How to Insert Emoticons in Outlook Emails

Share emotions in your email messages

What to Know

  • Select the yellow smiley face in the Formatting toolbar, then select Emojis in the Expressions pane.
  • Enter a keyword in the search box or browse the category tabs to find the emoji you want to use.
  • To search Bing for a GIF reaction, go to the GIFs tab and enter a keyword in the search box.

This article explains how to use emojis in Outlook emails. Instructions in this article apply to Outlook 2019, Outlook for Microsoft 365, and Outlook.com.

Add Emoticons to Outlook E-Mail Messages

Use the built-in emoji tool to add expressions to emails with just a few clicks.

  1. Open a New message, Reply to a message, or Forward a message to open a new email in the Reading Pane.

    Inbox in Outlook.com
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  2. Position the cursor where you want the emoji to appear.

  3. In the Formatting toolbar, click the yellow smiley face. (When you hover over it, it says Insert emojis and GIFs).

    Insert Emojis button in a message in Outlook.com
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  4. In the Expressions pane, select Emojis.

    Emojis task pane in Outlook.com
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    To search Bing for a short video expression, go to the GIFs tab and enter a keyword in the Search box.

  5. Select the emoji you want to insert.

    Enter a keyword in the Search box or the browse the Category tabs to find the emoji you want to use.

  6. The emoji appears in the email message.

You can copy and paste an emoji just like other text. For example, copy an emoji in the message area and paste it in the email subject field.

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