Free Emoji Picker
An emoji picker lets you search, browse, and copy emojis by name or category with code points and shortcodes. Search or browse below to find and copy any emoji instantly.
All Emojis
304 emojis foundWhat Is an Emoji Picker?
An emoji picker is a searchable interface for browsing, finding, and copying emoji characters. Unlike image-based emoji references, a proper picker copies the actual Unicode character to your clipboard so you can paste it into any text field โ social media, code editors, terminals, documents, and databases. Search by name ("rocket"), browse by category (smileys, animals, food, travel), and see the Unicode code point for each character.
You would use an emoji picker when composing social media posts, adding emojis to commit messages and PR descriptions, inserting symbols into documents, finding the exact emoji among thousands of options, and looking up code points for development work.
Code Examples for Working with Emojis
JavaScript
// Emoji is a Unicode character
const rocket = '๐';
console.log(rocket.codePointAt(0).toString(16)); // 1f680
console.log('\u{1F680}'); // ๐
// .length counts UTF-16 code units, not characters
console.log('๐'.length); // 2 (not 1!)
console.log([...'๐'].length); // 1 (correct)
// Detect emojis
const hasEmoji = (str) => /\p{Extended_Pictographic}/u.test(str);
// Strip emojis
const removeEmojis = (str) =>
str.replace(/\p{Extended_Pictographic}/gu, '').trim();Python
# Emoji is a Unicode character โ Python 3 handles length correctly
rocket = '๐'
print(f'U+{ord(rocket):04X}') # U+1F680
print(len('Hello ๐')) # 7 (correct)
# pip install emoji
import emoji
print(emoji.emojize(':rocket:')) # ๐
print(emoji.demojize('๐')) # :rocket:
print(emoji.emoji_count('Hello ๐๐')) # 2Go
package main
import (
"fmt"
"unicode/utf8"
)
func main() {
rocket := "๐"
fmt.Printf("Code point: U+%04X\n", []rune(rocket)[0]) // U+1F680
text := "Hello ๐"
fmt.Println("Bytes:", len(text)) // 10
fmt.Println("Runes:", utf8.RuneCountInString(text)) // 7
}Real-World Emoji Use Cases
Social media content creation. Emojis increase engagement by 25โ50% according to multiple studies. Use the emoji picker to find the perfect emoji without scrolling through a phone keyboard.
Git commits and PR descriptions. Many teams use emoji conventions: ๐ bug fixes, โจ new features, ๐ง config changes, ๐ documentation. Search by name instead of memorizing code points.
Documentation and README files. GitHub renders emojis in Markdown. Adding โ , โ ๏ธ, and ๐ to READMEs improves scannability.
Database encoding verification. MySQL requires utf8mb4 charset (not utf8, which only handles 3-byte characters) to store emoji characters correctly.
Common Emoji Mistakes
JavaScript .length is unreliable for emojis. The emoji '๐' has .length of 2 because it uses a UTF-16 surrogate pair. Use [...str].length for the true character count.
MySQL utf8 does not support emojis. Standard MySQL utf8 only handles 3-byte characters. Use utf8mb4 charset and utf8mb4_unicode_ci collation.
Compound emojis have multiple code points. The family emoji ๐จโ๐ฉโ๐งโ๐ฆ is four people joined by zero-width joiners (ZWJ). Splitting or reversing these strings breaks them into individual components.
How to Use the Emoji Picker
1. Browse or search. Use the category tabs to browse emojis by group (Smileys, People, Animals, Food, Travel, Objects, Symbols, Flags) or type a keyword in the search bar to filter by name, shortcode, or category.
2. Click to copy. Click any emoji to copy it to your clipboard instantly. A brief confirmation appears so you know the copy worked.
3. Check details. Every emoji you click appears in the Emoji Details table below the grid, showing the emoji, its official name, Unicode code point, and shortcode.
4. Reuse quickly. Your recently used emojis appear at the top of the page for quick access. Click any of them to copy again without scrolling.
How Emojis Work Under the Hood
Emojis are not images. They are Unicode characters, just like letters and numbers. When you type the letter "A," your device looks up the character at code point U+0041 and renders it in the current font. Emojis work the same way. The grinning face is code point U+1F600, the red heart is U+2764, and the thumbs up is U+1F44D. Your operating system or app renders each code point as a colorful glyph using a built-in emoji font such as Apple Color Emoji, Noto Color Emoji (Android/Linux), or Segoe UI Emoji (Windows).
