Content

• To step
• Method 1 of 2: Using your device's keyboard
• Method 2 of 2: Using the Google keyboard
• Tips

Most modern Android devices are capable of using emoji. If your device doesn't support emoji, you can use the Google keyboard to quickly add emoji to your messages.

To step

Method 1 of 2: Using your device's keyboard

1. Open an app that uses the keyboard. On most Android devices, you can choose emoji with the standard keyboard, especially if you bought your Android device in the last few years.Open an app that makes your keyboard appear, such as your text messaging app.
2. Tap the smiley button. This button can be found to the left or right of the space bar. You may have to press and hold a button with a microphone or gear on it to see this button. Note that the layout of your keyboard may look different in different apps.
   • If you don't have a smiley button, go to the next method.
3. If you don't see a smiley button, tap the button with a globe on it. If instead of a smiley button, you have a button with a globe on it, tap it until the emoji keyboard appears.
4. Swipe left and right to view the different emoji. There are a lot of emojis to choose from and you can see the different characters by swiping from right to left.
5. Tap an emoji to add it. When you tap an emoji, it will be inserted into the text box, just like a normal character.
6. Tap the categories to quickly view other emoji. When the emoji keyboard is active, you will see different categories at the top or bottom of the keyboard, which are indicated by symbols. Tap a category to view it.
7. Touch and hold certain emoji to change the skin color. This option is only available on devices with Android 6.0.1 or higher. With this update, you can hold your finger on most human emoji to choose a different skin color.
   • At the time of writing (November 2016), this feature is still not available on Samsung devices unless you use the Google keyboard (see the next method).
8. Tap "ABC" to return to the regular keyboard. You can find this button in the bottom left or right corner. You will now see the normal keys again.

Method 2 of 2: Using the Google keyboard

1. Download and install the Google keyboard. If you are having a hard time finding the emoji on your device's keyboard, you can use the Google keyboard to quickly choose them.
   • Open the Google Play Store on your device.
   • Search for "Google Keyboard".
   • Next to the "Google Keyboard" option, tap "Install".
2. Open the Settings app on your device. Once the keyboard is installed, you need to set it to open when you start typing.
3. Choose "Language and input". You will now see all the keyboards you have installed.
4. At the top of the list, tap "Standard". This allows you to set the default keyboard for your device.
5. Choose "Google keyboard". The Google keyboard will now automatically appear when you start typing.
6. Open an app that opens your keyboard. After you set the Google keyboard as the default keyboard, you can test the keyboard in an app that lets you type. Try your messaging app or a text app like Google Drive.
7. Tap the smiley button to open the emoji keyboard. You can find this button in the bottom right corner. You may need to tap the symbols button in the lower left corner first and then the smiley button to the right of the space bar. You can also hold down the enter key and then press the smiley button.
   • The keyboard layout depends on which app you are using. For example, your text messaging app shows the smiley button on the keyboard itself, while in Google Drive you first have to press the symbols button.
8. Tap the emoji you want to insert. You can swipe from right to left to view more emoji. With every major update to Android, new emoji are added to the list of available characters.
   • You can tap the categories at the top of the keyboard to quickly view other types of emoji.
9. Touch and hold certain emoji to choose a different skin color. On newer devices, you can choose a different skin color for some of the human emoji. Touch and hold the emoji, then drag your finger across the screen to choose the skin tone you want to use. This does not work on regular emoji, nor on older devices.
10. Tap the ABC button to return to the regular keyboard. With this you can enter normal characters again.

Tips

• To get more emoji for your Android device, check for updates to your device's software. Click here if you want to know more.