How to Type Smiling Face Emoji Symbols?

Smiling face emoji are the most popular in chat conversation in social applications like Instagram, Twitter and Facebook Messenger. Though most of these applications have dedicated emoji keyboard some apps like WhatsApp uses the default smartphone’s emoji option. In addition, you can use alt code shortcuts to type these smiling face emoji symbols in Windows and Mac based documents like Word and Pages.

Related: Alt code keyboard shortcuts for religious symbols.

Alt Code Shortcuts for Smiling Face Emoji

Unicode has 13 smiling face emoji symbols under “Smileys & Emotion” group. However, there are many emoji with similar name under different groups. For example, the “Smiling Face” emoji itself is part of “Affection Face” group and not under the “Smiling Face” group. Here is a list of alt code shortcuts for smiling face emoji symbols under different categories.

Note: Grinning, smirking and beaming all words have similar meaning with smiling.

How to Type Smiling Face Emoji Symbols?

1. Using Alt Code Decimal Method

Using alt code is the easy way to type these emoji symbols in Windows based documents. You can hold the alt key and then type the code using number pad on your keyboard. For example, alt + 128537 will make the kissing face with smiling eyes like 😙.

2. Alt X Code for Microsoft Word

If alt code shortcut is not working then you can try the alt + x shortcuts. However, this shortcut will work only on Microsoft Word documents in Windows. You have to type the hexadecimal code and then press alt + x keys together to convert into an emoji. For example, 1F970 Alt + X will make smiling face with hearts like 🥰.

3. Can i Insert Smiling Faces in HTML and CSS?

Yes, you can use the decimal or hexadecimal code in the following format like to insert these emoji symbols in HTML.

<span>&#129394;</span>
<span>&#x1F972;</span>

Similar to HTML, you can also use the below format in CSS using the hexadecimal code.

li:before {
	content:\1F600;
	font-family:Arial;
}

Using Emoji Panel in Windows and Mac

Unfortunately, alt code keyboard shortcuts will not work in Mac for the emoji with 5 digit hexadecimal codes. However, you have an alternate option to use the emoji panel or Character Viewer app.

• Press “Control + Command + Space” to open emoji panel in Mac.
• Search the name or hexadecimal code using the search box to filter the symbols.
• Double click on the emoji to insert on the application.

Using Emoji Keyboard in Windows

Other than using keyboard shortcuts, Windows computers also offer an emoji panel to type symbols.

• Press “Win + Dot” or “Win + Semicolon” keys to open emoji panel.
• Type the emoji name to filter the symbol and insert on your document.

Is Smiling Face ☺ an Emoji or Emoticon?

There are two symbols many of us get confused – black and white smiling face.

• White smiling face is an emoticon later adopted as emoji. It is same as “Smiling Face” emoji that you can type with “Alt + 9786”.
• Though the name is smiling face, it is NOT part of “Smiling Face” group. It is part of “Affection Face” emoji group.
• Black smiling face (Alt + 9787) is NOT part of Unicode emoji.
• Most applications will display both black and white emoticon symbols in grayscale like text characters.

Note: All smiling face emoji symbols will look like line diagram in Windows based documents. However, they will solid image in Mac documents including Office 365 for Mac.