Some MacOS Sequoia users have discovered the familiar handy Emoji keyboard shortcut to access the Emoji & Symbols panel is no longer working as expected. This can be immensely frustrating, especially if you rely on it for quick access to emojis in messages, emails, documents, and in general.
While it might seem like a minor issue, an inability to access the Emoji & Symbols panel by keyboard shortcut can disrupt workflow and make simple tasks like writing messages and emails much harder. Fortunately, there are ways to troubleshoot and fix the problem, whether it’s a settings adjustment or a quick reboot. With a little patience, it’s usually possible to get things working again and bring back that seamless emoji experience on the Mac.
If you’re frustrated with an unreliable Emoji keyboard shortcut on macOS Sequoia, read along.
1: Check the Emoji Globe Shortcut on Mac
Go to System Settings > Keyboard > and look for the “Press (globe) to:” and select “Show Emoji & Symbols”
You’ll want to make sure this is enabled and on, so that you can access the Emoji picker super easy on the Mac by just pressing the globe key.
To be clear, this is not the only way to access Emoji & Symbols, it’s just perhaps the easiest way.
2: Use an Alternative Keystroke for Emoji
The Mac has long had another Emoji & Symbols quick access keyboard shortcut; Control+Command+Spacebar
The Control+Command+Spacebar trick has worked on MacOS for over a decade, so even if you’re not running MacOS Sequoia you will find this is available to you.
3: Use the Menu to Access Emoji Picker
Keyboard shortcuts still not working? Try pulling down the “Edit” menu and selecting “Emoji & Symbols” from there to access the Emoji picker.
4: Check to Make Sure Emoji Picker Is Not Hidden Off Screen
A fair number of users, myself included, have run into a strange situation where the Emoji & Symbols panel is summoned, but it’s so far off the screen that it’s almost impossible to see or notice. An easy way to check if this is the case for you is to quit all open apps except something like Messages, then attempt to summon the Emoji & Symbols picker by shortcut. Then pay close attention to the very bottom and sides of the screen, you might see a tiny sliver of the Emoji picker there, that you can grab onto and re-center on the Mac display.
This seems to happen most often on dual-display setups, but also with Macs setup to use Sidecar, or other multi-display situations.
5: Reboot the Mac
Sometimes you just need to restart the Mac to fix issues like this. Yes restarting is frustrating as a troubleshooting technique, but it often works, so give it a try.
Apple menu > Restart
Then try using the Emoji picker again by shortcut, it should work.
This is one of the only reported approaches to consistently work for all users when this issue is brought up on the Apple Support forums.
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Does your Emoji & Symbols keyboard shortcut work as expected? Does it occasionally fail in MacOS Sequoia? Did these tricks help you? Did you find another solution? Let us know in the comments!