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With iOS 14, it's easy to search for specific emojis on your iPhone's keyboard.
Crystal Cox/Business Insider
  • You can search for emojis on your iPhone, starting with iOS 14, so that you don’t have to browse by scrolling through all of them.
  • To search, switch to the emoji keyboard and type your search terms in the “Search Emoji” field. 
  • When you find the emoji you want, tap it to insert it into the message you are drafting. 
  • Visit Business Insider’s Tech Reference library for more stories.

If you like adding emojis to messages, you’ve probably been frustrated by the way your iPhone traditionally handles those small images. When typing certain words, the iPhone would sometimes suggest related emojis – but you couldn’t simply search for them, until iOS 14. Here’s how. 

How to search for emojis on iPhone

1. Start an app that opens the keyboard, like Messages or Mail, so the keyboard is displayed on-screen.

2. Tap the emoji icon at the lower left corner to switch to the emoji keyboard. If you have additional keyboards installed, the icon might look like a globe, and may bypass the emoji keyboard. To ensure you get to the emoji keyboard, tap and hold the icon, then tap “Emoji” in the pop-up menu. 

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Switch to the emoji keyboard.
Dave Johnson/Business Insider

3. Tap the field called “Search Emoji” above the emojis. 

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The emoji keyboard now has its own text field for searching.
Dave Johnson/Business Insider

4. Type a search term. You can search for any common term to find a suitable emoji – you can search for cat, dog, heart, girl, flag, or countless other terms. 

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Search for your desired emoji and tap it when you see the one you want.
Dave Johnson/Business Insider

5. If you see the emoji you want to use, tap it to insert it into the message as you normally would. 

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