Keyboard & Character Viewers. Here's how:
Enable the keyboard menu item in the Keyboard Preferences Pane
- Launch System Preferences, then select the Keyboard Preference Pane
- Click the Keyboard tab
- Check Show Keyboard & Character Viewers in menu bar
The Keyboard & Character Viewers menu item is your key to Emoji on the Mac
To add Emoji to your documents or messages, place the cursor where you want the smiley-face to appear, and then choose Show Character Viewer from the Keyboard menu bar icon. Now select the Emoji section from the left column in the Character Viewer window. Just double-click the Emoji you want to add, and it will appear at the cursor in your document or chat.
Double-click an Emoji character to add it to your document or chat
If you want to learn more about the Keyboard & Character Viewers, check out Melissa Holt's awesome tip.
To use Emoji on your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch, you need to enable the feature by adding an extra keyboard. Here's how:
iOS Keyboard settings enables extra keyboards, including Emoji
- Tap Settings, then tap General
- Scroll down and select Keyboard
- Tap Keyboards
- Tap Add New Keyboard, and then select Emoji
Tap the Globe button to view the Emoji keyboard...
Now that Emoji is enabled you can use the symbols in any app that also uses the built-in on-screen keyboard. Just tap the globe icon that's to the left of the space bar to see all of the available Emoji characters.
...then add Emoji to your documents and messages like any other character
Emoji can add to the message you're trying to convey, or it can get in the way. With great power comes great responsibility, so we're counting on you to use your Emoji appropriately.