Use emoji and emoticons

Emoji are a spin on common emoticons that you can use to add some pizzazz to your Slack messages. 😎

Tip: Want even more emoji? Respond to messages with emoji reactions or create your own custom emoji.

Add emoji to Slack messages

Add emoji to your messages by typing the emoji code or selecting from the emoji menu. You can even add your own easy-to-remember emoji alias to use in Slack.

Type the emoji code

Slack uses standard emoji codes. Type these codes to quickly add emoji to your messages!

If you can't remember the entire code, just type : followed by the first few letters and an autocomplete menu will appear. Select the emoji you want to use, or from your desktop, press ↑ and ↓ to move to your selection and press Enter.

Select from the emoji menu

Desktop

iOS

Android

1. Click the  smiley face icon in the message box to open the emoji menu.
2. Use the icons at the top to browse categories, or start typing to search the emoji codes.
   
3. Click your chosen emoji. It'll be added to your message.

You can use the iOS emoji menu to add emoji to your message.

1. Tap the message input to open the iOS keyboard.
2. Tap the emoji button—or, if you have multiple keyboards installed, you'll see a globe button—on the keyboard.
3. Simply select the emoji you'd like to use to add them to your message.

Note: This only gives you access to iOS emoji. For the full range of Slack emoji, you'll need to type the emoji code. (See Type the emoji code above!)

1. Tap the  smiley face icon in the message box to open the emoji menu.
2. Use the icons at the top to browse categories, or scroll through the emoji to browse that group.
3. Tap an emoji to add it to your message.
4. When you're done, tap the keyboard icon to continue typing your message, or the    paper plane icon to send it.

Tip: Have specific emoji needs? Create your own custom emoji. 🎉

Create an emoji alias

By default, you can add your own easy-to-remember codes for emoji in Slack from your desktop. Here’s how:

1. From your desktop, click your workspace name in the top left.
   
2. Select Customize Slack from the menu.
3. Select Add Alias, then click Choose Emoji.
4. Choose an emoji from the drop-down menu.
5. Under Enter an alias, enter the new code you'd like to use.
6. Select Save.

Note: If your workspace restricts who can manage custom emoji to Workspace Owners or Admins, you won't be able to add an emoji alias. Contact a Workspace Owner for help.

Choose your default skin tone

Desktop

iOS

Android

1. Click the  smiley face icon in the message box to open the emoji menu.
2. Click the ✋ hand icon in the bottom right corner of the emoji menu.

   

3. Select a default skin tone.

1. Touch and hold the emoji you'd like to use.
2. Select your preferred skin tone from the pop-up menu.

Note: When you type the code for a Slack emoji that also appears in iOS, it will default to the skin tone you've already selected in your iOS keyboard.

1. Tap the   Overflow menu icon at the top right.
2. Tap Settings.
3. Scroll down and tap Advanced.
4. Use the Emoji Deluxe option to choose your preferred skin tone.

Tip: You can click on an emoji when it appears in the message field to quickly cycle through the skin tones. ✨

Change your emoji display

The emoji you see in Slack will reflect the device you're using to access the app. In other words, Slack will display emoji in Apple's style on iOS and Mac devices, while Windows, Linux, and Android users will see them in Google's style.

Note: Unfortunately, we are no longer able to offer a choice of emoji styles due to the usage rights unique to each device. While you won't be able to select emoji styles, depending on your workspace settings, you can always upload your own custom emoji. 🙇‍♀️

Switch to plain text

If you prefer, you can choose to display emoji written out as plain text. Here's an example of Unicode emoji and plain text below.

Unicode (Apple style)

Plain text

You can change your emoji style from Unicode to plain text and back:

1. From your desktop, click your workspace name in the top left.
   
2. Select Preferences from the menu.
3. Select the Messages & Media tab.
4. Under Emoji Style, check the box next to Display emoji as plain text.
5. Click the  close icon when you're finished.

Send big emoji

By default, if your message or comment contains only emoji, they'll appear larger on both mobile and desktop. (On desktop, you'll need to use the Clean message theme to see big emoji.)

If you'd like, you can always turn off jumbomoji:

1. From your desktop, click your workspace name in the top left.
   
2. Select Preferences from the menu.
3. Select the Messages & Media tab.
4. Under Emoji Style, uncheck the box next to Show JUMBOMOJI.
5. Click the  close icon when you're finished.

Note: Slack won't display jumbomoji if your message has more than 23 emoji in a row.

Use emoticons

Slack will automatically change common emoticons to an equivalent emoji. Check out the conversions in the image below.

If you'd rather use emoticons, you can turn off the automatic conversion:

1. From your desktop, click your workspace name in the top left.
   
2. Select Preferences from the menu.
3. Select the Messages & Media tab.
4. Under Emoji Style, uncheck the box next to Convert my typed emoticons to emoji, so :D becomes 😄 .
5. Click the  close icon when you're finished.