gmail is the most widely used email service from the search engine giant google. Have you ever received an email in Gmail with a cool emoji in the subject line? It’s fun to send emoji and emoticons on gmail instead of typing long and boring text messages. In this article, we will explain how to insert emoji in gmail subject and message body in smartphone apps and desktop web interface.
related: how to insert emoji on facebook, twitter and instagram.
emojis in gmail
Unlike the Outlook app and client, which use the device’s character encoding, Gmail has its own style for emoji. therefore the default emoji in gmail will have a different style and look. however, gmail has different options for mobile apps and desktop interface. Here’s what an email with emoji will look like in the gmail mobile app.
insert emoji in gmail mobile app
The good thing is that gmail does not have a separate emoji in mobile apps and allows using the OS option. on iphones you can use default emoji keyboard and on android phones you can use emoji keyboard extension apps like google gboard.
- launch your gmail app and tap the compose button to create a new message. Alternatively, you can also reply to an email you have received.
- Tap the emoji icon on your keyboard to see all available emoji symbols.
- You can tap on the subject line or within the message body and tap on an emoji to insert.
- this will insert the selected emoji in the subject line or within the body of the message.
- if the emoji has a skin tone, you will see a popup when you touch an emoji showing a list with different skin tones. you can select the one you want to insert.
- use the search box or browse the available category to find your favorite emoji symbol. There will also be a list at the top showing all your favorite or frequently used symbols. here is a list of categories available in smartphone emoji keyboard: frequently used or favorites, emoticons and people, animals and nature, food and drink, activity, travel and places, objects, symbols and flags.
- switch at any time return to the normal keyboard and continue typing your text message.
- if you have enabled text replacement or suggestions, you will receive automatic emoji suggestions when you type the keyword. for example, your smartphone (both android and iphone) will show you the heart emoji when you type heart or love.
insert emoji in gmail windows and mac desktop interface
unlike the mobile app, gmail has a dedicated list of emoticons for the desktop interface.
- open gmail in chrome or your favorite browser.
- compose a new email or reply to an email you received.
- click the smiley icon to open a sliding popup window. this will display a list of built-in emoticons for gmail. alternatively press “control + shift + 2” on windows or shortcut keys “command + shift + 2” on mac to open the emoji list.
- you will see the emoji list to quickly select the previously used emoji symbol.
- Alternatively, you can use the search box to find your favorite symbols and insert them into the body of the email message.
- You can also select the symbol you want by browsing the available categories. gmail emoticons have the following categories: face emoticons, object emoticons, nature emoticons, transportation emoticons, and symbol emoticons.
- after inserting an emoji, click the close icon on the emoji popup to close it and continue typing your message.
note: on windows, you can use alternate code shortcuts to insert emoji in gmail if you have a number pad on your keyboard. windows also has a separate character map application for inserting thousands of unicode symbols.
limitations with the desktop interface
whether you use windows or mac, gmail has some limitations to insert emoji on the desktop interface.
- There is a much smaller amount of emoji in the list of built-in emoticons. For this reason, you may not find many popular emoji that you like to insert. For example, there are barely 10 country flag emoji available, while unicode has more than 200 country flag emoji symbols.
- You cannot insert emoji in the subject line using built-in gmail emoticons. even if you place the cursor in the subject and insert an emoji, it will automatically go to the message section.
- the screen will be completely different compared to the standard unicode emoji.
Fortunately, you can use the emoji keyboard on Windows and Mac operating systems to find thousands of emoji symbols, including those with skin tones.
using the emoji keyboard on windows
windows 10 and later versions of the windows operating system have a built-in emoji keyboard. This is a standalone app that you can use to insert thousands of emoji and other unicode symbols into any app. the good thing is that you can insert emoji in gmail subject line using this emoji keyboard.
- Place the cursor in the subject line or message where you want to insert an emoji.
- Press “win + ;” or “win +”. keyboard shortcut to open the emoji keyboard.
- continue typing your emoji name to filter the relevant symbols from the list.
- when you find the emoji, click it to insert it in gmail.
- Alternatively, you can browse through various categories in the emoji keyboard (which is similar to the emoji keyboard on a smartphone) and find relevant symbols.
insert emoji in gmail on mac
just like on windows, you can use emoji keyboard app on mac. again this is the only way to insert emoji in gmail subject line if you are using mac.
- place the cursor in the subject or body of the email.
- go to “edit > emoji and symbols menu”. this is a default menu item in all emails. mac apps so this will work in chrome, safari, firefox or any other browser you use to compose your email.
- alternatively press the keyboard shortcuts “command + control + shift” to open emoji keyboard.emoji keyboard on mac is called character viewer app which contains thousands of unicode symbols.
- click on the “emoji” category and browse the sub-category to find the symbol. otherwise, use the search box to filter out the relevant emoji symbols.
- Once you find your favorite symbol, double-click it to insert it into the email subject or body.
insert emoji in gmail signature and vacation reply
It’s also a good idea to insert an emoji into your email signature and use it when emailing your friends. this way you can save time by searching for the symbol every time. go to your gmail settings and create or edit your signature. you need to use the operating system’s emoji keyboard to insert the symbol here.
Similar to signatures, you can also insert emoji into your vacation auto-reply emails. again, you must use the operating system’s emoji keyboard for this purpose.
emoji display in gmail
As mentioned, gmail has its own character encoding and displays the built-in emoticons in a different style. Therefore, the emoji symbols you insert with the windows or mac emoji keyboard will look different than the default gmail emoticons.