{"id":200507,"date":"2026-10-12T12:37:03","date_gmt":"2026-10-12T16:37:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/midatlanticconsulting.com\/blog\/?p=200507"},"modified":"2026-10-12T12:37:03","modified_gmt":"2026-10-12T16:37:03","slug":"how-to-quickly-insert-emojis-in-macos-27-with-this-colon-trick","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/midatlanticconsulting.com\/blog\/2026\/10\/how-to-quickly-insert-emojis-in-macos-27-with-this-colon-trick\/","title":{"rendered":"How to quickly insert emojis in macOS 27 with this colon trick"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Enable a hidden Terminal command on your Mac running macOS Golden Gate to quickly insert emojis by typing a colon (:) followed by the emoji’s name.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Inserting <\/p>\n

There are a few easy ways to insert emojis on your Mac<\/a>, but my personal favorite is pressing the fn<\/kbd> key (or Control<\/kbd> + Command<\/kbd> + Space Bar<\/kbd>) to open the Character Viewer window and select one from there.<\/p>\n

The second option is to show the keyboard icon in the menu bar<\/a> and access emojis from there.<\/p>\n

Or, if there is an emoji you use a lot, you can set up text replacements for it<\/a>, just like I have set ‘ggcc<\/em><\/strong>‘ to insert a green check mark (✅) and ‘rrcc<\/em><\/strong>‘ to insert a red cross (❌), as I need these often when renaming files in Finder.<\/p>\n

The tip below (first discovered by @pdfu<\/a> on X) seems to simplify emoji insertion even further.<\/p>\n

If you’re a Slack user, you’ll feel right at home. In case you’ve never used Slack, note that it lets you select and insert an emoji by typing a colon (:), followed by the emoji name!<\/p>\n

\"Entering<\/figure>\n

Thanks to this hidden discovery in macOS 27, you can use the same Slack method to insert emojis in Notes<\/strong>, TextEdit<\/strong>, Calendar<\/strong>, and other AppKit text editors. It also works in apps like Messages<\/strong>, albeit with a delay. However, per pdfu<\/em> (and verified by me), this emoji trick lacks WebKit implementation, so it fails in apps like Mail and Safari.<\/p>\n

\"Inserting<\/figure>\n

Also check out:<\/strong> How to know what an emoji means<\/a><\/p>\n

Insert emoji on Mac by typing a colon, followed by the emoji name<\/h2>\n

1)<\/strong> Open Terminal<\/strong> on your Mac.<\/p>\n

2)<\/strong> Copy and paste the following command and press the return<\/kbd> \/ enter<\/kbd> key.<\/p>\n

sudo mkdir -p \/Library\/Preferences\/FeatureFlags\/Domain && \\
sudo defaults write \/Library\/Preferences\/FeatureFlags\/Domain\/Stickers InlineEmojiSearch -dict Enabled -bool true<\/code><\/p>\n

3)<\/strong> Type your Mac’s password and press the return<\/kbd> \/ enter<\/kbd> key. Terminal won’t show visual confirmation when you enter the password, so type it carefully.<\/p>\n

\"Terminal <\/p>\n

4)<\/strong> Restart your Mac. This is important!<\/em><\/p>\n

5)<\/strong> Now open Notes or TextEdit, type a colon (:<\/kbd>) and then enter the initials of the desired emoji name, like smi<\/em><\/strong> for smiling emoji or hea<\/strong><\/em> for heart. You’ll see an emoji pane right where you’re typing; select the one you want to insert.<\/p>\n

\"Inserting<\/figure>\n

If you change your mind and don’t want to use this feature, open Terminal and run the command below. Then restart your Mac for the changes to take effect.<\/p>\n

sudo defaults delete \/Library\/Preferences\/FeatureFlags\/Domain\/Stickers InlineEmojiSearch<\/code><\/p>\n

\"Terminal <\/p>\n

What do you think of this? I love it, but unfortunately, I do most of my typing in Google Chrome, and it doesn’t work there.<\/em><\/p>\n

Other hidden macOS tips discovered by pdfu:<\/strong><\/p>\n