Emojis have become an essential way of expressing yourself online and in text messages. With just a tap, you can add colorful icons and symbols to get your point across in a fun and visual way. But before you can start peppering your texts with emojis, you need to know where to find them on your iPhone.
Finding the Emoji Keyboard
All iPhones come with a built-in emoji keyboard that you can access whenever you want to use an emoji. To find it:
- Open any app where you can enter text, like Messages, Notes, Mail, etc.
- Tap inside the text field where you want to insert an emoji.
- Look at the bottom left corner of your iPhone’s keyboard. You should see a globe or ‘Emoji’ button there.
- Tap the globe/Emoji button.
This will switch your keyboard over to the emoji keyboard. Now you’ll see rows and columns of emoji icons that you can choose from.
Scrolling Through Emojis
The emoji keyboard contains hundreds of different emoji covering various categories like faces, animals, food, activities, flags, etc. To scroll through everything:
- Swipe left or right on the emoji keyboard to move between pages of emoji.
- Tap the categories at the bottom of the keyboard to jump directly to specific emoji types.
- Drag the dynamic bar at the bottom to move left/right faster through emoji pages.
As you scroll, tap any emoji you want to insert into your message. You can add multiple emojis if needed.
Frequently Used Emojis
If you use certain emojis often, you can conveniently access them from the Frequently Used section:
- On the emoji keyboard, tap the star icon in the bottom left.
- This will show you emojis you’ve used frequently recently.
- Frequently used emojis are memorized, so you’ll always see your common emojis here.
Tap any emoji in this section to instantly insert it without having to search through all your emojis.
Searching for Emojis
With hundreds of emojis available, scrolling to find one specific icon can be tedious. Luckily, you can search:
- Tap the search bar at the top of the emoji keyboard.
- Type a keyword for the emoji you want (e.g. “happy”).
- Matching emojis will populate below. Tap one to select it.
This makes finding a particular emoji much faster. The search works for both text keywords and emoji names.
Modifying Emojis
Many emojis can be customized for gender, skin tone, and other attributes:
- Press and hold an emoji icon to bring up modification options.
- For example, select the gender or skin tone you want.
- Some emojis like families and hand gestures can be modified too.
- Tap the emoji option you want to insert the modified emoji.
Modifying emojis helps make conversations more inclusive and personalized.
Using Emoji Stickers
In addition to standard emojis, your iPhone also comes with emoji stickers you can use:
- On the emoji keyboard, tap the stickers icon next to the search bar.
- This will open the sticker collection.
- Swipe horizontally to view different sticker packs.
- Tap a sticker to add it. You can add multiple.
- Some packs have animated stickers too.
Stickers help convey emotions and situations with images, going beyond just faces.
Kaomoji (Emoticons)
Kaomoji are emoticons made from text characters. Your iPhone allows you to use them too:
- On the emoji keyboard, tap the kaomoji icon in the bottom right.
- This will open the kaomoji keyboard.
- Tap a kaomoji to insert it. You can add multiple kaomoji together.
Kaomoji let you create emotive text faces to express yourself in creative ways.
Memoji
Memoji are customized emojis designed to look just like you. To use Memoji:
- Open the Messages app and start a new message thread.
- Tap the Memoji icon next to the text field.
- Design your own Memoji face/character.
- Tap Done to save your Memoji.
- You can now select it to insert into messages.
Memoji help personalize conversations by adding an emoji that represents you.
Animoji
Animoji utilize iPhone’s Face ID camera to animate 3D emoji characters mimicking your facial expressions and voice:
- Open Messages and tap the Animoji icon near the text field.
- Choose an Animoji like a robot, alien, or animal.
- The camera will detect your face – animate your expressions.
- Tap the record button, then stop when finished.
- The animated Animoji will be inserted into your message.
Animoji add a fun way to communicate using animated emojis that react just like you.
Enabling/Disabling Emoji Keyboard
If you prefer not to use emojis, you can disable the emoji keyboard:
- Go to Settings > General > Keyboard.
- Tap Keyboards.
- Turn off Emoji keyboard.
This will remove the emoji keyboard so it won’t show up when you are typing.
To re-enable it at any time:
- Go back to the same Keyboards setting.
- Turn Emoji keyboard back on.
Emoji Font Size
You can increase or decrease the size that emojis appear in your messages:
- Go to Settings > General > Text Replacement.
- Adjust the Emoji Font Size slider as desired.
- Larger sizes make emojis more prominent.
- Smaller sizes make emojis more subtle.
Setting your preferred emoji font size makes them look best for you.
Conclusion
Finding and using emojis on your iPhone is quick and simple with the built-in emoji keyboard. Just tap the globe icon to access a huge library of emoji that you can insert anywhere you enter text. Search, scroll, modify, and customize emojis to perfectly convey your messages with emoticons. Enable or adjust the emoji keyboard from Settings any time to control how you use emojis on your iPhone.