Emoji keyboard shortcuts for Mac, Windows, Chromebook, iPhone and Android
Every modern operating system has a built-in emoji keyboard; the shortcut is the only part that differs. Mac: ⌃ + ⌘ + Space. Windows: ⊞ Win + .. Chromebook: Search + Shift + Space.
| Platform | Shortcut | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| macOS | ⌃ Control + ⌘ Command + Space 🌐 fn + E | Opens the emoji picker at the cursor. The Globe key alone can be set to open it in System Settings → Keyboard. |
| Windows 10 / 11 | ⊞ Win + . ⊞ Win + ; | Opens the emoji panel with tabs for emoji, GIFs, kaomoji, symbols and (on Windows 11) clipboard history. |
| ChromeOS | Search + Shift + Space Launcher + Shift + Space | Both keys are the same key on different Chromebook models. Right-click a text field → Emoji also works. |
| iPhone / iPad | Emoji key 😀 or 🌐 Globe key on the keyboard | The 🌐 key appears when more than one keyboard is enabled; hold it to pick Emoji. Predictive text also suggests emojis as you type words. |
| Android (Gboard) | Emoji key 😀 left of the space bar Long-press , or Enter | Gboard also has an emoji search field and Emoji Kitchen for combining two emojis into a sticker. |
| Linux | Ctrl + . or Ctrl + ; (GTK apps) Meta + . (KDE Plasma) | GNOME/GTK apps show an inline emoji chooser; KDE opens the Emoji Selector. Not all apps support it. |
| Slack, Discord, GitHub, Notion | :name: e.g. :thumbsup: | Type a colon and the emoji name for inline autocomplete. Slack also uses Cmd/Ctrl + Shift + \ to open its reaction picker. |
Mac emoji shortcut
Press ⌃ Control + ⌘ Command + Space in any text field, type to search, press Return to insert. On Apple keyboards with a Globe key, 🌐 fn + E is Apple’s documented alternative, and the Globe key can be set to open the picker on its own. The Mac emoji keyboard shortcut guide covers the settings, skin tones and what to do when the shortcut stops working.
Windows emoji shortcut
Press ⊞ Win + . (period) or ⊞ Win + ; (semicolon) while typing. Microsoft’s panel opens with emoji first; keep typing to search. Tabs along the top switch to GIFs, kaomoji like ¯\_(ツ)_/¯, and Symbols, which is the easiest way to type characters such as the em dash or degree sign without Alt codes. Windows 11 adds a clipboard-history tab to the same panel.
Chromebook emoji shortcut
Press Search + Shift + Space. On Chromebooks whose key is labelled Launcher, it is the same key. Google notes that if you use an external Windows or Mac keyboard, the Windows or Command key stands in for Search. You can also right-click any text field and choose Emoji.
iPhone and iPad
Tap the emoji key (😀) at the bottom-left of the keyboard. If you have more than one language keyboard enabled it becomes a Globe key (🌐); tap it to cycle keyboards or hold it and choose Emoji. Typing a word like “pizza” also surfaces the emoji in the predictive bar.
Android
On Gboard, tap the emoji key left of the space bar, or long-press the comma or Enter key. Gboard includes a search field inside the emoji panel. Samsung Keyboard and SwiftKey have an equivalent key in the same spot.
Linux
GTK apps (GNOME, Firefox’s text fields in some builds) open an emoji chooser with Ctrl + . or Ctrl + ;. KDE Plasma has a system-wide Emoji Selector on Meta + .. Support varies by app and toolkit.
Slack, Discord, GitHub and other chat apps
Type a colon followed by the emoji name, such as :fire:, and pick from the autocomplete. This works in Slack, Discord, GitHub, Notion, Linear and most tools built in the last decade. It only works inside those apps; the system shortcut above works everywhere.