How to use the Emoji Copy and Paste
- Type a word such as “heart”, “laugh” or “pizza” in the search box, or tap a category to jump to it.
- Choose a skin tone if you want hands and people in a particular tone.
- Click an emoji to copy it. It is also added to Your selection, so you can build a string of several emoji.
- Paste into any app, or click Copy all to copy the whole selection at once. Your recent emoji appear at the top next time.
Features
- Over 1,400 popular emoji in nine categories, including country flags
- Search by official name and everyday keywords
- Six skin tones applied to hands and single-person emoji
- One-click copy plus a selection box for several emoji at once
- Recently used emoji remembered on this device
- Keyboard friendly: Tab to an emoji and press Enter to copy
What emoji actually are
Emoji are characters, just like letters, defined by the Unicode Standard. Each one has a code point, such as U+1F600 for 😀 grinning face, and an official name. When you copy an emoji, you copy that character, and the device that displays it draws it with its own emoji font. That is why the same emoji looks a little different on iPhone, Android, Windows and in different apps: the meaning is shared, but the artwork belongs to each platform.
Why some emoji show as boxes
New emoji are added to Unicode every year or so. If a phone or computer has an older emoji font, it does not know how to draw the newest characters and shows an empty box, a question mark or two separate emoji instead of one. Updating the operating system usually fixes it. Keep this in mind when you use very new emoji in messages; the person receiving them may not see what you see.
Skin tones, combined emoji and flags
Skin tones come from five separate modifier characters, based on the Fitzpatrick scale of skin types, placed right after a people or hand emoji. 👍 followed by the medium modifier becomes 👍🏽. This tool adds the modifier for you to emoji that support it.
Combined emoji such as 👩💻 woman technologist or ❤️🔥 heart on fire are made of several emoji glued together with an invisible zero-width joiner. Devices that support the sequence show one picture; older ones show the parts side by side.
Flags are pairs of special regional indicator letters. 🇵🇰 is the letters P and K, which devices display as the flag of Pakistan. Some systems, notably Windows, show the two letters instead of a flag picture.
Popular emoji and how people use them
| Emoji | Name | Common use |
|---|---|---|
| 😂 | face with tears of joy | Something is very funny |
| ❤️ | red heart | Love, thanks, strong approval |
| 🙏 | folded hands | Please, thank you, or prayer |
| 👍 | thumbs up | OK, agreed, sounds good |
| 🔥 | fire | Exciting, impressive, “lit” |
| 🥹 | face holding back tears | Touched, grateful, moved |
Meanings drift with culture and context, and the same emoji can read differently to different people. In professional messages, a few clear emoji go further than a long row.
Tips
- Screen readers read an emoji’s name aloud, so ten emoji in a row become ten spoken names. Use them sparingly in posts that need to be accessible.
- Emoji count toward character limits; on X each one counts as 2, which you can check with the X (Twitter) Character Counter.
- Use emoji as bullet points to structure captions; the Instagram Caption Formatter keeps your line breaks.
Frequently asked questions
How do I copy and paste an emoji?
Click or tap the emoji. It is copied to your clipboard immediately, so you can paste it into any app, chat, email or document.
How do I change the skin tone?
Pick a tone in the skin tone selector. Hands and single-person emoji switch to that tone before you copy them. Emoji without skin, such as animals, stay the same.
Why does an emoji look different on another phone?
Each platform draws emoji with its own artwork. The character is the same, but Apple, Google, Microsoft and Samsung designs differ in style and detail.
Why do I see a box instead of an emoji?
Your device’s emoji font is older than that emoji. Updating your operating system or browser usually adds support for newer emoji.
Are my recent emoji stored anywhere?
Only in this browser’s local storage, so they appear at the top next time. Nothing is sent to a server, and Clear removes the list.