How to Use the Emoji Keyboard for Galaxy Phones

Samsung phones hide the emoji a little deeper than most

By
Jordan Baranowski
Jordan Baranowski
Jordan Baranowski
Writer
  • University of Kansas
  • Avila University
Jordan Baranowski is a former Lifewire writer and educator with experience writing for SVG, The Nerd Stash, and Feast Magazine.
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Updated on June 17, 2022
Reviewed by
Ryan Perian
Ryan Perian headshot
Reviewed by Ryan Perian
  • Western Governors University
Ryan Perian is a certified IT specialist who holds numerous IT certifications and has 12+ years' experience working in the IT industry support and management positions.
lifewire's editorial guidelines

For better or worse, emojis are here to stay. If you have a newer Galaxy phone, you can use the emoji keyboard for Galaxy phones and join in on the fun. For older Galaxy phones, there are plenty of third-party keyboards available.

Make Sure Your Phone Can View Emojis

For most modern smartphones, viewing emojis shouldn't be an issue. However, if you aren't sure, use your phone to go to any web page that uses a lot of emojis. If you can see most of the icons on your screen, your phone can view emojis. If you see blank boxes, download a separate app or keyboard that supports emoji.

How to Enable the Samsung Emoji Keyboard

If you know your phone can view emojis, but you can't find a keyboard for them while typing, you have a few options available.

On some phones, you need to enable an emoji keyboard. You can do this through the iWNN IME keyboard, but you can also download Gboard from Google Play, the Google keyboard, as long as your phone runs on Android version 4.4 KitKat or higher.

To change your keyboard:

  1. Go to Settings on your phone.

  2. Select Language and Input.

  3. Choose Default.

  4. Select your keyboard. If your standard keyboard doesn't have an emoji option, choose a keyboard that does.

    Default Samsung keyboard option on Language and Input screen

How to Use the Samsung Emoji Keyboard

Once you have enabled your device to view emojis, you may need to tap a special icon on the keyboard to view the emoji. The icon can vary on different devices and apps, but it usually looks like a smiley face icon or the icon for the emoji keyboard you enabled.

Download a Third-Party Keyboard That Can Read Emoji

If you don't have a device that can read emojis and you don't have access to any of the above options, download a third-party app that can read them. Free Android keyboards like SwiftKey are good options for sending and receiving emojis. You can download them through the Google Play Store, then enable using the same method as detailed above.

SwiftKey Keyboard on Google Play

Use a Third-Party Messaging App

If none of these options work, your last option is to use a third-party messaging app that can read emojis. There are plenty out there, with WhatsApp being one of the most common emoji-enabled messaging apps in the world. Just be aware that you'll be able to see emojis only when sending messages with the third-party app.

FAQ
  • How do I search for emojis on my Samsung keyboard?

    Open any text conversation and type a word to bring up related emojis. If nothing comes up, there are no emojis associated with the word.

  • How do I create emojis for the Samsung text app?

    Use Samsung's built-in AR Emoji creator to make a memoji of yourself. Alternatively, use an emoji maker app like piZap, Emotiyou, or Emojibuilder.

  • How do I get emojis next to my contact names on my Samsung?

    Use a third-party contact manager app like True Contacts that lets you add emojis to contact names.

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