iOS: Understanding emoji

Summary

Learn about emoji, a special set of images and emoticons you can use in messages, emails, and more.

Products Affected

iPad, iPhone, iPod touch

iOS offers several hundred emoji that you can access using the emoji keyboard.

To enable emoji from the keyboard settings in iOS:

  1. Tap Settings > General > Keyboard
  2. Tap International Keyboards
  3. Tap Add New Keyboard
  4. Locate and tap Emoji

Once emoji is enabled, you can access the emoji keyboard by tapping the globe icon to the right of the space bar: Globe icon.

Emoji images

You can switch between different emoji themes by tapping the icons along the bottom of the keyboard. In each theme, you can swipe left or right to view additional emoji characters.

The clock icon next to the globe icon displays emoji you've recently used.

Additional Information

Notes:

  • When sending emoji to non-iOS devices (other mobile phones, computers, or applications), the emoji may not appear as expected. See this article for more information.
  • When using iOS 4.3 or earlier, emoji is supported only on Japanese iPhone devices.
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