How to Copy and Paste Emojis on Mac
March 9, 2026
Macs have had native emoji support for years, and macOS makes it easy to insert emojis in any app. Here's everything you need to know.
The Mac Emoji Picker (Character Viewer)
macOS includes a built-in Character Viewer for browsing and inserting emojis and special characters.
Opening the Emoji Picker
- Click into any text field in any app.
- Press Control + Command + Space to open the emoji picker.
- A small emoji panel appears.
Expanding to the Full Character Viewer
Click the expand icon (grid icon) in the top-right corner of the picker to open the full Character Viewer, which includes thousands of special characters beyond standard emojis.
Inserting an Emoji
Double-click any emoji to insert it at the cursor position.
Searching
Type a keyword in the search bar at the top to find emojis by name. Try "heart", "party", "star", or "face".
Opening via the Menu Bar
In most apps, you can also open the emoji picker via the menu bar:
- Click Edit in the menu bar.
- Select Emoji & Symbols.
Copying Emojis from the Web
The fastest way to copy a specific emoji is from Emoji Family's copy and paste page:
- Open the page in Safari, Chrome, or any browser.
- Search for your emoji.
- Click the emoji to copy it instantly.
- Switch to your app and press Command + V to paste.
Mac Keyboard Shortcuts for Emojis
| Action | Shortcut |
|---|---|
| Open emoji picker | Control + Command + Space |
| Paste | Command + V |
| Undo | Command + Z |
| Cut | Command + X |
Using Emojis in Mac Apps
Emojis work as standard Unicode characters everywhere on macOS:
- Messages: Tap the smiley face button in the compose bar for quick emoji access.
- Mail: Use the emoji picker or paste from the web.
- Pages / Keynote / Numbers: Insert via Edit → Emoji & Symbols.
- TextEdit / Notes: Full emoji support.
- Finder: You can even use emojis in file and folder names; just open the emoji picker while renaming.
- Terminal: Emojis render in the terminal and can be used in code files.
- Xcode: Paste emojis into Swift/ObjC strings and Markdown.
Emoji Skin Tones on Mac
For people emojis:
- Open the emoji picker.
- Find a person emoji (like 👋).
- Click and hold; a skin tone popover appears.
- Click a skin tone to set it as your preferred tone for that emoji.
macOS Emoji Style
macOS renders emojis using Apple's Apple Color Emoji font, the iconic, expressive style you're used to on iPhone. Every emoji on macOS looks the same as on iPhone.
You can see how any emoji compares across Apple, Google, Microsoft, and other platforms on the individual emoji pages on Emoji Family.
Troubleshooting
Emoji picker shortcut doesn't work?
- Check that another app isn't capturing the shortcut. Go to System Settings → Keyboard → Keyboard Shortcuts to see if there's a conflict.
- Make sure your cursor is in a text field when you press the shortcut.
Emojis displaying as boxes?
- The font in use may not include emoji glyphs. Try a different font, or use a web-based app where emoji rendering is handled by the browser.
Can't find the emoji I need?
- Use the Character Viewer's search; it searches by Unicode name, so try "face with tears of joy" or just "tears".
- Or visit Emoji Family's copy and paste page where you can search the full emoji catalogue by keyword.