Guide to using emoji on Mac: Quick and easy ways

Emoji add a touch of fun and expression to your conversations and messages, and using them on your Mac is a quick way to express your feelings. Entering emoji on your Mac isn’t as easy as it is on your iPhone because the physical keyboard doesn’t have a dedicated emoji key. But it’s still fairly easy once you know what to do. And you have a lot of options.

Whether you want to use them in emails, texts, or even documents, the emoji keyboard is easy to access. Check out how using emojis in your passwords can affect your account security?

1. Use the built-in emoji selector

If you're a longtime Mac user, you may be familiar with the built-in emoji selector. When the cursor is active in a text field, simply press and hold the Function (Fn) key or the which will bring up the emoji selector, where you can select and type any emoji of your choice.

All emoji are sorted into categories, and you'll find the section you use most often at the top. You can expand this section by clicking the icon at the top right of the pop-up window to view more categories and different symbols. This is the easiest way to insert and use emoji across multiple apps on your Mac.

If you reassign the function key (Fn) or the key For a different procedure, you can still open the emoji picker using a keyboard shortcut. Cmd + Ctrl + Space.

To reassign a function key (Fn) or key To open the emoji picker, go to إعدادات النظام -> لوحة المفاتيح Set the key press option. on Show emojis and symbolsNow, pressing the key will Fn To automatically show the emoji picker, allowing you to easily enter emojis.

If you prefer to have an on-screen shortcut instead of using a dedicated key, follow these steps:

• Go to إعدادات النظام -> لوحة المفاتيح.
• Click the Edit button next to Input Sources under Text Input.

• Enable the “Show input menu in menu bar” option.

• Now, you can show the emoji picker by clicking on the Input menu icon in the menu bar and choosing “Show emojis and symbols.”

While this is a convenient way to type emoji, you may want to explore other methods that may be faster or offer more options. Well, let's discuss some additional options.

2. Search on Emojipedia

For someone who hasn't dealt with emojis very often, Emojipedia It's a lifesaver. As the name suggests, it's an emoji encyclopedia. It lists every emoji known to mankind and provides a handy shortcut to copy one of them.

When you open the website, you can either select an emoji from different categories or search for a specific emoji. After choosing an emoji, simply click the copy button and then paste the emoji wherever you want.

You can also combine any two emojis to create a new emoji, but remember that they will be sent as images and not standard characters in most apps.

I find it really easy to search for unknown emojis on Emojipedia using descriptive terms. When I'm typing or in the middle of a conversation, Emojipedia often gives me better and faster results than other options.

Visit: Emojipedia (Free)

3. Use Rocket to quickly type emojis

Many messaging apps like Slack or Discord make it easy to enter emoji by typing a colon (:) followed by a descriptive abbreviation for the emoji. You can enable this across all your apps using a third-party app like Rocket, which lets you type emoji the same way in any app.

After downloading the setup, install it like any other DMG file and follow the on-screen instructions. Once installed, you can start using Rocket by typing emojis after the colon (:). For example, typing :thumbsup will give you a “thumbsup” emoji.

The free version of the app is a bit limited, but if you pay the $10 fee, you’ll be able to unlock the full emoji search and GIF pack. More importantly, you’ll also get the ability to add custom shortcuts for emoji and GIFs, so you don’t have to stick with Rocket’s labels. You can also use the Rocket button in the menu bar to easily search for and insert emoji anywhere.

Download: Rocket (Free, Premium version available)

4. Use text expansion shortcuts

If you don’t want to install a third-party app like Rocket, you can use the built-in text replacement feature to achieve the same result. The text replacement feature lets you expand shortcuts into long text phrases, which can save a lot of time. We can use the same feature for emojis.

To set up emoji shortcuts, follow these steps:

1. Go to إعدادات النظام -> لوحة المفاتيح Click the button Replace text within a text entry.
2. Now, click on the plus (+) icon.
3. In the Replace section, type your shortcut text, and in the With section, paste the emoji (you can find emojis on Emojipedia, for example).

The next time you type this shortcut, macOS will replace it with the emoji. Repeat the steps above for emoji you use frequently. For example, to use :wave: for a waving emoji, enter :wave: in the “Replace” section and paste the waving emoji into the “With” section.

While typing emoji on a Mac may seem a bit more complicated than typing on an iPhone, there are plenty of options you can explore. I find Rocket to be the quickest method, as the emoji are ready to use right out of the box. However, the built-in emoji picker may be a better option if you prefer a more straightforward interface. Check out quick fixes for predictive emoji not working on your iPhone or iPad.