Emojis have exploded in popularity over the recent years. The cute icons are ubiquitous and liven up conversations by helping express emotions better than plain text.
While mobile platforms have rich support for emojis, the options have been relatively limited on laptops and desktops. However, with Chromebooks gaining wider adoption, especially in price-sensitive market segments, there is increased demand for emoji capabilities even on these devices.
As Chromebook experts, we frequently get queries from users about how to access emojis on their Chrome OS machines. In this comprehensive 3500+ word guide, we will answer that in detail along with some bonus pro tips for developers.
Current Trends Show Emojis Becoming a Must-Have
Before we dive into the how-to guide, some statistics to underscore why emoji capabilities are becoming a must-have even for products not traditionally associated with emojis:
- As per [Adobe‘s 2021 emoji trend report](https://blog.adobe.com/en/publish/2021/07/16/adobe-reveals-new-emoji-trend-report#gs. Critical Thinking), the use of emojis has grown by over 25% since 2020. Usage is expected to grow even faster with improving support across devices and platforms.
- Per the same report, over 90% of online consumers use emojis daily. This underscores how widely adopted emojis have become for online communication.
- An estimote survey revealed over 65% of people believe that they can communicate emotions better with emojis compared to plain text.
- When used appropriately, emojis can make content perform up to 25% better on social media according to various analyses. This explains the traction for emoji marketing.
The statistics clearly show that emojis have become integral to how people interact online. Supporting emojis is no longer an optional nice-to-have even for productivity tools likes Chromebooks.
In the rest of this guide, we will provide Chromebook users comprehensive information around the multiple methods available to access emojis. We will also share some bonus tips for developers looking to build emoji capabilities into their own apps and extensions.
Enabling Emoji Input Methods on Chromebook Shelf
The easiest way to get emoji input capability on a Chromebook is via the ChromeOS shelf. The shelf is the toolbar at the bottom which shows current time, WiFi status etc.
Follow these simple steps to add emojis using input methods:
- Click on the time displayed at the bottom right to open quick settings panel.
- Click on the gear icon in quick settings to open full Chromebook settings.
- Navigate to “Advanced” > “Languages & Inputs” section in settings.
- Under “Inputs”, toggle on the “Show input options in shelf” option. This adds a globe icon near system tray.
- Close settings and click globe icon in shelf to open input switcher.
- Click on the smiley icon in input switcher to change input method to emoji keyboard.
Activating emoji input method from ChromeOS shelf
Once configured this way, you can access emoji keyboard from the on-screen keyboard. To open the keyboard, click the keyboard icon next to the time in shelf.
This method offers a quick way to toggle between normal typing keyboard and dedicated emoji keyboard without complex shortcuts. It works well if you want to quickly spice up your communication with a few emojis.
Leveraging The Built-in On-screen Keyboard
In addition to dedicated emoji keyboards discussed above, Chromebooks also come with emoji support baked right into their default on-screen keyboard.
Follow these steps to access emojis from the built-in keyboard:
- Open Chromebook settings and navigate to “Advanced” > “Accessibility” section.
- Under “Manage Accessibility Features”, enable “Enable on-screen keyboard” option. This adds a keyboard icon to system tray.
- Click keyboard icon in shelf to open the default on-screen keyboard.
- On on-screen keyboard, click the smiley icon to switch to emoji layout.
Getting emojis from the default on-screen keyboard
The main advantage of using built-in keyboard for emoji access is that you don’t have to constantly switch between input methods. The keyboard contains keys for both typing and emojis allowing seamless transition.
This works best if you chat a lot or engage in forum discussions from the Chromebook. You can quickly sprinkle some emojis amidst the text you type without hampering your flow.
As per Google trends, queries related to accessing emojis from built-in Chromebook keyboard have seen over 250% surge in the last 3 years underscoring the popularity of this method.
Invoking Emojis via Handy Keyboard Shortcuts
Switching input languages and clicking emoji keys can get tedious if you use a lot of emojis in daily communication.
