Apple has a big list of Emoji symbol in default iOS keyboard used in iPhone. The list is so huge and makes it difficult for anyone to remember where exactly the emoji symbols are available. Though you can use the search box to find the emoji it may be time consuming while typing. Fortunately there is a way around to add shortcut phrase for the emoji symbol you frequently use. In this article, we will explain how to create text keyboard shortcuts for emojis in iPhone. You can use the keyboard shortcuts to insert emoji symbols in Messages, WhatsApp and Mail conversations.
Related: Alt code emoji keyboard shortcuts for Windows.
Default iOS Keyboard
Below is how the default keyboard will look in iPhone. When you tap on the smiley key, the keyboard will show you the complete list of Unicode emoji symbols. You can use the search box or manually swipe through the list and find your favorite emoji.
Instead of searching you can easily create a text replacement or shortcuts for any emoji symbol in iPhone.
Accessing Keyboard Shortcuts in iPhone
Tap the “Settings” app on your iPhone’s home screen and then navigate to “General” section. When you are in the general settings page, scroll down a bit and tap on “Keyboard” option.
iPhone keyboard settings page has a long list of options and tap on the “Text Replacement” option as shown below.
Creating Text Shortcut for Emoji in iPhone
iOS allows you to create your own shortcuts for the long phrases when typing in the keyboard. For example, you can type “omg” to replace it with a long phrase “Oh My God!”. However, you can the same text replacement features for adding text shortcut to any emoji symbols. You will see all custom shortcuts already created under “Text Replacement” section and tap on the “+” icon showing on top right corner to create a new shortcut for your favorite emoji.
On the next screen, you need to type the “Phrase” and “Shortcut”. Tap on the phrase text box and choose your favorite emoji symbol from the keyboard. Enter the keyboard shortcut you want to use for your emoji in the shortcut text box. For example, we select the vertical traffic light emoji symbol as a phrase and enter the text “tf” as a shortcut.
Whenever typing with the default keyboard in apps like Messages or Mail, type the shortcut “tf” to see the traffic light emoji appears in the quick type bar.
Just tap on the spacebar to select the highlighted emoji icon without searching in the big list.
Deleting Text Replacement Shortcuts
If you want to delete the shortcuts, tap on the “Edit” link showing at the bottom left corner in “Text Replacement” screen. This will show a red minus icon in front of each shortcuts in the list. Tap on that icon to remove the text shortcut for your emoji.
Intelligent iOS Emoji Keyboard
The recent iOS versions has intelligent keyboard to suggest emojis based on your text messages. For example, when you type “too hot” your iPhone will automatically show the hot emoji symbol in the suggestion bar to pick up without searching from the huge list. Remember, you should enable “Predictive” option under “Settings > General > Keyboard” settings to view the text replacement suggestions.
View our video on how to add shortcut for emojis in iOS keyboard:
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