Email, Messaging, & Video Calls > Email Insert Graphical Gmail Emoticons in Your Messages Here's how to add a little personality to your email easily By Heinz Tschabitscher Heinz Tschabitscher Writer University of Vienna A former freelance contributor who has reviewed hundreds of email programs and services since 1997. lifewire's editorial guidelines Updated on May 24, 2021 Reviewed by Jon Fisher Reviewed by Jon Fisher Wichita Technical Institute Jonathan Fisher is a CompTIA certified technologist with more than 6 years' experience writing for publications like TechNorms and Help Desk Geek. lifewire's editorial guidelines Email Gmail Yahoo! Mail Trending Videos Close this video player What to Know When composing a message, select the Insert emoji icon from the formatting toolbar. Choose an emoji to place at the cursor.Use the category tabs to browse different emojis. Gmail remembers the emojis you use, keeping them in an extra tab for quick access.On a mobile device, tap the globe or smiley face icon when composing a message to reveal the emoji menu. This article describes how to insert graphical emoticons (also known as emojis) in Gmail messages using the desktop and mobile versions of Gmail. Insert Graphical Gmail Emoticons in Your Messages To add an emoji in a Gmail message: Begin composing a new message. Position the text cursor where you want to insert the Gmail emoticon. Click the Insert emoji button in the formatting toolbar (it has a smiling face). Choose the desired emoji to insert it. The default tab might be the search tab, so you'll need to select the tab next to it to find the list of all emojis. Use the tabs at the top to browse different Gmail emoji categories. Gmail remembers the emojis you use and keeps them in an extra tab for quick access. Also, you can highlight and move or copy graphical smileys just like text. Graphical emoticons aren't represented by corresponding text smileys (such as :-) ) in the plain text alternative of your message. Gmail inserts the emoji using Unicode encoding, which may not display with email programs that only display ASCII text. Insert Graphical Gmail Emoticons in Your Emails on Mobile Devices To add emojis using the mobile web versions of Gmail and the Gmail apps for iOS and Android, use the emoji keyboards available on iOS and Android. Launch the Gmail app on your mobile phone and create a new message. Tap the emoji button to bring up the emoji keyboard. Tap the emojis you want to add to your message. Send as usual. Was this page helpful? Thanks for letting us know! Get the Latest Tech News Delivered Every Day Subscribe Tell us why! Other Not enough details Hard to understand Submit