How to Get New Emojis on Mac

Do you want to get new emojis on the Mac and make your set of emojis unique, not like other users’ collections? Then you have to wait for the next system update.

The fact is that emojis are approved and updated by the Unicode Consortium. After agreement and approval, a code is generated that is added to the system updates (MacOS, iOS, etc.).

Is it absolutely impossible to add new emojis on Mac?

No, you can do it. But this is a partial solution – a so-called “crutch”. And it will not be a full-fledged emoji. But if you want to stand out against the others, you can use such an alternative.

How to do this, we consider below.

And first, let’s figure out how to insert an emoji on Mac into a text and messages in instant messengers.

There are 3 ways to add emoji to a text on Mac:

With mouse through the menu bar
Using hotkeys
Through AutoCorrect

If the menu icon for controlling input languages is displayed in the menu bar (in the top right), you can put an emoji through it.

Just click on this icon and select “Show Emoji & Symbols” in the drop-down list.

After that, a window will appear to select the symbol you need.

If the menu icon for controlling input languages is not displayed in the menu bar, you should enable its displaying as follows:

Follow the path:

Select “Language and Region” in the window appeared

Click the “Keyboard Preferences” button in the next window (in the bottom right).

Now, check the box next to the “Show input menu in menu bar” item in the window appeared.

That’s all. And now, an icon that allows you to quickly call up the panel with an emoji will constantly be displayed in the menu bar.

How to put an emoji on Mac using hotkeys

There is a combination of hotkeys for quick access to the panel.

Press “Ctrl + Cmd + Space” simultaneously, and a panel will appear.
Then you just should select the desired icon, and it will be substituted in the place where the cursor is currently located.

AutoCorrect for those who often use the same emoji

Many of us have 2-3 or even more, favorite symbols that are used most often.

You can set the rules for autocorrect so that you should not constantly inquire the panel and not look for the necessary emojis on it.

The required elements will be automatically substituted for a certain key combination.

The keyboard shortcut can be any. For example, let’s assign some kind of emoji to the azz1 keyboard shortcut as follows:

Go to system settings (Apple menu – “System Preferences”)
Select the “Keyboard” item

Go to the Text tab in the window appeared.

Click “+” in the lower right corner. The cursor will move to the field where you should enter a combination that will be automatically replaced by an emoji (in our case, this is azz1 – enter it into the field).

Next, place the cursor in the field in the “With” column opposite the phrase to be replaced and press the already familiar key combination “Ctrl + Cmd + Space”. After that, a panel with emojis will appear, from which you need to select the one you need.

In such a case, we have assigned the azz1 autocorrect combination with a vehicle symbol. And the corresponding icon appeared opposite this “key”.

Close the window and the changes are saved automatically

IMPORTANT. For AutoCorrect, use keyboard shortcuts that are not encountered in the messages. Otherwise, all matching syllables and text fragments will be automatically replaced by emojis.