How to type emoji on Mac computers and MacBooks

1. The Control + Command + Space shortcut

The universal keyboard shortcut to type emoji on any Mac running macOS is Control + Command + Space. Pressing these three keys together instantly summons the macOS Character Viewer above your text cursor.

The picker opens as a compact popover window. To find an emoji immediately, simply start typing what you want in the search field at the top: type “heart”, “rocket”, “fire”, “check”, or “coffee”. The grid filters down dynamically. Tap any emoji to insert it into your active document, email, or chat message.

2. The Globe / Fn key shortcut

On modern Apple silicon MacBooks, iMacs, and Magic Keyboards, Apple added a dedicated Globe key (🌐) on the Fn keycap in the bottom-left corner of the keyboard. By default, tapping this key once launches the emoji viewer immediately with a single keystroke!

To configure this behavior:

1. Open System Settings > Keyboard.
2. Find the setting labeled “Press 🌐 key to”.
3. Select Show Emoji & Symbols from the dropdown menu.

Once set, you never need to remember three-key chords again; tapping the Globe key pops open the emoji palette in any macOS application.

3. Compact popover vs Expanded Character Viewer

The macOS Character Viewer has two distinct modes. In the top-right corner of the small emoji popover window, click the small window icon (resembling a rectangle with a miniature screen). This expands the viewer into a full, standalone desktop window.

The expanded view unlocks advanced typographic capabilities:

• Sidebar categories: Browse specialized categories like Arrows, Currency, Math Symbols, Letterlike Symbols, Pictographs, and Enclosed Alphanumerics.
• Font Variations: Highlight an emoji or symbol, and the bottom-right panel displays how that character renders across every installed font on your Mac.
• Favorites tray: Click “Add to Favorites” beneath any glyph to keep your most-used symbols pinned in a permanent quick-access tray in the left sidebar.
• Code point details: View the official Unicode name, UTF-8 code, and hex code point for precise technical writing.

Read our full guide on customizing this tool in our Mac Character Viewer guide.

4. Selecting skin tones and managing recents

Many emoji depicting people, hands, and activities support diverse skin tones. In the Mac viewer, click and hold on any adaptable emoji (such as 👍 or 👋). A horizontal bubble pops out showing five Fitzpatrick skin tone options. Click your preferred shade, and macOS will remember it as your default.

The Frequently Used section at the top of the viewer automatically updates with the characters you use most often, saving time when drafting messages.

5. Touch Bar MacBooks and third-party tools

If you own an older MacBook Pro equipped with an OLED Touch Bar, a dedicated smiling face emoji icon appears automatically whenever your cursor enters a text input field. Tapping the Touch Bar icon expands a smooth horizontal scrolling carousel of emojis, letting you tap and insert characters with your fingers without covering your main screen.

For keyboard enthusiasts who prefer typing Slack-style colon codes (like typing :smile: or :tada: directly into any application), third-party Mac utilities like Rocket or Raycast add instant system-wide emoji expansion. You can also explore our complete emoji symbols collection to copy rare glyphs directly.

6. Creating automatic text replacements

If you have favorite emojis you type constantly (like appending ✨ to announcements or 🚀 to releases), you can create automatic text replacement triggers:

1. Open System Settings > Keyboard > Text Replacements....
2. Click the + button at the bottom of the list.
3. In the Replace column, type a shorthand trigger like :fire:, :star:, or :rocket:.
4. In the With column, paste the corresponding emoji (🔥, ⭐, 🚀).
5. Click Done.

Because text replacements sync via iCloud, your custom triggers work seamlessly across your Mac, iPhone, and iPad. Learn how the Option key provides instant shortcuts for standard typography in our guide to Mac Option key shortcuts, or see how Windows handles emoji in our companion guide on typing emoji on Windows.