Use emoji and emoticons

Emoji are a spin on common emoticons. In Slack, emoji are both fun and practical: use them to enhance your message formatting, add reactions, or copy messages from one channel to another.

Tip: Learn how to create and add custom emoji to Slack.

Add emoji to your messages

Type the emoji code

Type a standard emoji code in the message field, using a : colon followed by the first few letters of the code or emoji alias. You can scroll emoji to select the one you're looking for. 

Select from the emoji menu

Desktop

iOS

Android

1. Click the  smiley face icon in the message field to open the menu.
2. Use the icons at the top of the menu to browse categories, or search for an emoji code.
3. Click an emoji to add it to your message.
   

1. Tap the message field to open the iOS keyboard.
2. Tap the emoji button on the keyboard (if you have multiple keyboards installed, you'll see a globe button).
3. Tap an emoji to add it to your message.

Note: The steps above give you access to iOS emoji. To use Slack emoji, type the emoji code in the message field.

1. Tap the  smiley face icon in the message field to open the menu.
2. Tap an emoji to add it to your message.

Create an emoji alias

Emoji aliases let you add your own emoji codes to Slack. If you ever have trouble remembering certain emoji codes, adding an alias can make it easier to find and use these emoji in Slack.

1. From your desktop, click your workspace name in the top left.
   
2. Select Customize [workspace name]. If you're an owner or admin, you'll need to click Settings & administration first.
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: Workspace Owners and Workspace Admins can restrict permissions for managing emoji and creating emoji aliases. If you don’t have this permission, contact an owner or admin for help.

Choose your default skin tone

Desktop

iOS

Android

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

   

3. Choose a default skin tone.

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Tip: You can click on certain emoji when they appear in the message field to quickly cycle through available skin tones. 

1. From the iOS keyboard, tap and hold the emoji you'd like to use.
2. Choose your preferred skin tone from the menu.

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

1. Tap the   You tab at the bottom of your screen.
2. Tap Preferences.
3. Tap Advanced.
4. Use Emoji Deluxe to choose your preferred skin tone.

Change your emoji display

There are a few preferences for managing how emoji display in Slack. Keep in mind that Slack displays emoji in Apple's style on iOS and Mac devices, and Google's style on Windows, Linux, and Android devices.

Switch between Unicode and plain text

By default, Slack will display Unicode emoji, but you can choose to display emoji as plain text instead if you’d like.

Unicode

Plain text

1. From your desktop, click your profile picture in the top right.
2. Select Preferences from the menu.
3. Select Messages & media.
4. Under Emoji, check or uncheck Display emoji as plain text.
5. Click the  close icon when you're done.

Choose your jumbomoji preference

When you add emoji to a message, the size of the emoji will adjust to match the text. If your message doesn't have any text and only contains emoji, the emoji will appear larger (we call them jumbomoji). 

1. From your desktop, click your profile picture in the top right.
2. Select Preferences from the menu.
3. Select Messages & media.
4. Under Emoji, check or uncheck Show jumbomoji.
5. Click the  close icon when you're done.

Tip: Slack will display jumbomoji for a maximum of 23 emoji in a row. 

Use emoticons

By default, Slack will change common emoticons to an equivalent emoji. You can choose if you'd like Slack to automatically convert typed emoticons.

1. From your desktop, click your profile picture in the top right.
2. Select Preferences from the menu.
3. Select Messages & media.
4. Under Emoji, check or uncheck Convert my typed emoticons to emoji, so :D becomes 😄 .
5. Click the  close icon when you're done.