Isn’t that an awesome screenshot?Īnyway, next you’ll open System Preferences > Keyboard and choose the “Text” tab. You’ll have to do that so that you can select and copy it. To set this up, all you need to do first is open the Emoji & Symbol Viewer using one of the methods I discussed above and insert the character you’d like to create a shortcut for into an email, document, or message. (If you see the smaller version of the Viewer, just click the square icon in the upper-right to expand it.)įinally, let’s talk about my favorite method! I’ve added text shortcuts for my frequently used Emoji and symbols (like the Mac’s Command icon and one of the smiley faces I use all of the time).

That’ll launch the same Emoji & Symbol Viewer shown in my screenshot above, and you can double-click on any of the options to add them to your text. First, you can use the special keyboard shortcut that’s available in OS X Mavericks and later, which is Command-Control-Spacebar. I think there are a couple of easier ways to add those characters in, however, at least in places where there isn’t an obvious option of how to do so (like Mail). That’ll put a little square icon at the top-right of your screen, and when you click it, one of the options will let you show and pick from the available Emoji and symbols: You could also turn on the “Show Keyboard, Emoji, & Symbol Viewers in menu bar” option within System Preferences > Keyboard (under the “Keyboard” tab). You can, of course, click on the Emoji button that’s provided in Messages: Under OS X, there are several different ways to insert them. Those cutesy little characters, though sometimes annoying, are at least a good way to impart sarcasm or emotion, especially because it’s difficult sometimes to tell the tone of text conversations. I use Emoji all of the time (and no, I’m not actually 12 years old, despite what my friends may think).

Keyboard shortcuts for emojis on mac