Where to find the emoji keyboard on your iPhone
Your iPhone has an emoji keyboard built in—you do not need to read anything. When you are typing a message, email, or note, look at the bottom of your keyboard for a smiley face icon (it looks like :)). Tap that icon and your keyboard switches to emoji. Tap the smiley face icon again to go back to letters.
If you do not see the smiley face icon, your keyboard may be too crowded. Tap and hold the globe icon at the bottom left of your keyboard, then select the emoji keyboard from the list that appears. Once you do this once, the smiley face icon will stay visible.
On newer iPhones with Face ID, you can also swipe left on your keyboard to cycle through your installed keyboards, including emoji. This is faster than tapping the icon each time.
Key Takeaways
- The emoji keyboard is built into your iPhone and appears as a smiley face icon at the bottom of any text keyboard.
- You can change skin tone on any emoji with a hand or face by tapping and holding it until a color menu appears.
- Emoji search lets you type a word (like "happy" or "food") to find the emoji you want instead of scrolling through categories.
- You cannot change the emoji set itself on iPhone—Apple controls which emoji appear and how they look.
How to change skin tone on emoji with hands and faces
Many emoji show people or hands. To change the skin tone, tap and hold the emoji for one to two seconds. A small menu pops up showing five skin tone options. Tap the one you want. The emoji now displays in that skin tone the next time you use it.
This works on emoji like waving hand, thumbs up, person raising hand, and all the face emoji (smiling face, thinking face, and so on). Not all emoji have skin tone options—objects like pizza, cars, or animals do not.
Your choice sticks. If you select a medium skin tone for the waving hand emoji, it will stay that tone until you tap and hold it again and pick a different one.
Using emoji search to find what you want faster
Instead of scrolling through emoji by category, you can search for them by typing a word. When the emoji keyboard is open, look for a search box at the top (it shows a magnifying glass icon). Tap it and type what you are looking for: "heart", "animal", "food", "sad", "party".
The keyboard shows matching emoji as you type. This is much faster than tapping through the category tabs at the bottom of the emoji keyboard. Search works on any iPhone running iOS 14.5 or later.
Understanding emoji categories and how to navigate them
The emoji keyboard is organized into tabs at the bottom: a clock (recent), a smiley face (smileys), a hand (people), a lightbulb (objects), a plant (nature), a food item (food), a ball (activity), a car (travel), a light bulb (objects again), and a flag (flags). Tap any tab to jump to that category.
The clock tab shows emoji you have used recently, so your favorites appear first. This saves time if you use the same emoji over and over. Swipe left and right within a category to see more emoji in that group.
What you cannot change about emoji on iPhone
Apple controls the emoji set on iPhone. You cannot install a different emoji style, change the overall look of emoji, or add custom emoji to your keyboard. Every iPhone user sees the same emoji designs (though they may look slightly different on Android phones or older devices).
You can only change skin tones on emoji that support them. You cannot change the color of objects, animals, or symbols. If you want a different emoji style, you would need to use a third-party keyboard app from the App Store, though these often have limited emoji and may not work in all apps.
Troubleshooting: emoji keyboard not showing
If the smiley face icon is missing from your keyboard, go to Settings > General > Keyboard > Keyboards. Tap Add New Keyboard and scroll down to find Emoji. Tap it to add it back. The smiley face icon should now appear on your keyboard.
If emoji are not displaying correctly or look broken, restart your iPhone. Hold the power button and slide to power off, then turn it back on. This fixes most display issues with emoji.
If you are using an older iPhone (iPhone 6s or earlier), some newer emoji may not appear because your device does not support them. Updating to a newer iOS version can add more emoji, but very old devices have a limit to how many emoji they can display.
Using emoji in different apps
The emoji keyboard works the same way in Messages, Mail, Notes, social media apps, and most other apps that let you type. Tap the smiley face icon, pick your emoji, and it inserts into your text. Some apps like Instagram or Twitter may have their own emoji picker, but the standard iPhone emoji keyboard works everywhere.
If an app does not show the emoji keyboard, it may not support emoji or may have its own text input system. Try tapping the text field and looking for the keyboard icon at the bottom right of your screen—tap it to bring up the standard keyboard with the emoji option.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I make emoji bigger or smaller on my keyboard?
No, emoji size is fixed on the iPhone emoji keyboard. You can only change the size of emoji after you send them in some apps like Messages, where you can pinch to zoom on emoji that appear in a conversation.
Why do some emoji look different on my iPhone than on my friend's Android phone?
Apple designs its own emoji look. Android phones use Google's emoji design, and they look noticeably different even though they represent the same thing. Both are correct—they just come from different companies.
Can I add custom emoji or stickers to my keyboard?
The standard emoji keyboard cannot be customized. However, you can use Memoji (animated versions of you) in Messages and FaceTime on newer iPhones, or read third-party keyboard apps from the App Store that include stickers and custom graphics.
How do I find a specific emoji if I do not know its name?
Use the search box at the top of the emoji keyboard and type a related word. For example, type "love" to find heart emoji, or "celebrate" to find party emoji. If you still cannot find it, scroll through the categories at the bottom until you spot it.
Do I need to update my iPhone to get new emoji?
Yes, Apple releases new emoji with each iOS update. To get the latest emoji, go to Settings > General > Software Update and install any available update. New emoji usually arrive once a year.