The Unicode Consortium. The nonprofit Unicode Consortium decides which emojis exist. Every year they review proposals and add new emojis in a major Unicode release. Once approved, operating system vendors design their own visual representations. That is why the same emoji can look different on an iPhone versus an Android phone or a Windows PC. The underlying code point is identical; only the rendering differs.
Shortcodes and platforms. Platforms like Slack, Discord, and GitHub introduced shortcodes (e.g., :fire:, :thumbsup:) as a quick way to insert emojis from a keyboard. You type the shortcode surrounded by colons and the platform replaces it with the corresponding emoji. Shortcodes are not standardized across platforms, so :thumbsup: on Slack might be :+1: on GitHub. This tool shows the most common shortcode variant for each emoji.
Combining characters and sequences. Some emojis are formed by combining multiple code points. Skin tone modifiers (U+1F3FB through U+1F3FF) attach to a base emoji to change its appearance. Flag emojis use two Regional Indicator Symbol letters (e.g., U+1F1FA U+1F1F8 for the US flag). The zero-width joiner (U+200D) glues characters together to create family, profession, and other compound emojis. This is why a single visible emoji can actually consist of several code points under the hood.
Emoji in development. Developers encounter emojis in APIs, databases, and user-generated content. Handling emoji correctly requires UTF-8 encoding (or UTF-16 in JavaScript), awareness that a single emoji can span multiple code units, and testing for proper rendering across platforms. When storing emojis in a MySQL database, the utf8mb4 character set is required because standard utf8 only supports code points up to U+FFFF, while most emojis live above U+1F000.
Frequently Asked Questions About Emoji Picker
How do I copy an emoji?
Click any emoji in the grid and it is instantly copied to your clipboard. You can then paste it anywhere with Ctrl+V (or Cmd+V on Mac). A brief confirmation message appears when the copy succeeds.
What are emoji shortcodes?
Shortcodes like :thumbsup: or :fire: are text aliases used on platforms such as Slack, Discord, and GitHub. Instead of searching for the visual emoji, you type the shortcode and it converts automatically. This tool shows the shortcode for every emoji so you can use it on supported platforms.
What is a Unicode code point?
A Unicode code point is the unique identifier assigned to each character in the Unicode standard. For example, the grinning face emoji has the code point U+1F600. Developers use code points when they need to reference emojis in source code, HTML entities, or documentation. This tool displays the code point for every emoji.
How does the search work?
The search bar filters emojis by name, shortcode, or category in real time. For example, typing 'heart' shows all heart-related emojis, typing ':fire:' finds the fire emoji by shortcode, and typing 'food' shows the entire Food category. The search is case-insensitive.
Does this tool store my recently used emojis?
Recently used emojis are stored in your browser session only. They appear in a dedicated section at the top for quick access. When you close the tab or refresh the page, the recently used list resets. Nothing is saved to your device or sent to any server.
How many emojis are included?
This tool includes approximately 300 of the most popular and commonly used emojis across eight categories: Smileys, People, Animals, Food, Travel, Objects, Symbols, and Flags. The selection covers the emojis you are most likely to need for messaging, social media, and development.
Can I use these emojis on social media?
Yes. Emojis copied from this tool are standard Unicode characters that work on virtually every platform including Twitter/X, Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, LinkedIn, WhatsApp, and iMessage. How the emoji looks may vary slightly between platforms because each one uses its own emoji font.
Is my data sent to a server?
No. This tool runs entirely in your browser. The emoji data is hardcoded in the page, the search is performed client-side, and the clipboard copy uses the browser Clipboard API. Nothing you search or copy is sent to any server.
Do emojis look the same on all devices?
No. Apple, Google, Microsoft, and Samsung each design their own emoji art for the same Unicode code points. A grinning face (U+1F600) looks slightly different on iPhone vs Android vs Windows, though the meaning stays the same.
Can I use emojis in code and databases?
Yes, but ensure your database uses UTF-8 (or utf8mb4 in MySQL). Emojis are multi-byte Unicode characters. Databases using latin1 or basic utf8 encoding will corrupt or reject emoji characters. In JavaScript, note that .length counts UTF-16 code units, not characters โ use [...str].length for the true count.
How do I open the emoji keyboard on my computer?
On Windows, press Win+. (period). On Mac, press Ctrl+Cmd+Space. On Linux, it varies by desktop environment. For a browser-based picker with search that works everywhere, use this tool.
Can I use emojis in email subject lines?
Yes, and they can improve open rates. However, some email clients render emojis as squares or question marks. Stick to widely supported emojis (hearts, stars, arrows) and test across Gmail, Outlook, and Apple Mail before sending campaigns.
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