Google Docs is embracing the emoji. Back in April, the company added the ability to react to docs with emojis, rather than leave a full comment. Now, Google is expanding its emoji support, adding a quick and easy way to insert emojis into Google Docs without needing to rely on an outside source.
It comes as part of Google’s “insert” shortcut. When you start a new doc, you’ll see “Type @ to insert,” which you might miss if you start typing too quickly. Here, you’ll see a menu of options at your disposal: You can email a draft of the doc to someone, share it with recent Google contacts, bring in other docs, as well as insert typical word processing elements, like links, breaks, and page numbers. But the new addition here is the emoji. If you scroll through the menu, you’ll find the option as the last entry under “Media.” Click it, and you’ll have access to an easy-to-use emoji selection menu. Pick from the preview, or search for something in particular.
You can also pull up this menu from the hidden shortcut on the right side of your document. Hover your mouse over the side parallel to your text, then click on the smiley face.
While this menu is useful, if you already know what emoji you want to use, you can access it faster. Type “@:” and then start typing the name of the emoji. You might be familiar with this type of emoji system if you’re coming from an app like Slack: As you type, you’ll see a selection of emoji that changes depending on the description you type. For example, typing @:laugh brings up the Laughing, Joy, and Rofl emoji options.
If the emoji you want to use is the top option, you can simply hit Enter on your keyboard to insert it into your doc. Otherwise, select one of the other options with your keyboard arrows, then hit Enter when ready.
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