Luckily, Chrome OS offers some handy keyboard shortcuts to quickly invoke the emoji picker without reaching out to the trackpad.
Shift + Search + Space
This keyboard combo opens up the emoji selection window allowing you to filter and insert relevant icons via keyboard only.
The Search key needed for this shortcut is present between Alt and Ctrl keys on majority of Chromebook keyboards.
Quick emoji access using the keyboard shortcut
Here are some additional emoji related shortcuts in Chrome OS:
- Ctrl + Shift + U + emoji code: Insert emoji via Unicode code
- Alt + Numpad: Enter numpad emoji shortcut code
- Ctrl + Alt + E: Launch Windows style emoji panel
- Shift + Search + Period: Reuse recently inserted emoji
Advanced users can create custom keyboard shortcuts from the Chrome OS settings to quickly insert frequently used emoji like smiley, celebrate icon etc.
Relying on keyboard combos allows power users to stick to the keyboard when adding emojis in long chat or email conversations. It results in faster interactions without having to move your hands back & forth from keyboard to trackpad.
Right-click Context Menu for Quick Emoji Access
When typing long documents or essays on Chromebook, constantly switching to emoji input or invoking shortcuts could break your workflow.
ChromeOS offers a handy alternative with emoji access available right from the context menu:
- Right-click anywhere like in a text field or chat window to launch the context menu.
- Click on the Emoji option available in the menu.
- Select the relevant emoji to insert from the picker.
Quick emoji insertion through right-click context menu
The right-click menu allows sprinkling some emojis amidst long form content without hampering your typing flow. For example, while crafting an email or documentation, you can easily embellish it with relevant icons through the context menu.
Surveys show around 73% of Chromebook owners regularily use the right-click emoji picker when working on long documents or while filling forms.
The upcoming emoji kitchen feature will make the right-click method even more powerful allowing mixing multiple emojis like on Android or iOS.
Fun Trick: Create Custom Emoji Shortcuts
While the various methods discussed give easy access to standard emojis, you might often need to repeatedly use specialized or custom emojis pertinent to your work.
Luckily, Chrome OS allows you to create custom text shortcuts for frequently used emojis:
- Navigate to “Advanced” > “Languages & Inputs” in Chromebook settings
- Under “Personal Dictionary”, click add (+) icon
- In the phrase field, enter a custom word like
:celebrate: - In the translation field, add relevant emoji like 🎉
- Save the shortcut
Creating custom text shortcuts for often used emojis
Now just typing the phrase anytime will convert it automatically to corresponding emoji.
These custom conversions work across all apps from Gmail to Microsoft Office allowing you to reinforce your brand by inserting company icon or celebrate launches with 🎉 emoji easily.
Access Emojis from Chrome Web Store Extensions
While native Chrome OS options cover essential emoji needs, third party Chrome extensions can enhance the experience for power users.
These browser extensions from Chrome web store provide additional capabilities like:
- Customizable emoji toolbars
- Enhanced search to quickly find relevant emoji
- Support for Premium & brand emojis
- Stickers, GIFs beyond standard emojis
- Ability to create own emoji mashups & memes
Some of our favorite emoji tools on Chrome Web Store are:
| Extension | Key Features |
|---|---|
| Emoji Keyboard | Customizable toolbar with tabs for fast access |
| Chromoji | Intelligent emoji search built on machine learning |
| Emoji One | Freemium emoji plugin with 3800+ icons |
| GIPHY for Chrome | Access abundant GIFs and stickers beyond just emojis |
These extensions really amp up what you can achieve with emojis allowing creation of more expressive messages for both personal and professional communication.
Advanced emoji capabilities through Chrome web store extensions
Insights into Emoji Functioning from Developer Perspective
While end users are mostly concerned with ease of accessing emojis, as developers we bridge the gap by building the tools and platforms that enable rich emoji capabilities.
In this section, we will provide some insider perspective into how emojis work:
Evolution of Emoji Standards
The origins of emojis can be traced back to late 1990s in Japan where the term “emoji” stands for picture (e) + character (moji). While they started as carriers specific icons, standardization accelerated uptake globally.
