How to Find the Right Emoji Quickly on Any Device
Searching emojis by scrolling is slow. Here are the search and shortcut techniques I use to find what I need on phones and desktops. For years I scrolled through emoji keyboards looking for the symbol I needed, which was slow enough that I often gave up and typed the word instead. Then I learned that every major platform has a search function for emojis, and once I started using it, I never went back to scrolling. The search is faster, more accurate, and it works across phones, tablets, and desktops with only minor differences in how you access it. I timed myself before and after switching to search. Scrolling to a specific emoji took an average of 12 seconds. Searching took an average of 3 seconds. Over a day of messaging, that adds up to minutes saved. More importantly, the search finds emojis I would never have found by scrolling, because some emojis are buried in categories I would never think to check. On iPhone and iPad The iOS emoji keyboard has a search field that appears at the top of the keyboard when you switch to the emoji layout. You type a word, and the keyboard filters to matching emojis. Typing heart returns the red heart, the broken heart, the beating heart, and several others. Typing shrug returns the person shrugging. Read the full article on Emoji Reference, and copy any emoji mentioned from the catalog of 1303+ entries on the home page.