How do I turn on the emoji keyboard on my iPhone?

Having an emoji keyboard on your iPhone allows you to easily insert fun and expressive emoji icons into your messages and texts. While there is a default emoji keyboard installed on iPhones, you may need to enable it if you want to start using emoji.

Enabling the emoji keyboard only takes a few quick taps, and can be done from the Settings app or from within any app that uses the keyboard, like Messages. Here is a step-by-step guide on how to turn on the emoji keyboard on your iPhone.

Enabling the Emoji Keyboard from Settings

The easiest way to turn on the emoji keyboard is directly from the Settings app on your iPhone:

Open the Settings app on your iPhone.
Tap on General.
Tap on Keyboard.

In the Keyboards section, tap on Keyboards.
Make sure that the toggle next to Emoji is turned on (green).

This will enable the emoji keyboard so you can access it across all apps on your iPhone. If the Emoji toggle is gray, just tap on it to turn it on.

Enabling Emoji Keyboard from within an App

You can also enable the emoji keyboard directly from within any app where you want to use emoji:

Open an app that uses the keyboard, like Messages.
When the keyboard comes up, tap and hold on the emoji icon (a smiley face).

This will bring up the keyboard selection menu.
Tap on Emoji to enable the emoji keyboard.

Now the emoji keyboard will be enabled and accessible anytime the keyboard comes up in that app.

How to Use the Emoji Keyboard

Once you’ve enabled the emoji keyboard on your iPhone, using it is simple:

In any app with a keyboard, tap on the emoji icon to switch to the emoji keyboard.
You’ll see pages of different emoji categories you can scroll through.

Tap on an emoji to insert it into your text.
Tap on the ABC icon to return to the normal letter keyboard.

Here are some tips for using the emoji keyboard effectively:

Tap and hold on an emoji to bring up variant options, like different skin tones.
Quickly tap the emoji icon to cycle through recently used emoji.
At the bottom, tap on the emoji face icon to open the full emoji keyboard.

In the emoji keyboard, tap on the categories tabs to browse different emoji.

Finding the Perfect Emoji

With hundreds or even thousands of emoji available, finding the perfect one to express your feelings or ideas can be difficult. Here are some tips to find the right emoji quickly:

Use the search bar – just tap on the magnifying glass icon and type a keyword.

Browse the recently used emoji by tapping the emoji icon.
Check the most popular emoji under the Smileys tab.
Look through the people, nature, food, activity, and other category tabs.

If you still can’t find the right emoji, try describing it in words instead.

Modifying and Sharing Emoji

You can make your emoji even more personalized and fun to use:

Tap and hold on an emoji to bring up skin tone options.

Also tap and hold to bring up other styling options for some emoji, like outfits.
Tap on the Memoji tab to insert a personalized Memoji avatar you’ve customized.
Tap on the Animoji tab to insert cute animated characters into messages.

Tap on stickers like hearts, celebrations, or text phrases.
Tap the Aa icon to add text to an emoji sticker before sending.

To share an entire emoji with someone:

Locate the emoji you want to share in the emoji keyboard.
Tap and hold the emoji until a popup comes up.
Tap on the Share button in the popup.

Select a sharing method to send the emoji to someone.

Troubleshooting the Emoji Keyboard

If you are having issues getting the emoji keyboard to come up, here are some troubleshooting tips:

Make sure the Emoji keyboard is enabled in your iPhone Settings app.

Force quit and relaunch the app you are trying to use emoji in.
Try toggling Airplane mode on and off to refresh connections.
Check for any iOS updates and install if available.

As a last resort, reboot your iPhone.

If some emoji seem to be missing, try these fixes:

Make sure you have the latest iOS version installed.

Toggle Airplane mode on and off to redownload missing emoji.
Check if you have any pending iOS updates to install.
Ensure you have a good internet connection.

Using Emoji on Other Devices

If you want to use the emoji you have on your iPhone across other devices, here are some tips:

Sync your iPhone to your Mac to get your emoji on the Mac emoji keyboard.
Use iCloud Drive to access your emoji across iOS and Mac devices.

Email or message yourself the emoji to put them on other platforms.
Take a screenshot of the emoji and send the image file to other devices.
Look for cross-platform emoji apps that sync libraries across multiple OSes.

Creating Your Own Emoji

You can make customized emoji yourself with apps like EmojiCraft:

Download a customizable emoji app like EmojiCraft from the App Store.
Open the app and tap on the “+” button to create a new emoji.

Edit the emoji face, hair, eyes, mouth, and other features.
Add text, stickers, colors, and stylize the emoji.
Save your creation and export the emoji file.

You can add the custom emoji to your keyboard.

Making your own emoji allows you to represent niche concepts and jokes that traditional emoji lack. But be careful not to go overboard with custom emoji, as people may not understand more obscure references.

Best Practices for Using Emoji

To make sure emoji are clear and effective in conveying your message, keep these emoji best practices in mind:

Use emoji to enhance your messages, not replace words entirely.
Avoid using too many emoji in a row or it seems excessive.
Place emoji at logical break points within your text.

Make sure your emoji choice matches the tone of your message.
Use emoji sparingly in more formal or professional settings.
If an emoji could be misconstrued, consider clarifying it with words.

Fun Ways to Use Emoji

Beyond basic messaging, there are lots of fun and creative ways to use emoji:

Make emoji art by carefully placing them into shapes and patterns.
Animate a story by combining emoji sequences.

Design emoji stickers for all your favorite catchphrases.
Come up with emoji rebuses or puzzles for others to decode.
Replace movie or book titles with fitting emoji.

Spice up your social media bios or headlines with emoji.

The emoji keyboard opens up a pictographic language that can convey your thoughts in inventive ways beyond plain text. As you get more familiar with emoji, you’ll discover new ways to express yourself creatively.

The Future of Emoji

The emoji language continues to evolve with new emoji being added each year:

In 2022, 31 new emoji were introduced, like shaking face, biting lip, bubbles, and more hand gestures.
In 2021, 217 emoji were added, including new smileys, skin tones, foods, animals, and household objects.
2020 saw the introduction of 62 new emoji like ninja, pinched fingers, fondue, and anatomical heart.

More representations continue to be added for people, gender identities, professions, cultures, disabilities, and other groups.

Beyond standard Unicode emoji, developers are experimenting with 3D, animated, and augmented reality emoji:

Snapchat and TikTok allow customizing Bitmoji and Memoji as your avatar.

Apps like Animoji use facial tracking to animate emoji with your expressions.
AR effects overlay augmented reality emoji into the environment around you.

These kinds of developments make emoji an even more versatile and interactive visual language going into the future.

Conclusion

The emoji keyboard provides a fun and colorful way to communicate and express yourself on an iPhone. By following a few simple steps, you can easily enable the emoji keyboard on your iPhone from the Settings or within any app that uses the keyboard. Once enabled, you can access thousands of emoji to insert into all your conversations.

With the huge selection of emoji available, you can find the perfect ones to convey your messages and moods. Options like Memoji and Animoji allow you to create customized, animated emoji to represent your actual expressions. As emoji continue to evolve, they provide a dynamic and visual language that transcends the limitations of plain text for creative communication and self-expression.