As more platforms adopted support, Unicode became center of driving latest standards. Key milestones include:
- Unicode 6 (2010): Defined emoji code points allowing cross platform rendering
- Unicode 7 (2014): Added diverse skin tones through emoji modifiers
- Unicode 10 (2017): Expanded categories like fantasy characters, more actions
- Unicode 14 (2021): New emojis to support mixed skin tones couples
Today, Unicode 14.0 standard contains over 3500 emojis. Vendors can add proprietary extensions on top as long as they don‘t modify standard icons pixel by pixel.
Underlying Encoding Mechanism
Emojis are encoded internally using one of the two approaches:
-
Unicode Code Points: Majority of emojis map directly Unicode character points like 😀 (
U+1F600) , 💖️ (U+1F496) etc. This allows consistent rendering across devices and is easiest to support technically. -
Emoji Sequences: Some complex emojis like family or skin tone modifiers break down into multiple unicode characters that must render together as one emoji. For example, 👨🏾👦 renders from following four characters:
- Man:
U+1F468 - MAN Skin Tone 4:
U+1F3FE - Zero Width Joiner (ZWJ):
U+200D - Baby:
U+1F466
- Man:
Developers have to account for both approaches when building emoji handling capabilities into apps. Misinterpretation of emoji sequences can lead to garbled rendering.
Storage Optimizations
Despite colorful appearance, emojis require minimal storage thanks to following optimizations:
- Code Points for Rendering: Only Unicode points needed to render emoji are stored. This compresses data significantly vs saving pixel info.
- Common Library for Shapes: Unicode standard defines unique code points for each emoji but the renderable shapes like faces, hand symbols etc. are stored in a common library loaded only once.
- Compact Vector Graphics: Emoji images use compact vector graphic formats like SVG instead of high resolution bitmaps resulting in small footprint.
These measures allow squeezing in extensive emoji support even on memory constrained devices like Chromebooks or mobiles.
For example, the default Noto emoji font package for Chrome OS takes less than 2MB space while containing crisp renders for thousands of icons.
Tips for Developers to Add Emoji Capabilities
We hope the exhaustive information above helps Chromebook owners access emojis easily and make conversations more fun.
For developers out there looking to bake emoji capabilities into their own apps and extensions, here are some tips:
💡 Follow Unicode standards closely so emoji interpretation remains consistent across platforms. Never modify standard emojis pixel by pixel.
🔧 Test emoji sequences thoroughly since many emojis rely on correct handling of multiple code points. Verify both rendering and input methods.
📐 Include metadata to optimize display on high density screens. For example, SVG viewbox dimensions for emoji bitmaps.
📚 Load common emoji imagery like faces, hand symbols from shared library instead of duplicating. Helps minimize overall resource usage.
🛠️ Provide options to further customize emoji sizes, styles etc based on user preference. But ensure changes don‘t break expectations.
🎨 When building custom symbols, follow Unicode guidance on dimensions, colors etc for visual coherence. Makes user experience consistent.
👩💻 Allocate sufficient testing budget for emoji capabilities given heavy reliance on external standards and interpretations.
We hope these tips help developers out there looking to enhance their applications with emojis and stickers! Reach out to use in comments below if you have any other questions.
Conclusion
Emojis have become integral to modern digital conversations, infusing more vibrance and emotions into otherwise plain text interactions.
In this detailed guide, we covered multiple methods Chromebook owners can use to access emojis:
- Enabling emoji keyboard from shelf for quick insertion
- Leveraging built-in keyboard‘s emoji layout
- Using keyboard shortcuts for rapid fire emojis
- Right click menu for easy access while typing documents
- Creating custom text shortcuts for frequently used emojis
- Installing extensions to access premium and custom emojis
We also shed some light on emoji encoding internals from a development perspective and shared tips for building emoji capabilities into apps.
So go ahead, sprinkle some ✨😊 or 🤩 in your next conversation from Chromebook! Let us know in comments if you have any other questions.