Did you know that you can easily add emoji icons to your text using a very cool lesser-known Windows trick?!
It’s super simple!
The Windows Emoji Keyboard
When you’re entering text practically anywhere on Windows — such as on a webpage form, in a Microsoft Word document, or when writing an email in Gmail — simply press Windows logo key + . (period).
That is, press and hold the Windows logo key (it’s usually located to the left of the space bar on your keyboard) while also pressing the . period key. Then let go of both keys.
This will cause a little emoji keyboard popup window to appear inline with your text.
You can then simply select an emoji icon from the window! 😎
Automatically Search and Filter
If you don’t see an emoji icon you like, just keep typing in your original text area. As you type, the list of emoji icons will automatically filter to show you related icons!
It’s all very seamless. You do not have to first click somewhere in the popup window in order to start searching for emojis. Just carry on typing in your original document.
In other words, you can be entering your text, then type Windows logo key + . to open the emoji keyboard, then continue entering your text. The emoji popup tool will hang around right next to your text and update automatically as you continue typing!
Example
For example, if you type heart in your text area, you’ll see a list of all of the heart emojis.
Then, once you select one of those emojis, Windows will automatically replace the heart text you typed with the emoji icon you chose.
💗
That’s pretty slick! 😎
Pro Tips
PRO TIP: While the emoji keyboard popup window is open, you can use your arrow keys on your physical keyboard to select the icon you want to use. Then, press the Enter key to place the icon in your text.
PRO TIP: You can select and insert multiple emoji icons by clicking the icon multiple times. Each time you click an icon, that icon will be inserted into your text. And, yes, this also works even if you use the arrow keys with the Enter key to select your icons!
PRO TIP: You can quickly close the emoji keyboard popup window by pressing the Esc (Escape) key on your physical keyboard.
PRO TIP: The examples above are for Windows 10. However, if you’re using Windows 11, things will look slightly different, but you’ll have even more options, including the ability to find and insert GIFs as well!
Other Features
If you look at the top and bottom of the Emoji Keyboard window when it appears, you’ll find some other helpful menu items and features.
Kaomoji
Click the ;-) menu item at the top to see a list of Kaomoji you can use.
Symbols
Click the Ω menu item at the top to see a list of symbols you can use, such as special punctuation, currency symbols, Latin symbols, geometric symbols, math symbols, and other language symbols, like Greek letters.
At the bottom of the popup window, you’ll find a menu bar with specific options for the category you selected above: Emojis, Kaomojis, or Symbols.
PRO TIP: Make sure to check out the “Recent” menu item, which shows you which icons and symbols you most recently used. That way you don’t have to keep searching for them each time you want to use them.
Final Thoughts
If you ever want to add Emojis, Kaomojis, or Symbols to your text on a Windows desktop or laptop computer, make sure to check out the handy “Windows Emoji Keyboard” popup tool.
👍 With this easy hack, you can quickly find and insert icons and symbols into your text inline without having to switch contexts, start another program, or open a new window or browser tab.
Enjoy! 😎
