How to type the heart symbol on iPhone
To type the heart symbol on iPhone as text rather than a colourful emoji, copy ♥ and set up a text replacement like “;heart”. While Apple keyboards offer ❤️ in the emoji tray, a text replacement lets you insert the traditional heart symbol on iPhone.
Quick answer
Copy ♥ → Settings → General → Keyboard → Text Replacement → assign shortcut ;heart.
Step by step
Copy the black text heart
Tap the Copy button at the top of this guide to copy the text heart ♥ to your clipboard.
Open iOS Text Replacement
Go to Settings → General → Keyboard → Text Replacement and tap the + button in the top-right corner.
Create your shortcut
Paste ♥ into the Phrase field, and type a unique shortcut such as ;heart or <3 into the Shortcut field.
Type your shortcut in any app
Type ;heart followed by a space in Notes, Messages, or Instagram to produce the classic text heart ♥.
Why the iPhone types ❤️ instead of ♥
When you open the emoji keyboard on iOS and tap a heart, Apple inserts the modern emoji red heart ❤️ (Unicode U+2764 with emoji presentation). Emoji appear in bright color, occupy a distinct height, and look graphical. The traditional playing card heart symbol ♥ (Unicode U+2665, Black Heart Suit) is an authentic text character. It renders in your active body text color—black in light mode, white in dark mode, or whatever tint your formatting specifies.
Because Apple’s standard English keyboard layout does not feature monochrome dingbats on its punctuation pages, copying the character once and saving it as an iOS Text Replacement is the most reliable strategy for regular use. For full technical details and historical origins, visit our heart suit symbol page and explore other decorative variants in our heart symbols collection.
Configuring an iOS text shortcut
Text Replacement is one of iOS’s most effective productivity tools. After copying ♥ from this page, launch Settings, tap General → Keyboard → Text Replacement, and touch the plus symbol (+). Paste ♥ into the Phrase row. In the Shortcut row, input an uncommon string like ;love or ;heart. Using a leading punctuation mark like a semicolon prevents the system from triggering substitutions accidentally when writing common sentences.
Once saved, the shortcut syncs over iCloud to your iPad and Mac automatically. Whenever you type your chosen abbreviation in Messages, Mail, or social media bios, iOS presents ♥ in the center candidate bar, expanding it the moment you hit the spacebar. For desktop instructions, see our walkthrough on the heart symbol on Mac.
The Japanese Kana keyboard secret
Many typography enthusiasts on iOS use a clever alternative: the Japanese Kana keyboard. If you add the Japanese Kana layout in Settings → General → Keyboard → Keyboards → Add New Keyboard, you can type the word “kigou” (meaning symbol) or simply tap the numbers key followed by the star symbol. This displays a rich palette of text characters including ♥, ♡, ★, and ♠ directly in the prediction strip without needing to copy and paste. To master general mobile symbol typing, read our how to type symbols on iPhone guide, and compare Android options in our heart symbol on Android tutorial.
Frequently asked questions
How do I type a black heart symbol ♥ instead of the red emoji ❤️ on iPhone?
Copy the text heart ♥ from this page and save it as an iOS Text Replacement in Settings → General → Keyboard.
Can I type the white outline heart ♡ on iPhone?
Yes. Copy ♡ and create a separate text replacement shortcut, such as “;oheart” or “;whiteheart”.
Why does my typed heart turn into an emoji in some apps?
Certain social media apps automatically convert text symbols into emoji icons. In standard apps like Notes, Mail, and Pages, ♥ remains a true text glyph.