Use the Emoji keyboard in Windows 11 to find Emojis, GIFs, symbols, and more.
Emojis are an integral part of our routine online communication. Any post in preparation would either end with an emoji or contain them in the sentence. Emojis have not only improved the way and intensity with which we express our emotions online, but they have also removed the need for words. So much can be said with the bare minimum.
Such a part of digital linguistics should be a feature built into any digital platform and device, as is! Microsoft Windows has its own emoji keyboard, thanks to which users can easily choose from the Unicode list of emoji without having to scroll through emoji-based pages just to copy and paste emoji. It is available throughout the operating system, regardless of what site or application you are currently using.
All you need are these magical shortcut keys to launch Emoji Keyboard in Windows 11: Windows key + Complete shutdown (.) or Windows key + semicolon (;).
View → Complete list of Windows 11 keyboard shortcuts
Windows 10 vs Windows 11 Emoji Keyboard
Windows 10 and Windows 11 make the full emoji available to the user with the click of two powerful keys. Here, users can discover and operate emoticons, emoticons, and symbols through keyword or manual (browse) searches.
However, Windows 10’s diversity on the emoji keyboard ends with emojis and symbols. No more no less. Windows 11 expands this spectrum to much more. With newer symbols, more categories, and better emojis, everything from looks to how easy it is to choose the right emojis gets an extra layer of convenience in the latest Windows upgrade.
What’s New in Windows 11 Emoji Keyboard
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GIF: The usual group of emoticons, emoticons, and symbols available on Windows 10 now has a brand new member on the list, GIFs! Windows 11 offers a GIF section in the emoji keyboard itself! Users can now effortlessly search for GIFs with the same ease as emoticons, emoticons, and symbols. In addition, there are also many GUI formats readily available.
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Clipboard history: The “Clipboard History” button is a brand new feature of the Windows 11 emoji keyboard. It is a never-been-before. This button stores all recently copied information in textual and visual form. Thus facilitating the use of this recorded information.
- Better emojis: The emojis on Windows 11 emoji keyboard are bigger and better. They are much more dynamic than the options in Windows 10. In addition, the layout of the emoji lists is spaced out, which reduces clutter and makes it easier to identify and use.
- Better availability of options: All emoji keyboard ratings are represented by individual icons placed at the top of the keyboard window. Windows 10 has this grouping along the lower circumference of the emoji keyboard in addition to a generic set of groups at the top. The Windows 11 keyboard has a concise and neat format.
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Best research section: The Windows 10 keyboard had a magnifying glass icon indicating the “Search” button. Windows 11 has simplified the process of finding emojis. Now there is a direct search box with the search icon instead of the latter alone. This ‘Search’ is general on the first window and becomes specific to each section.
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Better mobility: The new emoji keyboard can be easily moved around the screen using the short horizontal line or the hyphen at the top of the keyboard.
More options: Each section of the keyboard has a clear view. The upgrade made all aspects of the emoji keyboard super simple and easy to use. Each facet of this functionality is classified into departments (emojis, emoticons, symbols and gifs).
Using the Windows 11 Emoji Keyboard
The commands to invoke the emoji keyboard on Windows 11 are Windows key + Endpoint (.) or Windows key + semicolon (;). You can open the emoji keyboard on any screen, including the home screen. But emojis will only appear in textually supported formats.
Once the emoji keyboard is open, you can view the emoji list in two ways. Both leading to the same place. You can click on the smiley face icon at the top, which would lead to the list of all emojis.
Or, you can click the right-facing arrowhead placed on the same line as the “Emoji” label, to “See more Emoji”.
When searching for emojis, be sure to enter simple words that best describe the emotion, activity, or feeling that you want to translate into an emoji, in the search box. Nothing more than a word (except the exact names of the emoji) will be saved and therefore will not show any results.
Choose the appropriate emoji from the options appearing in the “Emoji” section by clicking on it with the mouse cursor or if you are using the keyboard, use the navigation keys (arrows) to highlight the emoji you want to use and press Enter.
You can insert as many emojis as you want with the emoji keyboard by your side. It never goes away, unless you want to shut it down. You can also change the type of emojis, change search words or keywords, and apply various emojis as well. The emoji keyboard sticks through everything.
Use the Emoji Keyboard in Windows 11 to search for emojis, GIFs, symbols and use them in any app or website that accepts Unicode characters.